Supernatural (1977) User Reviews

Immensely atmospheric, slow and arty.

[darrenpearce111 · 8/10 · 12 September 2014]

The richly Gothic sounding organ music of Poulenc set to images of gargoyles tells you what kind of series this is. The sort they don't make any more. "Supernatural" is a series for people who may enjoy reading old Gothic horror short stories or the original novels "Dracula" and "Frankenstein". Not for those who like today's style of horror movie. Beneath the horror fantasy "Supernatural" may as well be called "Unnatural" as it focuses on Victorian sexual repression almost as much as it pays homage to Mary Shelley, Sheridan Le Fanu etc.

A little peaceful time to yourself is essential if you really want to escape into this slow building wordy world of sinister misty nights. Join the Club of the Damned,or at least damned good actors achieving mixed results. Two episodes are much too peculiar and addled (like "Mr Nightingale" - ear-trumpets and all - too boring). "Mr Nightingale" and the one with Denholm Elliot would make the M.R. James "Ghost Stories For Chritmas" look modern and sexy. However Billie Whitelaw is so beautiful, elegant and lethal in the two-parter "Countess Ilona" and "Werewolf Reunion"."Night of the Marionettes" is worth seeing with Gordon Jackson and Pauline Moran on the trail of Mary Shelley(in which Sdyney Bromley, the little actor who whees up the wall as the Porter in Polanski's MacBeth, adds to the tone). You'll be trying to place the mysterious looking actor Vladek Sheybal too - ("From Russia With Love").

"Dorabella" is another atmospheric piece of escapism before bedtime. If you have a lot of patience!

There are some nice twists regarding some of the storytellers.

Join the club.

Supernatural - More Info

[a-dobbs · 6/10 · 4 June 2006]

I too vaguely remembered this from my childhood (even though none of my mates of the same age do) - specifically, images of a man with white eyes laughing creepily and a coffin full of maggots, both of which caused me a few sleepless nights as a 9 year old. I knew it was screened once in 1977 and never again, but all other information (especially in the pre-internet days) was scant to say the least. After a long, long search, I recently tracked down a copy of the complete series and, with the organ music and images of gargoyles on the titles just as I remembered them, I settled down to a nostalgia fuelled extravaganza.

So is this series some lost masterpiece? Sadly no. The few remembered images I mentioned above all come from the last episode 'Dorabella' which is the best of the lot by a country mile and is an offbeat vampire story with a genuinely creepy atmosphere. The rest are rather hit and miss, and at 50 minutes each, some of the extremely flimsy stories stretch well past breaking point. This is especially noticeable in the two part 'Countess Ilona/Werewolf Reunion' which could easily have been done and dusted in 30 minutes flat. At virtually 2 hours, it's almost unbearable.

Although it features a veritable who's who of British TV stars of the 70's (Billie Whitelaw, Ian Hendry, Robert Hardy, Gordon Jackson, Leslie Ann Down et al), production values on the series are noticeably low, with all the action happening in one or two sets per episodes and with the camera virtually fixed in one place. There isn't much in the way of a suspenseful soundtrack, and any sudden close ups or panned shots are invariably accompanied by an over the top blast of organ music. The stilted dialogue is rather wooden and pretentious too; the writer (Robert Muller) seems to have aspirations toward the MR James end of the horror market but sadly, his talent seems to suggest more of a Clive James, but without the wit.

Ultimately, the series is worth sitting through on it's own merits, and these just about drag it above the curiosity/novelty value of watching a long forgotten series, but I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit through them all again.

A notable cast list in a variable Gothic chiller anthology from the BBC

[zippgun · 7/10 · 14 December 2014]

I caught a couple of episodes of this short Gothic horror TV series on the BBC when it was first broadcast in 1977. Now it's available as a box set, I decided to take the opportunity to have a look at them all. Having watched all 8 episodes, it turns out the 2 I'd seen back then were among the better ones - those being "Night of the marionettes" and "Dorabella".

The premise -

At a club in the late nineteenth century, a group of Victorian gentlemen are told "true" tales of terror by people involved in the events recounted. The tale teller's object is to become members of this exclusive club. If the members listening are impressed, the teller can join, if not, he will die - for this is "The club of the damned"...(da! daaaaaa!)

