THE SECRET OF CRICKLEY HALL (2012)

Studio:       BBC
Director:    Joe Ahearne
Writer:       Joe Ahearne, James Herbert
Producer:  Ann Harrison-Baxter
Stars:     Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall, David Warner, Sarah Smart, Iain De Caestecker, Olivia Cooke, Maisie Williams, Bill Milner, Pixie Davies, Kian Parsiani, Susan Lynch, Donald Sumpter

Review Score: 

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Summary:

The tragic deaths of several children in 1943 intersect with the abduction of a boy in the present day when a family moves into a haunted orphanage. 

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Synopsis - Part 1:     Show/Hide Spoilers

1943 – At Crickley Hall, a home for London orphans evacuated during The Blitz of World War II, eldest orphan Maurice Stafford tells six-year-old Jewish German orphan Stefan Rosenbaum that house owner Augustus Cribben wants to see him. Stefan hides in a closet, but Mr. Cribben pulls the boy out.

2011 – Eve Caleigh and her son Cam wake from separate nightmares. Along with husband Gabe and daughters Loren and Cally, the family prepares for the day. The daycare attendant notices that Cam and his mother have the same shortened pinky finger on their left hands. Eve claims that it gives her and her son a special connection allowing them to hear each other. Eve takes Cam to the playground and he is abducted when she falls asleep.

11 Months Later – Gabe asks Loren if she will help him convince her mother to move temporarily so that they will not be in London on the anniversary of Cam’s disappearance. Eve has a dream of events from Crickley Hall’s past. With Gabe having taken an engineering contract nearby, the family moves to Hollow Bay near Devil’s Cleave and settles into Crickley Hall.

1943 – New teacher Nancy Linnet arrives at Crickley Hall. Augustus’ sister Magda Cribben introduces Stefan as their worst behaved orphan, as he refuses to speak English. Nancy was also orphaned and has an affliction that renders her right arm largely immobile. Augustus is reportedly injured as well. The Cribbens instills a doctrine of harsh discipline and the absence of sentimentality.

2012 – Eve worries about the girls getting into the cellar where there is a padlock over a deep old well. Upstairs, an old man greets the girls in the kitchen. Eve and Gabe are introduced to Percy Judd, who worked at Crickley Hall in the 1940’s. Percy mentions that their dog Clyde is technically not allowed on the premises. Cally senses that Percy is sad. Meanwhile, Percy recalls meeting Nancy for the first time back in 1943. At night, Loren and her parents follow a noise to a wardrobe where Eve finds an antique child’s toy top.

1943 – Nancy meets Maurice and learns that everyone must remove their shoes because the noise of footsteps carries throughout the building. Toys are also kept in a chest, and are used only as rewards.

2012 – Eve dreams of Cam saying, “I’m not dead mommy.” She goes downstairs and notices small puddles on the floor that lead from the open cellar door. The next day, the family goes to Barnaby’s Inn in town. The barkeep tells Gabe the story of how Devil’s Cleave came to be named. Meanwhile, the cellar door opens by itself back at the house and the family dog Clyde is attacked by something unseen. In town, the Caleighs stop at a nearby church. In the churchyard, Gabe discovers the gravestones of all the orphans who died in the Great Flood of 1943. He also finds Percy tending to the graves.

1943 – In class, Nancy learns that Stefan is a German Jew. Maurice explains that he believes the Jews killed Christ and that they are chased out of countries because they are always doing something wrong. Angered by his racist comments, Nancy dismisses Maurice from the classroom. Nancy learns that the orphans are not given food or heat as a motivation to learn. Maurice returns with Magda, who admonishes Nancy for showing charity to the Jews that Magda blames for the war. Nancy is instructed to never again go against Crickley Hall’s doctrine.

2012 – Reverend Andrew, the priest at the church, tells the Caleighs that 68 people died in the flood. He then tells Percy to leave the Caleighs alone and to also let go of the orphans.

1943 – Nancy returns to class and instructs Maurice to fetch her a glass of water from the well in the cellar. While he is gone, she shares her lunch with the rest of the class. In the cellar, Mr. Cribben curses Maurice for disturbing his peaceful moment and demands that the boy return upstairs.

2012 – The Caleighs return home and find Clyde missing. Clyde is later revealed to be locked up, but kept fed by Percy.

