You know your show's a hit if a "special" gets commissioned, and what better way to satiate Psychoville fans than with an intervening Halloween episode before series 2? In the great tradition of anthology horror, this hour-long portmanteau spun four creepy stories in the form of embellished prequels for the main characters, while simultaneously setting the scene for next year's full-blooded return. Opening on Halloween night 1997, a young boy called Drew (Matthew Fenton) is dared by his friends to sneak inside the intimidating Ravenhill Hospital and steal something belonging to fearsome custodian Edwina Kenchington (Eileen Atkins), only to be caught red-handed trying to pinch her precious locket. From there we flashforward to the present, where an adult Drew (Alex Waldmann) has returned to the abandoned asylum, accompanying clueless filmmaker Phil Walker (Reece Shearsmith) on a recce for a live TV ghost hunt programme. During their sweep of the crepuscular corridors and cobwebbed wards, both men share tales of terror inspired by the decrepit hospital and its freaky patients... The Fears Of A ClownThe first story focused on misanthropic clown Mr Jelly (Shearsmith), spending Halloween indoors awaiting the arrival of a buxom prostitute, only to become the target of two mute trick-or-treaters who appear on his doorstep and proceed to terrorize him with a roach-infested tin of sweets, a scary DVD and a... fellating goat? Of all the stories, this felt like too truncated, as the ending arrived just when you'd settled into its eerie groove. Still, anything that leaves you wanting more is doing something right, and it undoubtedly helped that hook-handed Mr Jelly is such a wonderfully brusque character to watch. In many ways, he's the Scrooge figure of Halloween, if cruelly denied a chance of redemption, similar to a storyline in the movie Trick 'r Treat. The House Viewing That BledJoy Aston (Dawn French), the plump midwife convinced a practice doll is her real baby son, is the star of the second vignette. This story was the alleged reason her fastidious husband George (Steve Pemberton) had Joy committed to Ravenhill, as he attempted to sell their home to potential buyers while having to contend with his wife's bizarre maternal behaviour and habitual untidiness. For me, this was the highlight of the four tales, mainly because it had a simmering domestic menace that reminded me of The League Of Gentleman's approach, and the ending left us with an unforgettably macabre sight... The Eyes Of Oscar LomaxIn the third yarn, blind miser Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) was given an eye transplant from an elderly Japanese woman, only to discover his new peepers give him unique visual insights into how his donor was murdered. A brazen steal of 2002 Asian horror The Eye (inspiring the ethnicity of the eye's original owner?), this nevertheless worked nicely as a comedic spin on the story. It also contained some of the special's creepiest moments, such as the vision of a man levitating across a room, and anything that turns EastEnders "duff-duffs" into the punchline to a pensioner being smothered deserves respect. The HitchersThe final tale focused on mother and son oddballs the Sowerbutts, left stranded on the roadside dressed as Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride after their car breaks down on the way to a Halloween party. Managing to thumb a lift with a stranger, serial-killer connoisseur David (Pemberton) started to suspect the driver has murdered his "wife", who lies slumped in the front passenger seat, but can't convince his mother Maureen (Shearsmith) the driver means them harm. This was a familiar horror setup (one I remember Lee Evans doing better in the '90s), that wasn't particularly funny or scary, and the "twist" of Maureen being revealed as a werewolf about to eat the unfortunate driver didn't work that brilliantly because there was no clever foreshadowing. It was just a totally unpredictable shock and excuse to showcase impressive American Werewolf In London-style make-up effects. Framing the quartet of ghost stories was a piecemeal flashback to Drew's childhood trauma at the hands of Kenchington, who taught him a lesson by giving him a guided tour of the hospital's mask-wearing lunatic patients, before the adult Drew was forced to confront the resurrected Kenchington in the present-day. A Saw-esque rug pull to chronology was delivered well in the climax, too, with Kenchington calmly shooting Drew in the stomach, before leaving to join the gathered former-patients in a reprise of series 1's end scene. Adding spice, the subsequent explosion that ended the last series here played out on Phil's abandoned camera -- the footage being reviewed by stern Grace Andrews (Imelda Staunton) in a dazzlingly white office. Clearly next year's villain, why is Grace so interested in the events at Ravenhill Hospital that fateful night, and why does she have a dossier on the patients caught in the explosion? Has she been tracing Kenchington's mysterious, shining locket? Psychoville Halloween will undoubtedly be compared to The League Of Gentlemen's Christmas Special by fans (who generally straddle both camps), and it undoubtedly comes off second best. Maybe it's the absence of The League's Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson in this whole endeavour, but Psychoville only showed real invention during its sharp wrap-up. You could even argue that the surprise werewolf appearance in the Sowerbutts's story was just echoing the vampirism twist to Herr Lipp's story in The League Of Gentleman's festive special. However, each individual story in this Halloween treat was entertaining and sprinkled with witty lines and comical moments, although most of the tales had a caveat (Jelly's was too brief, Lomax's was derivative, the Sowerbutts's was unsubstantial). The exception was Joy's, which benefitted enormously from its gruesome final image and the French/Pemberton connubial interplay. It was a shame Shearsmith and Pemberton only interacted during the Sowerbutts story, as the actors have such great rapport their scenes together are always much stronger. They have a comic timing and chemistry that supporting stars like Daniel Kaluuya (as Tealeaf) and Alex Waldmann just can't replicate. Overall, Psychoville Halloween was more than the sum of its dismembered parts, as its chilly vibe and sense of occasion glossed over each vignette's problems. It found a clever way to be a prequel, a compendium of stories told by unreliable narrators (making this a "Simpsons Treehouse Of Horror"-style affair), and cleverly foreshadowed what series 2 has to offer. It wasn't as hilarious or frightening as I was hopig for, but it was undoubtedly a pleasurable and spooky way to spend a cold October evening.
WRITERS: Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton DIRECTOR: Matt Lipsey CAST: Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Dawn French, Daniel Kaluuya, Imelda Staunton, Alex Waldmann, Matthew Fenton, Maisie Hopkins, Bethany McCann, Billy Holland, Josie Walker, Emily Wachter, Julian Bleach, Pik Sen Lim, Daphne Cheung, Niki Sidi, Angela Sims & Daniel Ings TRANSMISSION: 31 October 2010, BBC2/HD, 10PM
Each vignette's title is my own invention, just to differentiate the stories. Blog: Dan's Media Digest Twitter: @danowen79