Episodes -

1. Ghosts of Venice - The series gets off to a shaky start. Robert Hardy as an unbalanced retired actor, returns after many years, to Venice, where he meets a ghost from his past... and becomes one himself! With obvious studio sets substituting for Venetian locations, obscurely plotted and hammy, I really didn't understand this one - I think it might have been trying to say something about impotence.

2/3. Countess Ilona/Werewolf reunion - Things pick up with this 2 parter. A countess invites her 4 despicable former lovers to her isolated Hungarian castle where they are killed one by one by a mysterious creature. Being a 2 parter, there's more time here to develop the characters of the guests and the enigmatic Countess herself. The episodes are strongly cast and acted, though the werewolf is hardly seen (probably for the best!). Featuring the splendid Ian Hendry (he makes his cynical and callous arms dealer seem rather likable) - also with Charles Kay, John Fraser, Edward Hardwicke (later Dr Watson to Jeremy Brett's Sherlock Holmes) and Billie Whitelaw as the countess.

4. Mr Nightingale - Jeremy Brett, years before he became Sherlock Holmes, as a shy bachelor taken over by his lustful, crude, rude, vicious, doppelganger. A Jekyll and Hyde story which differs from Stevenson in that the transformation of Mr Nightingale is supernatural rather than scientifically based - though it might just be his disturbed mind at work. Notable for the then thirty something Mr Brett's cackling performance as the old, ugly, and crazy Nightingale, and as a showcase for Lesley-Anne Down's extraordinary beauty.

5. Lady Sybil - A clunky psychological study of insanity rather than a horror yarn. The actual supernatural bit seems more or less an irrelevant add on here ("We need something ghostly in this guys..."). Is a man's ghost returning, intent on killing his elderly wife? Are her middle aged sons the real culprits? Interesting to see "Look back in anger" playwright John Osborne in a rare TV acting role, and Denholm Elliott is always worth watching.

6. Viktoria - The familiar "murderous doll " trope, as a little girl seeks revenge on the wastrel dad who has killed her mother. Only of some interest for its gay subplot.

7. Night of the marionettes - Gordon Jackson as an author writing a book on Shelley discovers the origins of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" in a strange Swiss hotel. Okay, but not great. I enjoyed the always creepy Vladek Sheybal as the hotel owner.

8. Dorabella - Best of the lot; the series bows out on a high note with this genuinely chilly vampire entry. Starring former pop singer Jeremy Clyde (of sixties duo "Chad and Jeremy") as a rich young man obsessed with a mysterious, aristocratic young woman, who seems to be a supernatural being. With a companion he travels across the countryside, staying in lonely inns, lured on by the beckoning Dorabella - until they arrive at an isolated castle. The episode includes a memorable turn by movie veteran John Justin as Dorabella's father. Like a more low key Hammer horror movie.

The premise of the series, that guests who fail to impress the listeners by their tale will be killed, seems inconsistent with the conventional, urbane, very normal seeming club members presented here. I can't recall actually seeing who gets accepted into the club and who doesn't in any of the episodes; none of them are seen physically being "knocked off" having failed. And it seems a pretty silly chance to take - risking being murdered just to get into a club!

One of the other problems with the series is that, apart from some of the exteriors, it's shot on tape, not film, and tape is simply not the right medium for this sort of material. If it had been all done on film, for example, "Dorabella" would have been a great episode rather than just a good one - all of them would have been significantly improved by using film instead of tape.

One of the best UK horror anthologies ever made

[tetsuo · 4 March 2006]

This one was extra hard to get but eventually I did get my hands on clear complete set of this show....But it was well worth it...

Too bad it got cancelled early and was ahead of its time.

I highly recommend the following eps: 2. & 3. Werewolf Reunion and Countess Ilona: an excellent ep. with excellent acting especially from Billie Whitelaw. Interesting that the werewolf is not really shown fully but this adds to the flavour.

7. Night of the Marionettes: Gordon Jackson is just excellent in this ep.(he is just an excellent actor). An interesting twist on the Frankenstein story.

8. Dorabella: Dare I say probably the best ep. of the bunch. Excellent acting, story, atmosphere make this an original vampire tale and a very excellent twist ending.

