Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

MARIO GAUCI This latter-day entry in the British TV horror series is actually not too bad, though its style is essentially flatter than previous vintage ghost stories. It is yet another M.R. James adaptation which sees a young man staying at an inn who happens upon an old pair of binoculars among the bric-a-brac in a closet; the landlord, knowledgeable of a curse attached to them, attempts to dissuade him from keeping the 'relic' but, as always in such tales, the hero has to find out for himself – and to his ultimate dismay – just what possessing the binoculars entails. In fact, watching through them allows an old cathedral (which has been torn down over the years, possibly in view of its evil influence) to 'materialize'; at first, he is intrigued by this curious occurrence…but it all turns serious very soon when a shadowy figure he notices within the 'scene' begins to move about and is apparently out to get him!

david_colbourne I watched this film when broadcast over Christmas with a keen sense of anticipation, being a long time fan of MR James' stories, and having enjoyed the BBC's previous adaptations of his work. I do have to say I was a little disappointed at the treatment. A View from a Hill is one of my favourite James stories and I have to say the film did not convey the story well. The story was made much darker, presumably with the intent of frightening the viewer, and lost the atmosphere of the original. The original was set in summer and conveyed the season well, whereas the film was set in winter with bare trees in dripping woods. I'm not going to give any details away, but I don't think it measured up to the previous adaptations of James' work, particularly The Stalls of Barchester.

bob the moo Historian Dr Fanshawe comes to the country home of Squire Richards in order to review the artefacts he is selling off. On his way his luggage falls off his bike and his binoculars break. He borrows those belong to the late father of Richards as the two go for a walk. From the hilltop he believes he can see an abbey but with the naked eye there is nothing. The next day he heads to the spot and finds nothing but ruins, however is there more to the glasses than just magnification? As with other years BBC4 sees in the Christmas period with a season of films that serve as modern versions of the family sitting round the fire telling ghost stories. I have seen one or two of these in the past and decided this year to make more of an effort to see them – after all, one never knows if BBC4 will continue to be protected from tabloids keen to rip it down. The first film of the season I saw was A View From a Hill and it bodes well for the rest of the films if they can be this good.The plot is simple and the film is short but it is a very good idea that uses the common device of having a character stumbling into a mystery that may or may not have claimed the life of the last person who was involved with it. The tone of the film is spot on as it delivers this story with a total lack of answers and never any more than the slightest glimpse of anything that may be a danger. My favourite example of this is a moment where Fanshawe believes he has seen something and flashes back to it; the pause function told me nothing was there but regardless it is still creepy as an effect. While the style is quite old-fashioned, director Watson uses modern camera movements sparingly and wisely – thus we do get "Evil Dead" rushing shots and jump cuts but they are far from overdone and work better for it.Letheren leads the cast well with an innocent "everyman" who guides the audience into the story well as the "eyes". Torrens is quite fun but his performance did come over like the producers wanted to get Hugh Laurie but couldn't afford him post-House. Burke is obvious perhaps but perfectly functional while Linnell is a menacing presence and needs to be no more than that. Delivery from Watson is very effective as he controls what the viewer sees (even letting us see the abbey itself through the excitable glances of Fanshawe) and it is this tone and atmosphere that makes the piece work as well as it does.Overall then a short but effective ghost story that is reassuringly free of cheap shots and gore, delivering a nice sense of creepiness instead.

BlueDragon I must confess to not having read the original M R James story although I have read many of his other supernatural tales. I've also seen most of the previous BBC Christmas Ghost Stories and this one, in my opinion, surpasses most of them, only equalling The Signalman.I can't really fault A View From a Hill - the direction and 'mood' is perfect, as is the acting, lighting and, of course, the story and writing. I thoroughly enjoyed this and can only hope for more of this quality from the same director and production team. I understand that the BBC plan to make some more (not necessarily based on M R James stories) so that's promising.10/10