THE AWAKENING **

"The Awakening" may not be "The Innocents" but this stylish ghost story, set in a boarding school not long after the end of the First World War, delivers the requisite scares very nicely and even the somewhat convoluted twist is handled with considerable aplomb. It's another 'murdered-child-haunting-the-corridors' yarn and at its heart it's got a sceptical ghost-hunter who happens to be a woman. As played by Rebecca Hall she's a steely adversary for any ghost, that's until she starts to see the thing herself. Others in the fine cast include Dominic West as a teacher with his own demons to deal with, Imelda Staunton as the pragmatic matron and Joseph Mawle as the school's less than trustworthy handiman. Of course, the real star of the picture is the school itself, a stately pile that wouldn't disgrace Downton Abbey and director Nick Murphy uses its nooks and crannies to maximum effect. It's also nice to see a chiller that doesn't rely on gore to give us the willies. Very good.