The House in Marsh Road



Jean and David Linton are currently struggling. It’s so bad that they’ve got less than 10 pounds to their name, and they’re forced to scam rental houses just to have a place to stay. But things quickly take an unexpected turn when Jean is contacted by a lawyer informing her that she’s just inherited her eccentric late aunt’s estate. The huge house is old, but grand, and Jean is so happy to finally have a place of their own that she doesn’t even care if the place is supposedly haunted by a mischievous poltergeist. David doesn’t care about the ghost either, but what he doesn’t like is being tied to one place for too long, and feels that they should sell the house and move to London. But the house is Jean’s and she likes it there, and she is determined to stay. Plus, she doesn’t much trust her husband when it comes to finances, and suspects they’d be homeless again within a year or two, so she steadfastly refuses to sell.


It’s actually a neat looking house. I’d refuse too.

Bitter about being dismissed, David finds solace in the arms of his new secretary, and the two of them plot to off Jean and take the estate for themselves. Now if only they didn’t have that pesky ghost to contend with…


Why does my milk taste like ectoplasm?

The House in Marsh Road is an English horror/drama from 1960, based on a book of the same name by Laurence Meynell. The film holds the distinction of being (perhaps) one of the first “modern” films to actually use the term “poltergeist” in it. But if you’re a fan of ghost stories you probably shouldn’t get your hopes up too much with that distinction. Because truth be told, the movie focuses much more on the drama between Jean and David and their interpersonal relationships than it ever does on the ghost. In fact the ghost, often referred to as Patrick, is never seen at all, and only makes itself known by occasionally making noise or moving objects to help further the adulterous plot along at integral moments. But thankfully the rest of the movie is a decent enough little low-budget thriller, so I’ll forgive the film for its odd, almost quaintly convenient, little plot device.



Honestly though, the more I think about it, the less I feel that this should even be designated a horror movie. Because the focus really is on David and Jean’s relationship, with the first half of the movie focusing more on the drama, and the second half becoming a bit more of a thriller once David decides to try to kill his wife. So the first half of the movie can actually feel a little slow as we’re introduced to the characters and learn the intricacies of their love-hate relationship. Or to put it more simply, we learn that they’re in a loveless marriage, with Jean craving stability while David seems to prefer the free-range lifestyle, where he’s not tied down to one place. Oh, and he has a drinking problem and has already had several affairs. But this is a British film set in the 1950s/1960s, so Jean is still trying to be a dutiful little wife and make the marriage work, despite the fact that David, in case you couldn’t figure it out, is a Grade-A ass. But she won’t sell the house for 6,000 pounds though (approximately $118k today), which pisses him off and causes him to sulk for a little bit. But apparently he’s also a stellar liar, and he manages to con a second woman into thinking he’s good enough to marry, and they come up with the idea to kill Jean.


Somebody clearly has a type…

Notice how I didn’t mention the ghost in all of that, because he (or she, we really don’t know), doesn’t really factor into the story up until this point, beyond knocking a couple things off the walls and moving a chair. They really only matter after this point by virtue of thwarting David’s murder attempts. First by closing off an elevato – excuse me, Lift – entrance, so Jean isn’t pushed to her doom, and then again by blaring the doorbell each time she starts to drink a poisoned glass of milk her husband gave her. Never says anything, mind you, just buzzes the doorbell REALLY loudly. So really you could chalk almost all of its antics up to rogue gusts of air or electrical anomalies. But thankfully Jean, despite being married to an idiot, is actually a smart cookie and understands these clues for what they are, and she manages to get away long enough for the ghost to actually prove it’s a ghost, and take its revenge on David. Proving that, man or woman, the ghost knows an irredeemable asshole when it sees one, and by god, it will not be outdone as the pettiest thing living in that house.


Think you can out-asshole me, do ya?! We’ll see about that!

So overall I liked the story. Technically speaking though, the movie has a couple issues. You can tell the film was fairly low-budget for the time, and it must not have been a big hit, because the film quality itself looks a bit rough due to lack of care. Some scenes look washed out and a couple are too dark, and that’s even after the film has clearly gone through some sort of restoration process. So it looks alright, but I shudder to think of what it must have looked like before. There are also a couple of technical blips I noticed, including some noticeable missing frames and a shadow across the wall that shouldn’t be there. But they’re small and quick, and if you’re feeling generous you could probably chalk those up to the ghost being a pest.


This poor film could have looked really good if they’d taken care of it.

Minor quibbles aside though (including that it bothers me that it isn’t “on Marsh Road”, instead of “in Marsh Road”), I kind of enjoyed The House in Marsh Road. It’s not a great movie, but parts of it are fun, and it’s a very easy to watch little horror…er, thriller…whatever you want to call it. The acting holds up fairly well, and I’m kind of impressed that the film covered such a wide array of mature topics that other films from that period tended to shy away from, or at least been much more subtle about. Some of the scenes could have been composed and framed better, and I do wish there had been a bit more ghost in my supposed ghost story but, eh, it’s still an enjoyable enough film for what it is. Plus, it’s only 70 minutes and moves at a rather brisk pace, so it respects your time. If you like light thrillers with a sense of eeriness, then this one is surprisingly solid. But if you’re looking for an actual GHOST in something that’s supposed to be a ghost story, then I have a feeling you’re gonna be super bummed.

The House in Marsh Road is available on a variety of streaming services.

As far as I can tell it does not have an official release, though I did find at least one site where you can pay for someone to burn it to a DVD-R for you.

Or you could also read the book.

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