Slow, dream-like, artistic and magical:

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 5 November 2014]

BBC4 have been showing a handful of episodes of this long-lost supernatural anthology series from 1977, so here are my thoughts on individual episodes: VIKTORIA - the weakest story thus far, but not without a certain atmosphere. This is a family-based tale focused around a creepy life-sized doll and the strange girl who owns it. The story is worthy of note in featuring both Judy Cornwell (KEEPING UP APPEARANCES) and Lewis Fiander (DR JEKYLL AND SISTER HYDE) in strong roles as housekeeper and husband respectively, and an intricate little, character-focused storyline filled with twists and turns. It's not particularly frightening or stand out-ish, but it is creepy so that counts for something

NIGHT OF THE MARIONETTES - TV favourite Gordon Jackson stars as a scholar hot on the trail of Mary Shelley who falls foul of the strange proprietor of a roadside inn and his lifesize creations. The actress who plays the possessed daughter went on to become THE WOMAN IN BLACK in the long-lost '80s adaptation of that novel. This one is weird rather than scary, although it has some memorably weird highlights.

DORABELLA - the last of the series is also my favourite, thus far. It's a vampire story in which a couple of youthful men are the victims for a change; the gender reversal brings back fond memories of the likes of VAMPYRES and DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS. This episode is quite remarkable for the way in which it builds a rich Gothic atmosphere and a sense of dread which go hand-in-hand throughout. It's visually beautiful, full of stunning imagery like jet-black carriages, desolate beaches and of course the expected creepy castles. All in all a great twist on the vampire legend.

Classic horror TV show.

[Radish4ever · 10/10 · 2 February 2013]

Its a crime that this BBC series, Supernatural (1977) never got repeated or had a legitimate DVD release. 8 episodes where broadcast. The opening credits were chilling, organ music to shots of gargoyle type statues. The story was simple, there exists a club of the damned, for membership the applicant must tell a true horror story, and the story must be very scary. The club consisted of a small room of cigar smoking English gentleman. If just one of them was not scared, or did not believe the story was real, then the penalty was death. As you can imagine each episode had a twist in the tale

The opener Ghosts of Venice, while good, was a little slow, Countess Lionna & Werewolf reunion was a 2 parter. The countess got together all her ex lovers in one room in ep 1. In ep 2 (the werewolf reunion) The last shot of the shadow of the werewolf moving towards the last victim, is one of the scariest scenes I have ever seen, I was 10 but it stuck with me seeing this, this episode made me a lifelong fan of the show. Mr Nightingale was Jeremy Brett at his best in a Jeckyll and Hyde story. The other stores where lady Sybill, Viktoria (with chilling last scene of a doll walking into the club with a life of its own), Night of the Marrionettes and Dorabella. Of these Dorabella was the best. A episode similar to the works of of Bram Stoker.

My favourite anthology horror series, I have wrote countless letters and emails about this, mostly to the BBC asking them to repeat it. Seems its going to stay lost in their vaults. I hope it somehow gets a DVD release as any true horror fan needs to own this series. Anyone under 45 probably wont even know it ever existed. Criminal.

A Lizard, a House and an Organ

[davey-bc · 7/10 · 16 July 2021]

A vague childhood memory of creepy organ music and a lizard and a big house. Somehow these elements do make sense more than 40 years later now that I view Supernatural again. I was surprised to learn that only 8 episodes were made . Of uneven quality, yes. Studio bound ..yes. But convincing sets and the contrivance of the stories taking place in confined indoor locations makes the lack of location shooting immaterial . My first revisit to these episodes was the one with Gordon Jackson and the Marionettes. What a good actor he was and the acting is first rate on all the episodes I have so far revisited. Ian Hendry and Billie Whitelaw also give stand out performances in my view. It seems a shame that these performances have been hidden away for so long . Worth watching just to see these actors again in contexts that are not the ones we most commonly see them in on the oft repeated shows . Gordon Jackson after all , was not just Mr Hudson or overseeing the antics of Bodie and Doyle ! These stories are slow by today's editing standards but serve as showcases for the talents we alas miss . If you like the old gothic classics and prefer horrors which are implied rather than shown in CGI ( which is rarely convincing anyway ) , you could give this short series a try.

