Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson directs Nyman, Paul Whitehouse and Alex Lawther in this horror anthology based on the hit West End show, where a professional skeptic delves into some unsolved hauntings. 

As an acting showcase this spooky portmanteau is absolutely marvellous, particularly the new-to-me Alex Lawther. As a horror it is better at building up a stifling air of dread, but lacks the startling jumps and shocks of the superlative stage show. That was an utterly immersive experience, and a hymn to the art of storytelling, this self-adaptation by the creators will have to settle for being a classy if slightly stunted revival of British anthology horror. Stuff like Amicus or the BBC Christmas specials are affectionately evoked throughout. You wait for all that unease to translate into a cumulative visual thrash-out that wounds you, but that A-grade shock I craved never materialised on screen. A bird carcass disappears in a basement. A white furred daemon quivers on the roof of our car. What does that baby look like? Standard tricks, deployed with grim diligence.

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