12 Classic British Horror Films You Need To See

Robert Powell plays a Victorian scientist who becomes obsessed with The Asphyx, the “spirit of the dead” described in Greek mythology. Together with his assistant, played by Robert ‘father of Toby’ Stephens, he attempts to imprison an Asphyx of his own, which will allow him to achieve immortality.

Thoroughly original, atmospheric and well-constructed (if a little slow at times), The Asphyx is a movie from a different era – it’s not jumbled and jump cut, the actors aren’t too contemporary to be believable in their roles and the practical effects are genuinely eerie. Needless to say, there are no current plans for a reboot.

Playing at times like a straight-faced version of William Castle’s The Tingler (minus the ‘Percepto’ gimmick), the film died on its original release but later found its audience on TV and home video. Viewers who can take a genteel Victorian ghost story laced with steampunk should watch it immediately.