Lost Gothic BBC Gem

[andrewroake · 10/10 · 11 February 2021]

Absolutely brilliant old BBC TV. This is the BBC during it's height, Golden Age Doctor Who, I Claudius, the M.R. James ghost stories, and it should be much more widely known. It features perhaps the creme de la creme of British acting talent at the time (Jeremy Brett, Billie Whitelaw, Robert Hardy, Denholm Elliott, Gordon Jackson - oh the cast is to die for!). Such was the talent avaliable at that time that each and every one of the main cast elevate the whole seriese far above what otherwise could have been fairly standard pop-horror, producing a real weight of gravitas and experience to the roles. The stories too however, are brilliant, I struggle really to pin point the best of the bunch, as I love them all. I have a certain soft spot for lurid, Victorianna-esque Gothic horror, I'm a sucker for it, so I'd probably like any of it. But "Night of the Marionettes" is especially good, due to the stark, amazing theatrical vivid quality to it with the genuinely unsettling marionette puppet show, shot on film as well, giving it a great, grimy, raw quality. I love also the two partner, "Countess Ilona" and "The Werewolf Reunion", largely because of the amazing cast surrounding it. A sordid collection of aristocratic monsters, Charles Kay playing a sneering snob who is little more than a grotesque sex pest, the other (played by Ian Hendry) an nihilistic war profiteer who booms his majestic voice across the hall espousing his beautiful misanthropic poetry, denouncing everything from religious faith to humanitarianism to peace, in between chuckling and stuffing his face perpetually with food. To the stuffy and uptight politician (Edward Hardwicke) a man so seemingly inhuman and robotic he feels more like an extension of the cold, glassy monocle he polishes repeatedly. Along with the foppish pianist played by Hugo Hoffman, they each get a gruesomely delicious fate, and it sparkles watching these actors, the peak of British acting talent bounce of one another, each unique in their personalities and personal philosophies, yet each acting like a kind of reflection of one another, all representatives of the casual culture of distain for humanity and disregard for women that marks this Prussian culture of aristocratic degeneracy and back stabbing grubby reactionarism.

Jeremy Brett too deserves special praise in "Mr. Nightingale". The story itself is very peculiar, yet he absolutely shines, doing what he would later master as Sherlock Holmes, every line shot out of his mouth like bullets from a Gatling gun, his teeth baring, his eyes bulging. He's just brilliant in how bizarre and malignant he can be.

The writing is also superb. It's very, very mid 70s BBC (anyone who watches Doctor Who or I, Claudius at the time will know exactly what I mean). Lots of harsh looking video, flare bulbs from bright lights, small sets like theatre, minimal camera movements, static shots of one or two actors. But I have to say It's brilliant for this series, the often highly loquacious dialogue being allowed to simply flow from the brilliant actors hired, allowing the poetic nature of it to drive the story. Atmosphere and tension and personal drama are at the forefront, not special effects (which, knowing the quality of some of that at the time, was probably wise).

It's a lost gem in my opinion, and should be far more widely known. I regularly rewatch it with a smile on my face, delighted by the weird cast of ghouls who come to recite their stories, diverse in their range and setting (and even period).

Fantastic, Spooky Tales From The BBC

[alsmess · 10/10 · 7 November 2018]

There was at one time a tradition of late night horror that seemed to abound in the seventies in Britain.This is an episodic collection of tales linked together by the telling at a club of the damned.Ghosts,vampires and werewolves alongside other nightmarish scenarios (creepy Victorian dolls anyone?) and an interesting take on the Frankenstein story feature.This is what the BBC does best. Well written, intelligent and well acted stories.

My two penn'orth

[Steve_L · 17 October 2005]

I just got a set of these on DVD. I have to say I like them as good examples of well-made drama. They're well-acted, well-scripted, very atmospheric, great characterisations and all that, but they do seem a bit slow at times.

While I realise this is the essence of this style of Gothic horror, there were times when I felt I was sitting waiting for something to happen, and often when the final credits start to roll, I found myself thinking, "was that it?", so I can understand the idea of them being thought a bit boring

That said, the horror bits when they arrive are chilling and unsettling rather than in-your-face, and all the better for it. The casts give great performances throughout; even without the horror element they're superb pieces of drama. And they simply look gorgeous throughout.