1943 – Nancy and Percy bond when he gives her a ride to Barnaby’s Inn on his bicycle. While making plans to go to work together the following day, Nancy learns that Percy will be leaving for the war soon. The next day, Nancy finds marks on Stefan’s hands. She then privately asks orphan Susan Trainer about Mr. Cribben caning the students, but Susan is afraid to say anything for fear of being sent back to London. Nancy finds a whipping cane in the study and is confronted by Mr. Cribben. Augustus expresses his strict beliefs in fear and discipline.

2012 – Cally is drawn to the hallway closet where her hands are caned by Mr. Cribben’s ghost, although no marks are left on her. The next day, a bully teases Loren on the bus ride to school.

1943 – Nancy discovers that Stefan has been caned all over his body. Nancy demands that Maurice fetch Augustus. He returns instead with Magda, who fires Nancy immediately. Nancy slaps Magda and takes the kids to the police. The Cribbens tell the police that the children hurt Stefan. Too frightened to speak in their defense, the children are returned to Crickley Hall while Percy and Nancy watch from a distance. Percy and Nancy kiss.

2012 – Loren punches her bully in the nose after being insulted about her kidnapped brother. Eve repairs the antique top. As it spins, she hears Cam’s voice telling her that he is not dead and that the ghosts of the children know where he is. Eve and Cally then both see ghost children running through the halls. Eve follows them until she is caned by Mr. Cribben’s ghost while turning a doorknob.

1943 – Mr. Cribben records Stefan’s latest punishment in a ledger. He then holds Stefan over the well in the cellar and threatens him with a fall to Hell.

2012 – Gabe and Loren agree not to tell Eve about the fight, instead blaming Loren’s injured hand on a hockey accident. Gabe learns about the ghosts when he and Loren return home. Gabe wants to leave, but Eve insists that the ghosts can lead them to Cam. That night, the cellar door opens and wet footprints appear on the stairs. Loren sees Mr. Cribben when she turns out her bedroom light. He begins whipping her. Gabe and Eve rush into the room and Cally soon follows. Gabe and the girls want to leave the house, but Eve refuses. After everyone returns to sleep, Augustus appears over Eve and whispers, “she’s mine.”

Synopsis - Part 2:     Show/Hide Spoilers

2012 – Gabe and Eve argue about the existence of ghosts. Eve inquires about their missing dog in town and tries calling Percy. At the house, Gabe and Cally follow a noise in the upstairs closet and find Mr. Cribben’s ledger of orphan canings. Rev. Andrew tells Eve that the orphans died inside the house. Eve visits Percy and tells him about Cam’s abduction. Percy tells her about his romance with Nancy. He never saw her again after leaving for war, but continues to live in that same house because it is the only place where she would know to find him.

1943 – Rev. Andrew’s grandfather Reverend Horace visits Crickley Hall. The orphanage is open for a reception to soldiers as a way to show the community that nothing untoward is happening in the house.

2012 – Eve asks why there are only nine gravestones when there were eleven orphans. Percy says that two were never found and that their bodies were presumed washed away by the river underneath Crickley Hall. Percy tells Eve about a medium named Lili Peel who once tried to contact the children, but nearly died doing so. He also tells her that Cribben will not let the children speak to Eve.

1943 – Magda shares an intimate moment with her brother. Percy tries to ask Stefan about his wellbeing, but Maurice interrupts. After the reception, Percy suggests to Nancy that she find an adult willing to speak against the Cribbens.

2012 – Eve visits Lili at Elysium’s Light boutique. Lili refuses to help Eve contact the orphans because Cribben’s ghost killed her unborn child the last time she was at Crickley Hall.

1943 – Reverend Horace refuses to believe Nancy’s accusations against the Cribbens. Pretending to be Magda, Nancy visits The Royal Carrington Hospital where wounded soldiers are treated. She learns that Augustus sustained a head injury during a raid. A nurse tells Nancy that Cribben was injured while chasing after Stefan, which is why he blames the boy for his injury. She also reveals that Cribben keeps a ledger of his punishments. Nancy vows to find the ledger as proof of the abuse at Crickley Hall.

2012 – Eve and Gabe review the punishment ledger. Eve tells Gabe that Stefan and Maurice were the two bodies never found after the flood. She also sees that Maurice’s name does not appear in the ledger and that Stefan takes most of the abuse. Lili has a nightmare about Crickley Hall.

1943 – Augustus canes Stefan again. Meanwhile, Maurice meets Magda in the cellar and they become intimate. Percy’s mother Irene kicks Nancy out of her house, as she had been staying there since Percy left for war. Irene admonishes Nancy for her vendetta against the Cribbens and tells her that Percy is practically engaged to someone else. Nancy writes to Percy and tells him not to send any more letters to her at the house. She also hints at a new plan to rescue the children.

