This was one of the two 'forgotten' episodes of Hammer House of Mystery & Suspense in my ITV region - eventually being shown in the summer of 1985, in tandem with 'Last Video and Testament' (whereas the rest had been screened over the fall/winter season of 1984).
On first viewing, I felt a sense of disappointment, as it wasn't quite on a par with the more classic episodes of this series that I'd seen the previous year - but over more recent viewings I've grown to like it.
Unusually for a HH of M & S, it has flashback scenes from several decades ago - the beginning (using stock footage of the plane) isn't entirely convincing, I have to say - neither are the actors wearing make-up to look like older versions of themselves in some later scenes.
But the creepiness of the actual tennis court itself is well done, and delivers some genuine scares. The quirky camera angles throughout also add to a sense of strangeness and foreboding - and who would think a tennis court could be a scary place?
There are good appearances from the ever-reliable Cyril Shaps as an eccentric 'ghostbuster', and from Hannah Gordon and Isla Blair, who would be familiar faces to British viewers.
Veteran actor Peter Graves is solid too as the older Redmond. While he was in the UK filming this episode, he also filmed spoken on-screen intros for each of the 13 episodes - tagged on for the American audience who saw this show under the banner of 'Fox Mystery Theater'.
All in all maybe not one of the very best, but a good 'supernatural' episode with some memorable scenes and shocks along the way.
On first viewing, I felt a sense of disappointment, as it wasn't quite on a par with the more classic episodes of this series that I'd seen the previous year - but over more recent viewings I've grown to like it.
Unusually for a HH of M & S, it has flashback scenes from several decades ago - the beginning (using stock footage of the plane) isn't entirely convincing, I have to say - neither are the actors wearing make-up to look like older versions of themselves in some later scenes.
But the creepiness of the actual tennis court itself is well done, and delivers some genuine scares. The quirky camera angles throughout also add to a sense of strangeness and foreboding - and who would think a tennis court could be a scary place?
There are good appearances from the ever-reliable Cyril Shaps as an eccentric 'ghostbuster', and from Hannah Gordon and Isla Blair, who would be familiar faces to British viewers.
Veteran actor Peter Graves is solid too as the older Redmond. While he was in the UK filming this episode, he also filmed spoken on-screen intros for each of the 13 episodes - tagged on for the American audience who saw this show under the banner of 'Fox Mystery Theater'.
All in all maybe not one of the very best, but a good 'supernatural' episode with some memorable scenes and shocks along the way.