Here are my appraisals of the episodes. May contain spoilers: GHOST OF VENICE An actor returns to Venice to right a wrong from long ago - but what is real and what is imagined? Not a great opener. Scare factor pretty low, lots of long slow bits where little happens, a little disappointing. The storyline tends to wander a bit, leaving you wondering where it's all going. Nicely wrapped up at the end though, and a superb performance from Robert Hardy. COUNTESS ILONA The Countess invites her ex-lovers to join her at her castle - but with what motive? And what of the rumours concerning her ex-husband? A great piece of drama with a fine performance from Ian Hendry. There is little horror subject matter throughout most of this, so you can almost forget you're watching a horror. It is subtly implied by mutterings and frantic POV-shots, and the ending is similarly more implied than revealed, to great effect. The series starts to find its feet. THE WEREWOLF REUNION Following from the previous episode, the tension builds to a powerful climax, with wonderful performances from all concerned. The series is now in full stride. MR NIGHTINGALE A quiet, shy man is slowly possessed by his rather vile alter-ego, with devastating consequences for his host family. One of the better episodes. A stunning performance from Jeremy Brett at his cackling, insane best. LADY SYBIL An imagined stalking phantom (or is it? What are those wet footprints leading from the river?) is haunting Lady Sybil, but what do her sons have to do with all this? This one's a bit nutty. At times slow and meandering, hard to follow where it's going, and the ending is a real "huh?" moment. Still the performances are sublime, especially Denholm Elliott' finale as the demented, clown-faced son. VIKTORIA A neglected daughter uses the spirit of her down-trodden (and murdered) mother to take revenge on her debauched father and scheming governess. A series highlight for me. Well-paced and atmospheric, with nice acting and good scene setting. The scene where the ghosts appear to the father as he drinks by the fireside is one that has stayed with me since I first saw this nearly 30 years ago! If you are at all creeped out by dolls - don't watch this! NIGHT OF THE MARIONETTES A student of Mary Shelley brings his family to a Bavarian hotel, where the owners stage bizarre, Frankenstein-like marionette shows. Another high-point. The horror is less subtle and much more in your face, but it loses none of its character and atmosphere. Some good chilling moments that genuinely shock. Fine performances, especially Gordon Jackson and Vladek Sheybal DORABELLA A friend watches helpless as he sees his friend become more and more obsessed with a sinister but alluring vampire. Can he escape the same fate himself? Not one of the best episodes to end the series, IMHO, but by no means a weak one. Fine performances and characterisation and plenty of suspense, tension and atmosphere.

I Vaguely Remember This Gothic Horror Series

[Theo Robertson · 17 September 2004]

When I first found this website about four years ago I remember trying to get information on THE SUPERNATURAL but there was none and it's only very recently someone has gone to the time and trouble of registering it . Hopefully someone can contribute more info at a later date .

As for myself I can remember bits of it . The title credits start with a blast of organ music with the camera panning across Gothic images of gargoyles . I remember it seemed very effective at the time when I was aged ten or eleven years old .

Each episode was self contained with someone being invited to an English Victorian club where they had to relate a true supernatural event in their life to be allowed membership and as with all these type of anthology stories they'd be a twist at the end . One of the stories was spread over two episodes and featured several gentlemen staying at a remote mansion in central Europe where a werewolf stalks them , another featured a doll that comes to life while another episode stars Gordon Jackson in a tale that reworks Frankenstien . It's interesting to note that this episode is unique in that the club members think this tale has no basis in fact , it's a made up story

The production values were typical of the BBC of the time , ie it was made rather cheaply with very obvious studio exteriors . I also recall letters to the Radio Times were very mixed with some viewers thinking THE SUPERNATURAL was a load of rubbish while some thought it was a fairly good drama . I personally liked watching it on a Saturday night but there again I was still only a child and it should also be pointed out that the BBC dropped the series after one season while the IMDb hasn't exactly been deludged with either info or reviews for this show which unfortunately may say something about its quality

Update Nov 2014 . After seeing the BBC 4 repeats it's as I suspected . Painfully slow , stagey acting and static directing and twists you can probably see a coming a mile away