The Canterville Ghost

2023

1h 29m

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

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7 Videos

51 Images

Animation

Comedy

Family

Fantasy

An American family moves in to the Canterville Chase, a London mansion that has been haunted by ghost Sir Simon De Canterville for 300 years.

Directors

Kim Burdon

Writers

Giles New(screenplay by)

Keiron Self(screenplay by)

Oscar Wilde(short story by)

Stars

Stephen Fry

Hugh Laurie

Freddie Highmore

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Top cast

Stephen Fry

Sir Simon de Canterville (voice)

Hugh Laurie

Grim Reaper …

Freddie Highmore

Henry Duke of Cheshire (voice)

Emily Carey

Virginia Otis (voice)

Imelda Staunton

Mrs Umney (voice)

Meera Syal

Lucretia Otis (voice)

David Harewood

Hiram Otis (voice)

Miranda Hart

Algernean Van Finchley (voice)

Toby Jones

The Reverend Chasuble (voice)

Louis Otis (voice)

Kent Otis (voice)

Lord Monroe (voice)

Lady Eleanor de Canterville …

Professor Borsakov …

The Colonel …

Mrs Borsakov …

Marjorie Fairfax …

Directors

Kim Burdon

Writers

Giles New(screenplay by)

Keiron Self(screenplay by)

Oscar Wilde(short story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Well there's never going to be a better version of this than Charles Laughton's 1944 iteration, but this is still actually quite a watchable adaptation of Oscar Wilde's short story. It centres around an American family who relocate to creaky and spooky old "Canterville Chase" - a stately pile that is reputedly haunted by a menacing spectre. The "Otis" family have three children and after the odd eerie visitation, they become distinctly unafraid of their haunting buddy - indeed they are soon trying to find some way of helping "Sir Simon" to lift the curse that has trapped him in limbo for some three hundred years and also to reunite him with his long lost love before the Grim Reaper wins the day. The animation is adequate and there are plenty of whimsical goings on - it's just that the story is over-stretched, there's way too much dialogue and I actually find this works better with real people/scenarios. Animation offers too few limitations on the creative ghostliness and so at times this looks a little too much like an episode of "Scooby Do". Maybe daft to write, but it isn't quite real enough for me! Still, it's good that this story is still doing the rounds - it's a fun tale of true love that's stood the test of time well.

Geronimo196720 Oct, 2023