The Ice House

Diane, Anne and Phoebe live a peaceful life in a glorious house, that bliss is shattered when a body is discovered in the ice House. The Police are called in.

A wonderful two part drama series, it's beautifully acted, produced, but best of all, it's a cracking whodunnit.

A tangled mystery, with plenty of red herrings thrown in, I really so miss the Minette Walters penned dramas, why did they have to stop them, each was excellent.

It takes some time before you learn who it is in the ice house, and how they ended up there, but the journey is well worth it, there is a lot packed in.

Daniel Craig for me is the standout, and that isn't the James Bond fan in me just opting for him. His performance is outstanding, but everyone contributes well in this.

Twenty four years on, and it's genuinely as good as when I first saw it, excellent, 9/10.

The cover photo on the box has changed: it's now Daniel Craig, solo, to capitalize on his success as James Bond. And he is the one who makes this long--three hours--show work. I've rarely seen a man play a drinker better than Craig does here. At one point, he drops to the floor in exhaustion--he hasn't eaten all day--and Aldridge has to make him eat a candy bar to get his strength up. Truly, Sgt. McLaughlin needs some caring soul to look after him.

The story sometimes lags a bit; three hours is a lot of time to devote to a fairly simple story after all. But the acting is generally excellent. Kitty Aldridge is very good as the one-time Communist newspaper reporter who has a lot of secrets to keep from the police. Penny Downie, whom I last saw playing Gertrude to David Tennant's Hamlet, is really moving at times; she is playing a mother of adult children whose father abused them. Corin Redgrave will make you shudder at times: he's playing the lead officer in the investigation who has harassed some of the characters in the past. The supporting cast is generally good, save for the young woman who has to yell 'Lezzies' too many times for my liking. All in all, a good evening's entertainment.

'The Ice House' is a truly remarkable venture, both in terms of plot and of characterization. As far as the slowly unfolding plot is concerned, the film is second to hardly any of the British (TV) mysteries of recent years such as Inspector Morse etc. The main characters are portrayed in a convincing yet cinematically appropriate way. Right from the very beginning the film psychologically probes the dark sides of human nature keeping the viewer in tight suspense right to the very end. Worth seeing !

"The Ice House," a British mystery/police procedural just before the era of DNA evidence analysis, held my attention if only for the youthful star quality of Daniel Craig who appears in almost every scene but doesn't get top billing - I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him here assisting in a homicide investigation. He does most of the legwork; his boss is familiar with this address because the man of the house disappeared 10 years before - has his body been found, at long last, in the ice house on the property by the gardener? The ice house is nothing more than a hole dug out of the earth; the gummy remains (without clothing) have severe damage to the chest. What puzzled me most about "The Ice House" is the vague info from the medical examiner over the course of this 3 hour mini-series - he cannot ID the body for sure, the teeth are missing, the cause of death was a gunshot or maybe wild animals chewed on the chest - and the person has only been dead a few months or was it longer? Much longer? The program includes much talk about sexual activities - too much for my taste but overall, I liked this dated mystery and was quite surprised by the ending.

The Ice House at first appears to be your typical English murder mystery. Gradually some differences emerge:

1. the pace is quite slow, much closer to a real investigation.

2. your sympathies are with the suspects. You can see why they are sick of co-operating with such loutish police asking the same questions over and over, making all manner of accusations. The police are smirking, rude, bullying, homophobic.

3. You don't know for sure if the various murders actually happened, and if so, who was murdered. This multiplies the number of possibilities exponentially.

4. The townspeople are revolting. Based on rumours they are sure who the culprits are and are keen on vigilante justice. They are brutish and stupid, far scarier than any murderer.

5. Daniel Craig (of later James Bond fame) plays the second in charge inspector. He is an alcoholic. He undisciplined. He is even handsomer than he was as Bond, and somewhat scary in his volatility. The chief inspector is a despicable character who ignores evidence and abuses his power.

It is quite a subtle film, except for the final scene when Craig gives the townspeople a dressing down they will never forget. This movie requires patience and lots of thinking. It about characters, not plot.