Lost Hearts (1973)

Directed by

Lawrence Gordon Clark

Genre

horror fiction, mystery fiction

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

35 min

Rating

6.1 of 10 from 26 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young orphan moves in with his reclusive older cousin, an alchemist. He begins seeing ghostly visions of two children who lived there before, and fears he might meet the same fate.

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What happens

Lost Hearts is a short film, the third of the British supernatural anthology series A Ghost Story for Christmas. Written by Robin Chapman, produced by Rosemary Hill, and directed by the series' creator, Lawrence Gordon Clark, it is based on the 1895 ghost story of the same name by M. R. James and first aired on BBC1 on 25 December 1973. It is the first instalment to have been broadcast on Christmas Day itself, and one of only three in the series' history. It stars Joseph O'Conor as Mr. Abney, a reclusive alchemist who takes in his much younger cousin, Stephen (Simon Gipps-Kent). Stephen finds himself troubled by visions of two children who are revealed to have previously been taken in by Abney, and whose grisly fates potentially foreshadow his own. "Lost Hearts" was the first instalment not to be written and produced by Clark, who had helmed the first two singlehandedly under the auspices of the BBC Documentary Unit. A "victim of his own success", the series was brought under Hill at the Drama Department, with Clark staying on as director for all but the final entry in the original run. Since airing it has received praise from critics. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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