It is a performances centric movie

I wanted to but couldn't!

Absolutely Brilliant!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I missed this film the first time round, but this just making 'finding' it now all the more intriguing. This is a cleverly simply story set in one stormy night in a house. There is a break in and then things start to kick off. Sounds like the outline for a low budget crime thriller right? No – this is period costume drama set during one night in the life of English King Henry 8th. The one who killed almost all of his wives.From a grunge indie inception to a full blow 35mm cinema experience this film certainly challenges the perception about first time feature films and their directors. John Walsh was 26 when he wrote, produced, directed and edited this mini epic. The cast is headed by Irish acting legend, the now late TP McKenna as King Henry and a ghostly appearance of Jean Marsh as one more of his former wives. Given the tight budget and innovative style, I would like to see what Hollywood makes of him.

It's not often you see a debut director take on something as vast as a costume drama epic about Henry VIII. Most goes the easy route of gangsters and modern day ghost stories. But this film is not epic, but is a costume drama and has an element of haunted house too. I read about the remastering of this relatively recent film, shot in 1996 and in cinemas in 2000. But after hearing the original negative was lost I felt I had to find out more. John Walsh shot this film in two weeks with a micro budget, but amazingly on 35mm film. This is the format that all major Hollywood movies shot on.Clever bloke as this has future-protected the film and now it is back this time in a 2k remaster looking as sharp as a new pin. Is it any good? Unfair to compare with multimillion pound Hollywood fare, but this worth the price of admission to see how John Walsh pulls of the impossible of shooting a costume drama with some heavy eight performances from Jean Marsh and legendary Irish thesp, the late great, TP McKenna.

Taking a new approach to the costume drama, John Walsh makes an interesting debut for a documentary director more established these days for harsh realistic films on hate crime and politics. This effort from the late 90s is testament to a genuine film maker with something to say. He manages to weave a part fact and part fiction story around a single night. It captures much of the darkness of The Downfall but arrived some a good five years before it. The micro budget does show at times but given this a guerrilla shoot, Walsh has managed to capture a sense of style and grace when his contemporaries were running around with 'mockney' crime cappers. Sadly the lead actor TP McKenna passed away 18 months ago, but with an imminent blu ray release coming down the tracks, his mesmerizing performance can be enjoyed by all.

A commoner has an unusual run-in with the King of England in this offbeat historical drama. In 1547, Thorn (James Coombes) is employed as a servant and caretaker by a wealthy British landowner who has put Thorn in charge of his mansion while he's away for the winter. One night, Thorn is terrified to hear what he imagines are armed bandits breaking into the mansion, and he hides in fear of his life. However, Thorn soon discovers he has a very different breed of unexpected guests. With political unrest sweeping England, King Henry VIII (T.P. McKenna) is travelling incognito while trying to bring stability back to his domain, but his coach has been attacked by thieves and the wounded king needs a place to rest. Henry isn't so sure that the ambush was a simple robbery, however -- he thinks it could have been a cleverly disguised assassination attempt, and one of the advisors travelling with the king agrees. As Thorn observes the political intrigue that has suddenly appeared on his doorstep, he also has to deal with the randy goings-on of Henry VIII's assistants, who are openly and flamboyantly gay. Monarch was the first dramatic feature from documentary filmmaker John Walsh. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi