The Small Hand (Ghost Story) (2019) User Reviews

It was a let down unfortunately.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 5/10 · 2 January 2020]

I really did want the majority of reviews to be wrong, as I am a fan of the story, and also a fan of lead actor Douglas Henshall. Unfortunately, the majority are spot on. By nature, the title encourages the viewer to believe this is going to be a little scary, and whilst it is a Ghost Story, it lacks on the scares. As a production it feels clunky, and somewhat disjointed, the appearances of the Ghosts are heavy handed, subtlety initially would have worked very well. The acting is fine, Henshall is very good, a cut above. It is very slow to start, and pretty slow until the last fifteen minutes, which I really enjoyed. There's no denying it's a great story, I fear it wasn't used to its full potential here. 5/10

Even bad for a made for TV movie.

[stuart_fear · 4/10 · 26 December 2019]

Poor writing, acting and directing. The pace is slow from the outset and doesn't improve from there. No suspense is built and has you struggling to invest yourself in this. A few scenes are laughable and have you wanting to turn off before the halfway marker. You won't care about the characters, you won't care about the story. Channel 5 built plenty of hype, more anticipation than the entire movie could produce. A movie so poor I would never want to read the book

Incredibly dull.

[philneil · 4/10 · 26 December 2019]

The direction of this adaptation of Susan Hill's "Ghost Story" moves at a glacial pace. It is also heavily riddled with very corporeal apparitions appearing before the protagonist thus negating any real suspense or apprehension you, the viewer, may have had.

A big disappointment. I would only recommend this film as a night-time sedative.

A masterclass in how not to make a ghost film

[M5408 · 1/10 · 27 December 2019]

This was pretty bad and actually felt like a low budget student film. Far from being a creepy ghost film over Christmas, it was actually embarrissingly funny at times. Full of "ghost" cliches - rocking horse moving by itself, dark face at a window, doors closing by themselves, blurred figures at the end of corridors and of course the old favourite "no it can't of been her, she died 40 years ago." The worst attribute a ghost film can be is boring but the storyline made little sense, the script was awful and the whole thing felt rushed; we've got 2 months to make a ghost film in time for Christmas. I'd be suprised if anybody associated with this film would be especially proud. Given it was her own book I'm astonished Susan Hill was Executive Producer.

Terrifyingly Dull

[wentworthstreet · 1/10 · 27 December 2019]

Oh dear. I was really looking forward to a decent scare over the festive period. I did get a shock watching this, just not in the way that the makers of The Small Hand intended.

An otherwise talented cast mumbled their dialogue in such a way as to suggest they were embarrassed to be involved in what turned out to be a complete yawn-fest of a 'ghost story' with a total absence of atmosphere and shocks.

A lacklustre script and turgid direction made for a deeply disappointing drama which should be done under The Trades Description Act for calling itself a ghost story.

I've had more scares waiting for my Yorkshire puddings to rise!

Do yourselves a favour and give this two hour dud a miss. It is not worth investing your time. On the other hand, Martin's Close by MR James shown on BBC4 on Christmas Eve is definitely thirty minutes well spent.

One to forget

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 31 December 2019]

THE SMALL HAND is a Channel 5 television movie adaptation of a Susan Hill novel, the author of course being most famous for writing THE WOMAN IN BLACK. Given the obscurity of the source material, it was actually broadcast as SUSAN HILL'S GHOST STORY. It's a bog standard affair about a boring and introspective Scottish guy who moves into the usual dilapidated house and finds himself menaced by the spooky apparition of a little boy. What follows is entirely pedestrian and stagey, with monotonous flashbacks and jump scares playing out with mundane regularly. The actors' hearts aren't in it, and neither is the viewer's. One to forget, if you haven't done so already.

Very poor adaptation of a pretty creepy story

[Milk_Tray_Guy · 4/10 · 27 December 2019]

The lack of suspense in this was mind boggling. Douglas Henshall is a good actor but he was wasted here. The ghost itself had zero fear factor. I don't think the director has ever watched an effective ghost story adaptation. The Uninvited (1944), The Haunting (1963), The Changeling (1980), The Woman in Black (1989 and 2012), and The Conjuring (2013) all got it right; don't show too much too soon (in the case of The Haunting, don't show anything at all)! Let the imagination do the work! This... didn't do that. I own the original story, and it is way, way better than this. A huge letdown.

Boring and not scary at all

[racheladams-53981 · 4/10 · 27 December 2019]

I loved the Woman in Black also by Susan Hill so i was looking forward to this, how disappointed i was. Very dull, no suspense and not scary at all. Terrible

Susan Hill's Ghost Story

[Stevieboy666 · 6/10 · 27 December 2019]

Never heard of either Susan Hill or her story The Small Hand but I have just finished watching this TV adaptation. Not as bad as many other reviews make out. The creepy, delapidated mansion is probably the best thing about it. Good cast, though the main character, played by Dougie Henshall does mumble a lot. The ending had no great surprises but there was adequate scares along the way.

Also know as Susan Hill's Ghost Story

[watsoft70 · 1/10 · 27 December 2019]

Terrible, drawn out plagiarised tripe. Watch it at your own peril because that's lots of time you could have been enjoying something good.

It's better than the 4.4 rating would have you believe.

[edwardhutchinson · 8/10 · 28 December 2021]

Sure it's not The Shining or anything like that but the story is decent. It does run a bit long however. We liked it enough to give it an 8 and were extremely surprised to see the 4.4 rating afterwards.

Was I alone in rather enjoying this?

[d-druce · 7/10 · 7 January 2020]

It was just old-fashioned spooky creepy, with jump-moments. It was faithful to Susan Hill's tone and more akin to a modern-dress M.R.James. Fans of severed heads and gore should go elsewhere.

