Midlands Review of Children of Darkwood House
midlandsmovies • July 18, 2021
Children of Darkwood House
Directed by Anthony M Winson
Mr Stitch Films
Sarah Ellis plays paranormal specialist Marion Kelly in a new gothic historical horror from Midlands director Anthony Michael Tracy-Winson.
An opening sequence sees a mother (Sarah Wynn Kordas as Florence Taylor) lose her children to forces unknown one dark creepy night.
The film presents some scepticism towards the spiritual side of things as a journalist accuses a character of being a charlatan in her séance with the spirits. However, Marion Kelly does believe the mother and takes a horse and coach ride to the country to visit her home to conduct an investigation.
Having covered up the mirrors in the house, there is mention of a mysterious entity called the ‘Nursery Man’ (this film’s former title) and with divining rods in hand, Marion is soon wandering around the spooky home with objects moving and doors slamming.
Off the bat, the film thrusts the audience into the story creating a great sense of time and space. Huge kudos should go to the location choices, costume and wardrobe and the production design in general. Befitting the setting, the archaic dresses and neat suits really help sell the film given what must be limited resources.
On the budget it looks fantastic and it’s got some of the best cinematography I’ve seen in a local film. In most cases it looks as good as anything on broadcast television, and more often than not, even better. And the muted palette of the colour grading gives the film an excellent retro style.
After a swift opening act, the film finds its feet but also slows its pace. Marion’s interviews with previous residents who have heard of the legend and regale their stories of the past could have done with a flashback or two for a more visual experience.
That said, in most cases, the scenes use a variety of angles to ensure the standard shot-reverse-shot cliché is mixed up. A trait that so often hinders local films when undertaking dialogue scenes. In addition, reading from letters or books often requires more thought and editing tricks to avoid them becoming a listening exercise for the viewer. However, the whole cast do very well with the material and sell their characters with nuance and some appropriate screams and jumps.
As she uncovers more sinister secrets, Marion works with her son Richard to put the puzzle pieces together. Again, the pace varies yet I hoped it would have quickened as the clues were revealed, in order to create more tension and a sense of urgency. Perhaps, a tighter edit wouldn’t be the worse thing, knocking off 20 minutes of its nearly 1 hour 50 minutes of run time.
Style-wise there are hints of classic Hammer horrors but perhaps more recently it definitely has echoes of The Limehouse Golem and The Woman in Black. Locally it’s similar to the recent Leicester-made historical feature Ripper Untold (our review). But its real locations set it apart and gives it a much more visible and cinematic production quality.
The director has tackled horror set in the past before in his last film Cry of the Magpie, which harked back to the cult fright flicks of the 70s. And in Children of Darkwood House, the modern style of something like The Alienist portrays the past but adds a more recent quality in its visuals.
The film does get slightly more unrelenting towards the end with a host of frights and some ghostly goings on if you stick it out to the final credits.
A successful fright feature with first-class technical elements, Children of Darkwood House has an exceptional cinematic sheen with visuals of the highest quality. And fans of historical horror should definitely investigate its paranormal pleasures as it creates a fascinating mystery whilst ‘conjuring’ up tales of the past.
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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