Pianos that play by themselves. Fires that spring up from nowhere. Housekeepers who 'see things'. Ah yes, we've been here before, in Hammer's later years. Indeed, in its way, this film is a ghost of things past itself. Not too well acted, true, but then these things never were. Now, as then, there are almost, but not quite convincing performances, from the visiting American star (Aidan Quinn), the English rose heroine (Kate Beckinsale) and an arch British supporting cast. This one, though, does have an extra touch of class in the (? spectral) form of John Gielgud who, then 91, gives the best performance in the film. And there's some in-your-face sex and nudity, just to remind us that this is 1995 and not some phantom from 30 years before. It packs enough intrigue and dodges along the corridors of its story to hold the interest, too, as Dr Quinn tries to unravel the secret of a 'haunted' English ancestral estate that seems to be driving Nanny Tess (Anna Massey) out of her mind. Not especially good, then, but professionally done.

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