JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

l_rawjalaurence One of the delights of coming to a series "cold," so to speak, without any knowledge of who the "real" Harry Price, is that we can approach it on its own terms as an example of a mystery thriller without speculating about whether it is "true" or "untrue" to the historical past, whatever that means.This is certainly the case with HARRY PRICE: GHOST HUNTER. The real Harry Price (1881-1948) gained a reputation as someone using the then innovative sciences of psychotherapy and psychoanalysis to understand the human mind as well as expose fraudulent mediums who spent a lot of their time touring music-halls and playing on ordinary people's gullibilities. Alex Pillai's production includes one such sequence where our eponymous hero (Rafe Spall) interrupts a performance given by Monsieur Lutrec (Simon Gregor), and ends up hitting the fraud on the chin backstage.Yet the historical material should not be allowed to obstruct a good story. As with most investigator-heroes, the television Harry has a past; haunted by the specter of his dead spouse, he spends most of his evenings dreaming at his dreary home. İt is only when he encounters spry ladies' maid Sarah Grey (Cara Theobold) that he decides to slough off his depression and look forward once more with fortitude. Having himself been involved in fraudulent activity, he decides now to devote himself to the cause of truth in unmasking other frauds.The production manages some side-swipes at manipulative politicians such as Sir Charles (Michael Byrne) who is so preoccupied with getting his protégé Edward Goodwin (Tom Ward) elected as the new leader of the Liberal Party that he is prepared to go to any lengths to achieve his aims. The fact that Edward turns out to be a sleazy character whose faults are unmasked at the end is simply poetic justice.As with most period dramas, the settings of early Twenties London are meticulously recreated, even though it seems that every sequence - whether interior or exterior - seems to have been shot using a smoke filter. The story is little slow to get going, with perhaps too many swooping pans and unexpected zooms at the beginning designed to create a spooky ambiance. On the other hand the ending is cleverly staged through Sarah's point of view as she recovers consciousness, having been ruthlessly felled by Edward. MPs will do anything, it seems, to assert power over women.

debcfisher Okay, maybe it was rather predictable (I certainly wasn't surprised to learn who the culprit was, despite the red herrings thrown in the path). Maybe it was corny. At times it was inconsistent. BUT it was very creepy (I spent a lot of time with my hands over my eyes) and at times rather moving in its exploration of mental illness. I also liked the period sets and costumes.I thought Rafe Spall was excellent and his character made an attractive focus for the action. I'll be intrigued to see how they manage to expand it into a series (assuming that's the intention) as there is limited scope for the title character to exercise his skills.

Leofwine_draca As another reviewer has noted, HARRY PRICE: GHOST HUNTER has absolutely NOTHING to do with the real-life paranormal investigator. It gets the era right but that's about it. What we have here is the usual lefty period drama nonsense, with a miscast and poorly acting Rafe Spall full of the usual mannerisms and the like but failing to convince for a second as the real Price.I would have enjoyed this immensely had it followed some of Price's real-life cases, like the mongoose or Borley Rectory. Instead, we get involved in some nonsense involving a guy's wife who keeps having ghostly visions. They also shoehorn a black guy into the story in a ridiculous show of tokenism. The plotting is slow and dull and the characters are quite laughable, but the biggest regret is that Price is so unrecognisable. Spall looks nothing like him and acts nothing like him, so why they bothered pretending that he was Price I don't know. Without the Harry Price hook I probably would have rated this higher, but as it stands it's a kick in the teeth for any fan of the supernatural.

Tweekums This fictional story is inspired by the real Harry Price, a 'psychic researcher' who investigated supposed supernatural phenomena and exposed fraudulent spiritualists. In this feature length drama, set in the early '20s, Harry is called into find out why Grace, the wife of Liberal MP Edward Goodwin, is behaving strangely after moving into their new house. The party are determined to ensure that her strange behaviour doesn't damage her husband's prospects. She is convinced that there is somebody else in the house but Harry can't find anything obvious. As the investigation continues Harry ends up working with Sarah Grey, the maid, who believes that he is a fraud.When I watched this I had no idea that Harry Price was a real person so had little idea what to expect; this might be the best way to enjoy it as this way it works as both a mystery and as a ghost story right until the resolution. The story grabbed in the opening scene when a soldier kills himself in front of Harry after taking some banal advice the wrong way… this brief scene explains why Harry stopped acting as a spiritualist himself. The central mystery is interesting which kept me guessing as to who was responsible and why. The central characters are fun to watch; even though at times it feels as if this is a pilot for a possible series; the ending, where Harry asks Sarah to become his assistant on a more permanent basis, certainly suggests that there could be more if the ratings are good enough… and if there is I'd certainly watch. The supposed supernatural elements are shown in a way that leaves the possibility that there is a ghost as well as the possibility that we are just seeing what a deluded/drugged person may be seeing. The cast are impressive; Rafe Spall is solid as Harry and Cara Theobold is likable as Sarah; the central pair. They are ably supported by the likes of Tom Ward, Zoe Boyle and Richie Campbell.Overall I'd recommend this to people who enjoy a mystery and don't want any offensive material; even the brief nudity is shown in a way that shows almost nothing without the contrivance of conveniently placed items.