2012 – Lili goes through a memento box dedicated to her unborn son. Percy calls her and tries convincing Lili to help the Caleighs. Lili finally relents and arrives at Crickley Hall to help Eve. Gabe fights with his wife about bringing a psychic into the house and about not accepting Cam’s death. Eve insists that Cam is alive and gives Lili Cam’s cap to begin the séance.

1943 – Nancy goes to the church and pretends to apologize to Magda while the children are there for a service.

2012 – Loren agrees to apologize to the bully. While holding the antique top, Lili makes contact with an orphan in the children’s former bedroom as the sky outside grows dark. Cribben’s ghost enters the room unseen and canes Lili while shouting, “he’s mine!” In town, Gabe asks Rev. Andrew about Lili. Rev. Andrew tells Gabe that an expert in parapsychology stayed for a week in Crickley Hall and concluded that there were no ghosts in the house. Gabe meets the parapsychologist, Gordon Pyke, and asks him to come with him to the house. Eve tends to Lili in the hospital, who collapsed after the séance.

1943 – Nancy tosses stones at the window of the children’s bedroom and summons Stefan to let her inside Crickley Hall. She asks the boy about the punishment ledger. Nancy gives Stefan a chocolate bar and pledges to rescue him the next day. Nancy begins searching for the ledger. Nancy finds the ledger, but drops it. As Augustus rushes downstairs to investigate the noise, Nancy hides in the cellar. There, she finds Maurice and Magda after they had just had sex. Magda gives Maurice an iron rod and convinces him to kill Nancy so that her brother does not find out about them. Maurice seems to mourn the murder, but he and Magda then throw Nancy’s body into the well.

2012 – The school bully uses keys from her grandmother, who is a housekeeper at Crickley Hall, to sneak into the house. She leaves a dead rat on Loren’s bed before Cribben’s ghost canes her and she falls down the stairs. Loren comes home to find the bully being taken away in an ambulance. She mutters, “please tell him I won’t do it again!” Loren asks her mom to leave the house, but Eve insists on staying one more night. Lili wants to make contact again. Gabe returns home with Gordon and it is revealed that he is actually Maurice using a different name.

Synopsis - Part 3:     Show/Hide Spoilers

2012 – Gordon confers with Eve and Gabe about Cam’s disappearance. Gordon questions if Eve really heard Cam’s voice or if it might have been one of the orphans. Lili returns from another séance upstairs. She recognizes Gordon and then tells Eve that Cribben told her Cam is dead. As Gabe forces Lili out of the house, she further explains that Cam drowned and that his body is trapped in a canal. Eve calls the police with the tip. Gordon excuses himself to the bathroom where he speaks with Cribben’s ghost. Cribben whips Gordon when he questions Augustus’ demands.

1943 – Stefan waits for Nancy’s rescue. Maurice tells Magda that Stefan has something in his pocket. Stefan is sent to Augustus when they find the chocolate that Nancy gave him. Stefan loses hope when he sees that Mr. Cribben still has his punishment ledger. Percy returns home from the war. His mother Irene tells him that Nancy is gone. Percy visits the orphanage to ask Stefan about Nancy. Maurice tries to kick out Percy, but Percy vows to continue where Nancy left off. On his way out, Percy threatens Magda, as well.

2012 – Percy comes to the house to warn Gabe about leaving with his daughters. Percy meets Gordon Pyke. Lili visits Magda in a home where she has been since reportedly going mad. Magda does not speak. Lili uses a photograph of the orphans to make a psychic connection while in Magda’s room. Gordon reviews the ledger with the Caleighs and tells them that Maurice did not drown in the flood. Lili has a vision of Nancy’s death. Magda takes a hairpin and tries to stab Lili, but Percy arrives to intervene. Lili tells Percy that Nancy was murdered.

1943 – Percy pleads with Reverend Horace to investigate the orphanage. Horace goes to Crickley Hall, but Magda refuses to let him see her brother. Stefan grabs the punishment ledger and screams to draw Horace’s attention to the study. Horace confronts Augustus as Magda drags Stefan from the room. Horace finds the ledger that Stefan dropped on the floor and Augustus grabs the reverend threateningly. Horace warns Augustus that he should prepare to leave Crickley Hall.

2012 – The police summon Gabe to London to identify a body. Gordon goes to the cellar and is caned again. He then breaks open the lock on the well. Cally tells her mother that the children do not like Gordon.

