IN THE DARK REVIEWS

I've shilled for this one before, but unlike "Die Hard" or "A Christmas Story," it has yet to make the jump from a holiday curio to a beloved Christmas classic, so here's hoping I can make it happen this time around ...

It's that drowsy week between Christmas and New Year's, when you're still in a festive mood, but you've run out of options for holiday viewing that you haven't already seen.

You've already watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life," you know the adaptations of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and "A Christmas Carol" by heart, and you can pretty much predict the plot beats of any Hallmark Christmas movie.

But unless you're a very specific type of nerd, I can guarantee you haven't seen anything quite like "The Box of Delights" before.

In 1984, the BBC aired a six-part TV miniseries adaptation of John Masefield's 1935 children's fantasy novel of the same name, combining traditional Christmas trappings with English folklore, pagan mythology and obscure bits of real-life history, with pre-CGI effects that aren't too shabby, even today, and lush hand-drawn animated sequences that more than hold up to modern standards.

It's the winter of 1934, and bright-eyed Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield) is riding the train home from boarding school, by himself, to celebrate Christmas at his family's estate in the English countryside, when he finds himself caught up in a secret war of magical forces.

A chance encounter with a vagabond-looking Punch-and-Judy puppeteer named Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton, the second "Doctor Who") leads the old man to tell Kay, "The wolves are running."

This cryptic warning is neither the first nor the last supernatural omen Kay encounters, as he's joined by his family's friends, the equally adventurous quartet of Jones children, in safeguarding Hawlings' "Box of Delights" from the old man's rival magician, the menacing gangster Abner Brown (Robert Stephens).

Kay learns that the backstories of both Hawlings and the box are tied into some fascinating medieval and pre-Christian history, since the box's powers include enabling its owner not only to shrink in size, shape-shift and fly, but to travel back in time - all powers that Brown would use for evil.

"The Box of Delights" is perfect holiday viewing for the whole family, offering enough dramatic tension and genuinely unexpected twists to keep the adults in the audience engaged, while still taking care to be circumspect toward more sensitive children.

Brown's motley crew of animalistic and mystical henchmen are imaginatively realized through their eye-catching costumes and admittedly broad performances, and are intimidating enough to pose a credible threat to our young heroes, without being too scary for younger viewers.

Perhaps the most frightening part of "The Box of Delights" is Stephens' ranting performance as Abner Brown, which skips straight over camp overacting into sheer rage, at being continually thwarted by Cole Hawlings and Kay Harker.

If there are any moments when little ones might feel the need to snuggle closer to their parents, it'll probably be during one of Brown's scenes, even though the most fearsome thing about him is his volume.

Troughton is in top form as the mischievous and mysterious Cole Hawlings, evoking the best of his "Doctor Who" persona by balancing between being neither too sinister nor too safe for curious children.

He's a wizened mentor, with the sort of twinkle in his eye that makes him irresistible and less than entirely trustworthy.

All this, plus unicorns, Roman centurions, King Arthur, Herne the Hunter, Britain's Father Christmas and the recipe for a hot posset add up to make "The Box of Delights" a rewarding viewing experience for children of all ages.

Admittedly, this one's a bit more difficult to track down, but I've never failed to locate a streaming source for it online during the holidays.

Author Bio

Kirk Boxleitner, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
[email protected]