The ghost stories of MR James show his fascination with the psychology of terror and it is therefore no accident that film makers down the years have steered clear of his tales. The visualisation of psychological dread inevitably compromises the impact experienced when reading the stories, where we are allowed the slow build-up of anticipation and fear. And this is the main problem with this production. It is slow all right but totally lacking in suspense. Part of the problem is that we see right from the start that the penalty for disturbing the buried crown of Anglia is death, and the rest of the film merely plays out exactly the same pattern, as Peter Vaughan searches for and finds the crown, is pursued by a ghost and dies in exactly the same way. This comes as no surprise at all, and is ponderously done to boot. The Norfolk setting is eerily desolate for sure, but the inclusion of an artist (why is this significant?) and creepy landlord merely divert our attention away from the dramatic focus which is obviously being played out in Vaughan's imagination. To this extent we are excluded from the heart of the fear explored in James' writings and one can only conclude, I'm afraid, that trying to film such a tale was a mistake at worst, or needed a more inventive approach at best.