1943 – Augustus goes to the garage and examines a hose and his car’s exhaust pipe. The children wonder why they have not been called for dinner while they are locked in their bedroom. Augustus sits in the car, fiddling with the key in the ignition. As rain begins pouring, Magda recruits Maurice to help her search for Augustus. The children then discover an enormous feast waiting outside their room. Stefan goes off on his own. After eating, the children play vigorously before falling asleep in their beds.

2012 – Gabe asks to see the pinky finger of the child’s body that was found in the water. Gabe confirms that the body belongs to Cam. He calls his wife with the news and Eve breaks down.

1943 – Magda and Maurice discover the car running in the garage. They follow a hose connected to the exhaust pipe to the cellar, where Augustus has gassed all of the children to death. Meanwhile, Stefan hides in the closet with the punishment ledger. Maurice agrees to help Augustus search for Stefan.

2012 – Gordon drugs Eve’s drink. Percy recalls an old memory and realizes that Gordon is actually Maurice. He comes to Crickley Hall, but Gordon knocks him out on the doorstep with a fireplace rod. Gordon puts Eve to bed. She tries to fight him when she learns of his plan to throw one of the girls down the well, as Cribben demands one more child in order to let Maurice go. Loren overhears Gordon revealing his plan. She finds her name and her sister’s name added to the ledger and then hides behind a false wall in the closet with Cally. Gordon searches for the girls.

1943 – As floodwaters enter the house, Magda and Maurice flee Crickley Hall in fear of Augustus. Augustus demands that Stefan come out of his hiding place. Stefan does and then pushes Augustus over the railing. Augustus grabs the banister, but Stefan hits his hands with the cane. Augustus falls to the floor below and drowns in the rising water while Stefan escapes.

2012 – The girls return to their mother’s bedroom and Gordon finds them. In a daze, Eve breaks a vase over Gordon’s head. The girls run away as Gordon knocks out Eve again, but Loren hurts her ankle on the stairs. Cally runs outside while Gordon grabs Loren and drags her to the cellar. Cally alerts her father, who has just arrived home. Gabe runs inside and into the cellar. Loren struggles with Gordon as he throws her over the edge of the well. Gabe knocks Gordon over and grabs his daughter by the hand. While she dangles perilously, Gordon recovers. As he is about to hurt Gabe and force Loren down the well, Nancy’s voice appeals to him and Gordon sees a vision of her dead body. In a trance, he falls into the well. Gabe rescues Loren and they both reunite with Eve and Cally. Lili uses the top to conduct another séance. Eve realizes that the boy’s voice she thought was Cam belonged to another orphan. Percy returns Clyde to the Caleighs. He then watches the removal of Nancy’s body.

1943 – After the flood, Percy watches the removal of the children’s bodies. He then finds Stefan sleeping under a tree. Maurice finds Magda leaning unresponsive against a tree with her eyes glazed over. Percy’s mother helps hide Stefan. She also admonishes Reverend Horace for not helping the orphans sooner.

2012 – Percy tells the Caleighs that he set up Stefan with a friend who lost his child in The Blitz. Stefan changed his name, had a family of his own, and died in 2009. Lili, Percy, and the Caleighs watch Nancy lead the ghost children out of Crickley Hall. Nancy offers to take Augustus with them, but he refuses and returns to the cellar.

1943 – Percy takes Stefan to his new family. They greet him with a kitten that he names Nancy.

2012 – Percy tends to Nancy’s new grave, which is near the orphans. Gabe and Eve bury Cam next to Stefan.

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Review:

With a foreboding old house and sinister black birds tearing through the night sky in front of an ominous skull, the box art for “The Secret of Crickley Hall” gives an impression of it being a certain type of film.  Featuring spirits interested in benevolence and some consumed with malevolence, “Crickley Hall” certainly qualifies as a ghost story, but not necessarily as a horror movie.  A more fitting way to describe the three-hour adaptation of James Herbert’s novel would be as a drama with supernatural elements.

That is an important distinction to make because improperly prepared expectations can make for a dull viewing experience when “The Secret of Crickley Hall” deserves to be enjoyed as an immensely gripping mystery.  Having been a BBC television special, American audiences will notice a PBS production quality to the film’s presentation.  That format is fine, but again, a misconception about “Crickley Hall” being something other than what it is might leave some with the feeling that they have been hoodwinked into a Miss Marple mystery.  “Crickley Hall” is free of blood, nudity, and swearing, thus making it suitable for television, yet the film is very much geared towards adult audiences.  And none of those aforementioned staples are necessary for the story to have an impact as something ghostly without being horrific.

