Rare FLAWLESS Hammer movie

There are loads of really good Hammer films, but boy do most of them have major flaws (especially their usual abrupt or hopeless ending). But this is one Hammer effort that is Golden from beginning to end.

Probably because the script was taken from an unusually strong BBC source, the dialogue is always thoughtful, the plotting clever, and the ending satisfying. The concept is unusual and disturbing- crossing horror with SF in a Lovecraftian fashion, as many others here have noted.

The film looks great, the VFX work is acceptable (mostly because of the way it is shot/edited, rather than because of craft skills), and the sets are very nice. The director deserves the major praise - he gets great performances from actors who are otherwise each playing a rather familiar genre cliche.

I first watched this as a kid at Xmas Day with the family gathering, and that was a great experience. Seen it several times since, including this year, and each time worried that an older me would be more critical. However, my opinion remains unchanged.

I'd say something mean about Hollywood today (yeah, this was a Brit movie, but then so are 50% of 'Hollywood' movies in reality), but as dreadful as 2016 was in general for movies, the horror genre was very well served with tight low budget fare like 'The Shallows', 'Lights out', 'Don't Breath', 'The Conjuring 2'.