Awful

[MikeWright75 · 1/10 · 28 December 2019]

What a boring, dreary adaptation. Predictable. Trite. Certainly not scary. In fact it was chock full of cliches. Where has the skill gone for writing good old fashioned ghost stories. I don't know how the movie people can even get funding for this tripe.

Never Had A Clue

[sae218 · 2/10 · 9 August 2023]

I really like Douglas H. As an actor, which is why I wanted to give this a go; despite all the bad reviews. Right from the off I never understood the storyline. No, I didn't read the book; but the movie should stand on its own. Plus, nasty little "small-handed" ghosts never interest me. Too many story lines left dangling. This movie required too much involvement for too little reward. I am still plodding on to the bitter end, but it's just too uninteresting to hang in. Maybe I should read the book...I really enjoyed "Woman in Black," so maybe there's hope. But not for this production. It was promising, the scenery and atmosphere were spot-on. Sorry I couldn't like it.

Glum and overly long

[ferrymarty · 3/10 · 26 December 2021]

Dark, melancholy and too long.

Nice cast - it wasn't their fault. But I guessed there would be yet another doomed child at the end. And getting there was a rather tortured journey.

More sad and plodding than scary.

Don't bother

[ewiep · 2/10 · 26 December 2019]

A dull and improbable story, told in a plodding and predictable manner.

This could have been so much better.

[PendletonBrooks · 3/10 · 27 December 2019]

A good story just not told very well. When the ghostly kid makes an appearance, it's just too much appearance. Nothing scary about this ghost if we see a physical presence. With a good ghost story, it's the suggestion of menace and the tricks the mind plays when there's fear. Maybe with better direction this could have been a gem..

Disappointing ....

[kcaparas · 2/10 · 25 September 2021]

I loved the scenery ... The house was amazing... The storyline just wasn't worth the buildup .. There was no ultimate ending The explanation was just disappointing Maybe some people will like it .. It just wasn't a good movie to me.

I found it creepy *spoiler so don't read

[ladylovelife · 7/10 · 3 April 2022]

First off, the actors did fantastic in their roles and it was disappointing their characters were "rushed" as was this movie. Great story line but where there should have been action it was slow and other points within this movie could have been taken out. I wonder if there is an unedited version and if that would have been better to view.

The Shadow figure walking in the garden at the beginning creeped me out, but the ghost shook me. C-R-E-E-P-Y and definitely a poltergeist. This is not a typical movie I would choose to watch. I am a great fan of Douglas Henshaw though. And, for that reason, I was able to sit through his parts. My anxiety was killing me.. I could not give a full 10 Rating because there were too many questions about the married man and why he was such a peculiar person who people were warned about. It made no sense to have him such a visible character.

Anyhow, that's my input. If you are a huge fan of supernatural and suspense, view this as a movie created by an amateur.

Dross.

[patlee2000 · 1/10 · 1 November 2021]

Absolute dross. Don't know how I can stretch this review to150 characters. All I can say/repeat is "dross". Not even in the 'so bad it's good' category. A waste of two hours.

Atmospheric, psychological watch

[bulldogblink · 9/10 · 21 January 2020]

Good performances overall with an unsettling score and tension throughout. Worth a watch. Engaged me.

Worse than the book (if that's possible)

[sneakygloworm · 2/10 · 8 January 2020]

The book "The Small Hand" sold mainly due to it's petite hardback print. As a story, it was completely pointless and forgettable. Somehow, the creators of this movie have managed to cheapen it even further. Absolutely no recommendations here because the story goes nowhere. It (like most of Susan Hill's stories) is about as cliched as it can possibly be and never draws the viewer in at any point. The characters (as in the book) are dull and lifeless. I really look forward to Ghost Stories at Christmas time but TV people tend to rip known stories to shreds and then rebuild them into something completely different and banal so even that little vice has been denied now. If you have to watch an adaptation of something that was on over Christmas, make it Dracula. At least it had some spirit to it....

Confusion reigns

[simoneast-51320 · 4/10 · 8 November 2021]

The main issue I have with this film is the many confusing and unresolved elements on which I spent so long dwelling, in hope of some eventual explanation or resolution, that they served as a distraction from the main plot (if you can call it that). Some examples:

• Adam the bookseller arrives at a large house where he has brought some rare edition for a client. It soon becomes clear that he and his client's wife (played by Louise Lombard) know each other, as they make very little effort to disguise their affection for one another, even though her husband is always hanging around in the background. What is never made clear is whether they are actually currently having an affair or if they are just old flames looking to rekindle their romance.

• They make no effort at all to tone down the flirting even when her husband is in the room, yet rather deludedly claim that he will never find out what's going on. I can't work out if this is just poor direction, because it simply doesn't ring true.

• When they visit the spooky house, supposedly empty, they seem completely unconcerned when a remote control car comes trundling across the floor. I mean, did they not think, "someone nearby must be controlling this"?

• Why exactly do Adam's mentally unstable brother and his pregnant wife move into the spooky house when they seemed to have a perfectly good house of their own?

All in all it doesn't hang together well, the characters are too one dimensional and the ghosts too three dimensional to have much by way of spook factor.

Poor plot

[Impman2 · 1/10 · 29 December 2019]

So many holes in the plot. A ghost kills a woman, a priest and then the lead character. What does the brother of the lead character do? He moves himself and his pregnant wife into the haunted house. Laughable. The lead character comes across as boring, middle aged, scruffy, lacking in personality and physically in poor shape. Yet somehow his rich, well dressed, very beautiful lover finds him attractive. She could have had any man but she chose him. Laughable.

Watch something else instead.

[pb-06664 · 2/10 · 27 December 2019]

Boring, not scary at all. You know what's going to happen before it happens.