In 1943, Crickley Hall served as a home for orphans displaced by bombing raids on London during WWII.  Headmaster Augustus Cribben was never the same after a head injury.  Aided by his sister Magda, Augustus vented his constant anger and frustration through a cane that regularly saw the children’s skin for any infraction from wetting the bed to laughing in class.  New teacher Nancy uncovers the abuse and vows to rescue the orphans from their lives of perpetual fear and physical pain.

With the one-year anniversary of their six-year-old son’s abduction approaching in 2012, Eve and Gabe Caleigh decide to move away from London temporarily.  With their two daughters Loren and Cally, they take up residence in Crickley Hall.  It is not long before everyone in the family begins having visions of ghosts.  Eve is convinced that her son is still alive and is trying to reach her through the orphan’s spirits.  The children have been trapped within the house since dying there during a tragic flood in 1943.  But Mr. Cribben is with them in Crickley Hall, as well.  And he still has his cane.

“The Secret of Crickley Hall” is a dense tale that expertly intertwines multiple threads through a careful balance of both timelines.  There is a great deal taking place concurrently in 1943 and in 2012, but the production has a knack for knowing when to parallel the stories and when to switch from one to the other without creating confusion.  More importantly, it does not create boredom.  Each timeline sustains its momentum in such a way that no matter which era the film is currently in, there is always a desire to see what is happening in the other.  The juxtaposed narratives are never too much to maintain or to follow, despite the large cast of characters and intersecting events.

Spanning generations, the cast is a chain so strong that finding a weak link even amongst minor characters is a difficult challenge.  Familiar veterans like David Warner and Donald Sumpter carry one end while emerging faces pick up the other.  Olivia Cooke, who plays Emma Decody on TV’s “Bates Motel,” and Maisie Williams, Arya Stark from “Game of Thrones,” are just two of the younger actors who deliver performances as impressive as their more experienced counterparts.

“The Secret of Crickley Hall” is more likely to deliver tears than scares.  With delicately handled depictions of child abuse, child abduction, and the deaths of young children, the film is thick with themes of sadness, loss, grief, and suffering.  There are genuinely heartbreaking moments such as watching an abused orphan spinning a top and enjoying a chocolate bar as he waits hopefully for a rescue that the audience knows is not coming.  It is deliberately melodramatic cinema, but “Crickley Hall” plays on the heartstrings without relying overmuch on sentimentality or cheap ploys at jerking a tear.

Remarkably, director Joe Ahearne establishes strong family ties and a chilling kidnapping in under four total minutes of screentime.  “Crickley Hall” knows how to condense its plentiful drama into a tight three hours that is constantly on the move.  Ahearne, who also adapted the Herbert novel for the screen, pushes events through contrived moments with amusing scenes that generally avoid saccharin sweetness in favor of genuine affection for the characters.

The Caleighs are introduced in an oft-used typical scene of impossibly tight knit behavior amongst an almost too loving family.  Except the scenes of their son Cam playing “Bombs” by throwing a ball into his Lego brick construction and extorting his mother for more playground time are so charming that it is hard not to feel their plight when tragedy strikes.

The characters are also smart.  The Caleighs do not waste too much time arguing about the existence of ghosts.  Once the hauntings begin, they accept the events for what they are and move right into the plot.  “Crickley Hall” does not spend its time establishing rules or treading into territory already well covered in other haunted house tales.  Instead, “Crickley Hall” focuses on empathy, emotion, and suspense.

There are few traditional horror movie frights as far as jump scares and visual shocks go.  Even the atmosphere is more concerned with moody tension.  Yet such feelings still supply armrest-grabbing moments when Mr. Cribben’s cane hunts for a child to strike or when Nancy searches for Cribben’s punishment ledger.

It would be a hard point to argue that “Crickley Hall” does not rely on more than a few clichéd plot devices.  Indeed, the climax in particular features a number of perfectly staged sequences such as timely character arrivals and improbable coincidences.  But the action is exciting enough that such tropes can usually be forgiven.  Above all else, wanting to know what happens next is always the primary motivator for remaining invested in the film’s pace.

As long as there is no expectation of gruesome poltergeists, or anything that resembles the box art, “The Secret of Crickley Hall” will reward those who settle in for a compelling mystery.  This is a film about the telling of a richly layered story.  It may not be pure horror, but it is completely engaging and highly entertaining.

Review Score:  85

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