Schalcken the Painter (1979)

If Im correct this was a made for TV, a one off, and If it is the same one, I was fortunate to see it on CHANNEL 4, here in the U.K. about 15 years ago.It was one of the most terrifying things I've ever seen on TV, 'scary " these days in films means Gore Fest, and sickness....it is so boring and predictable to watch a "scary movie" nowadays.Schalken the Painter was very spooky, a psychological horror that crept and made you jump, it made me very uncomfortable i didn't want to leave the room alone.I am so annoyed that quality stuff like this is not released on to DVD for us to buy! so if anyone knows of a release please let us know all know. thankyou.

This visual adaptation of Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's short story is, as I remember, as faithful to the pace and tone of the original work as any film I've come across. As compelling as the story, and lit in a way evocative of Vermeer and Schalken, it proceeds with an attention to static detail and earthiness that one normally associates with Dutch interior pictures of the 17th century, adding to this already addictive blend the grim inevitability of a supernaturally sinister social deal based on personal gain. Anyone interested in this period of Dutch history will gain much enjoyment from this film - paradoxes abound in this curious world of high art, dedication, order, status, lust, pecuniary gain, moral, (and physical), corruption. Truly a lost masterpiece.

There's no point repeating what other viewers have said - this is one of the great lost classics of BBC television.A stunning piece of work, and the climactic scene is both erotic and horrific.It may not originally have been "A Ghost Story for Christmas", but I'm sure it was shown in that slot at some point in the 80s.There was a companion piece made in 1987 - again with Charles Gray as narrator - this time based on an incident the life of Italian painter Cariani. It was called Cariani and the Courtesans, and starred a pre-Withnail Paul McGann.It lacks the atmosphere or the horror of the earlier piece, but it's worth a look if the chance ever presents itself.

Only the BBC has the ability to outdo great writers, and even then, only rarely (Ashenden was one example, Jeeves and Wooster another). Here is one of the best examples: a classic BBC TV play adapted from J. Sheridan LeFanu's chilling short story of the same name.The atmosphere of this TV film is incredibly disturbing, and the cast and crew all do a brilliant job to recreate one of the most chilling stories of gothic literature. Godfried Schalcken was a real painter who studied under Gerrit Dou in Leiden (Holland). Schalcken painted figures lit by candlelight, and his paintings are quite atmospheric. It is this dark atmosphere which suffuses LeFanu's work and this TV play. After seeing the movie, I took a trip to Europe, and had the chance to see some of the original paintings. They are brilliant in their depiction of light, shadow, and darkly captivating mood.The TV play is a kind of allegory and a mystery, in which a young maiden (a rare appearance by the lovely and talented Cheryl Kennedy) is married off to a mysterious suitor and disappears. It falls to Schalcken (played brilliantly by Jeremy Clyde), who had used the girl as a model, to investigate. The horror that he uncovers haunts him (and his subsequent artworks) forever.Unfortunately, like many late-night TV plays that were prevented from making it to VHS by a reactionary '70s era British VHS censorship debacle (the play features a very brief frontal nude scene, performed quite eerily by Cheryl Kennedy), this TV classic is now apparently lost. It has not been seen on TV for over a decade (as far as I'm aware), and like many '70s BBC masterpieces, seems destined to spend decades completely forgotten in some film vault. We can only hope that someone at the BBC will eventually find it and get the powers that be to release it on DVD or VHS. Hopefully soon!