Sam Lowry I came across this film after seeing it advertised at a film festival. I missed it as it was sold out. I caught up with the film later and found out it had been lost for a while and the director John Walsh was giving the inside story on what happened.As a film maker myself I was fascinated by this story of the making of this low budget costume drama and the story of the film too. Set in a wintry night an injured King Henry VIII comes to what appears to be an abandoned or at least closed up house. What happens next is an indie Agatha Christie style story. The shooting style and performances are somewhat unique to this film and really work in the stormy night context. Stand out performances from TP McKenna ad Henry VIII and Jean Marsh as one or more of his former wives.What film maker John Walsh did with a tony amount of money and little more than a two week shoot is impressive. A costume drama that has something to say about the current state of things.

George Kaplan At a time when special effects are king it is good to see some old fashioned story telling at work here. That's not to say the approach or the subject are in any way stale. This re telling of a final days of Henry VIII is done with much aplomb from director John Walsh. This is the first big screen outing for this director who was only twenty 26 when he wrote directed and produced this mini epic.The film had been lost for some time and recently it has be found, cleaned and given a modern HD rebirth, all to the good. This is one to watch late one night (stormy preferably to get the full effect.For many small budget first time efforts, it is a gore fest of young people bed hoping or gangsters swearing, spitting and fighting, so good to see John Walsh here making the effort and enlisting the considerable talents of the great T.P. McKenna playing a thunderous Henry and Jean Marsh playing an exquisitely restrained Queen, but which one?Suffice to say if you have any interest in this period, this is worth a look.

tony-649-684341 This is masterful filmmaking by director John Walsh. It's beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and built around a moment of suspense Hitchcock would have been proud of. But Walsh's greatest masterstroke is his choice of subject matter. On the surface, King Henry VIII seems like a gossipy story that has been the most retold one of the 20th Century.But as the drama ­develops, the enormity of the ­situation hits you. The monarch had long ceased to wield political power, there was something very shaky about the monarchy. In this stylish film, King Henry VIII (TP McKenna) is an arrogant and dangerous but also vulnerable and susceptible to the tricks played by his own mind. Thanks in part to the ghost Queens played by Jean Marsh.This is on a very small intimate scale, but the claustrophobic sets, haunting music and refined direction make this one of the most tense costume dramas I have seen.

Daniel Fellows Henry VIII is s tough nut to crack in terms of drama. Either it becomes a romantic soap opera or an epic of the David Lean proportions. Either way this can be a hard ear to connect with. John Walsh's film has got some balls. With a budget that would only buy a few costumes on a Hollywood film, he has woven a tale that's manages to engage and offer a new perspective on this most written about, talked about and most filmed monarch in history.The film is a hidden gem and so is the cast. Irish stage actor TP McKenna embodies Henry and acts the rest of the cast off the screen. That is until he meets his match in the 'form' of Jean Marsh, enough said here otherwise it's a spoiler. Get the film, have a look and then look at the costume dramas that are consuming our Sunday night TV. I want Walsh to have another crack at history, he's clear got the knack.