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4 reviews

Originally I wasn't going to write a review, I didn't think I had all that much to say. But then I started to sum up my thoughts on the forum and realized I absolutely do.

Ghosts of Winterborne was also just alright. Better than Unnatural Selection, though. Really it suffers from being a sequel. It’s entirely competent, even good. If it was it’s own thing, I probably would like it a lot more. But it isn’t.

Really I think it misses the mark on what made Devil so good. The Devil of Winterborne was the best of PROBE, and BBV as a whole. I don't think it needed a sequel, and Ghosts doesn't convince me otherwise.

My favorite part about Devil was the ambiguity, the idea that maybe there wasn't anything supernatural going on at all and it's just people monumentally screwing each other up. Ghosts kind of just throws that away. It manages to somewhat diminish the original in my mind, even.

Honestly I'm disappointed knowing this is the last outing with the original cast. I wish it could have ended on a better note. Rest in peace Caroline John, you were a wonderful actress. You will forever be missed.

Ghosts of Winterborne doesn’t really do anything for me except mildly piss me off. It's completely fine, I just don't like it. Six out of ten.


snakesontoast

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Okay so they decided to so The Devil of Winterbourne, but without the bits that were actually interesting, and retconning the main thing I liked about it.

I mean, generally this was pretty fun and I enjoyed watching, usually I'd give a 7/10, but the fact it makes The Devil of Winterbourne worse in retrospect is just really frustrating.

It also doesn't have the moments that really make The Devil of Winterbourne work like the scarecrow there, so it just falls a bit flat.

I like coming back to the location and seeing the repurcussions of that first film, but overall it's just fine.


JayPea

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This review contains spoilers!

When I saw it was a sequel to The Devil of Winterborne I was SO EXCITED as I loved that one, this however fell so flat. It could've done being a lot longer like Devil was, and the conclusion/ending just felt so rushed and anti-climactic. Quite disappointed this was the final story in the original run, as I really wanted to see Liz/Patsy develop more and yeah, ultimately consider me a fan despite it not being perfect I like the premise and wish it could be expanded on more.


Jamie

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For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten son, that we might not perish, but have eternal life.

With the original unmade third film being substituted for Unnatural Selection, the planned finale for the PROBE series was lost but rounding out the final original outing for the cast and crew is the sequel to the second film. Ghosts of Winterborne is also the shortest film in the series only just clocking in at 40 minutes long which left me somewhat worried about how this film would come across... thankfully it's a return to form for the series and sends off the original cast with good grace.

The Devil of Winterborne has only recently been exorcised by P.R.O.B.E. But when the body of its last victim disappears, and a book of black magic spells is stolen from a local museum, Liz Shaw begins to wonder if the ghosts of the past have really been laid to rest. Forced into an unholy alliance with the school's disgraced headmaster, Liz must fight not only her own warring emotions but a festering evil that threatens to corrupt the Earth again after 100 years. But how do you fight a shadow from hell?

I'm somewhat glad they decided to make a sequel to Devil even though it really didn't need or actually warrant one, but Ghosts manages to stand above the title and description of sequelitis. Returning to the series is Peter Davison and Reece Shearsmith, who put in fantastic performances and truly steal the film even if the dialogue is a lot more clunky here than it should be, but Mark Gatiss' story and ideas come across brilliantly. The music is subtle and helps underscore the more dramatic moments of the film and the direction is rather great for these BBV films.

Overall, Ghosts of Winterborne is more overtly occultist than The Devil of Winterborne, but the final PROBE story ties up various loose ends and makes for a fairly satisfying (if rather short) conclusion.

I suppose I'll have to watch When to Die at some point...

Extinguishing said youth's life in a special or holy place. And the blood once thus imbibed will allow creation of the matrix favourable to the Dark Ones. And precipitating partial resurrection.


DanTheMan2150AD

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