the Nightmare worlds of hg wells
Wells in Roald Dahl mode
released OUT NOW! 2016 | 15 | dVd Director adrian shergold Cast ray Winstone, Michael Gambon, luke Treadaway
Casting Ray Winstone as HG Wells is a ripping wheeze that sadly sends out all the wrong signals about this otherwise rather po-faced Sky Arts adaptation of four of the author’s short stories.
There’s some evidence that these four tales are supposed to be blackly comic – a sort of League Of Gentlemen’s Tales Of The Unexpected. The subject matter is certainly rum old toot: an artist whose painting comes to life to seduce him; an aged eccentric who body-swaps to stay alive; an etymologist haunted by a rival reincarnated as a moth; a baker who discovers the most magical mushrooms ever. But the stuffy, lifeless staging, stylised sets and one-mood tone mean that even a fine cast struggle to make these nightmares entertaining, though there are some wonderfully bizarre moments.
Also, Wells was no Roald Dahl. His short horror stories rarely have a proper twist or surprise conclusion (“The Late Mr Elvesham” comes closest). Instead they go down the morality tales route, and that really does suck the fun out of the more fanciful concepts.
Extras None. Dave Golder
Writer Graham Duff cameos as a doctor in one story. He was also a Death Eater in the last Harry Potter film.