DVD: Crooked House (15)

Written by and starring Mark Gatiss (of The League of Gentlemen fame), Crooked House is infused with such enthusiasm for the good old-fashioned ghost story that its charm is hard to resist.

The tale begins in the modern day with Ben (Lee Ingleby), a teacher who unearths a door-knocker in the garden of his new home. The local museum curator (Gatiss) suggests that it belonged to an old manor with an unsettling past, and relates two tales from the late 18th century and the 1920s before Ben discovers he has become part of the plot. A few twisted surprises and a fitting cast, including Derren Brown, make it an absorbing alternative to the usual scary movie.