Whistle and I’ll Come to You (2010)

Directed by Andy De Emmony [Other horror films: Love Bite (2012)]

A BBC television production based on a classic story by M.R. James, this short feature is both somewhat sluggish but ultimately a spooky adaptation.

The story is pretty simple, partially because it’s an adaptation, and partly because it’s only about fifty minutes long. There’s a good moody, atmospheric feeling to this film, and it works well, but at the same time, I think it lacks a bit of meat.

No disappointments from the cast, though. John Hurt does a fantastic job as a depressed man who just put his wife into a nursing home. Hurt really brought a lot of feeling to this, and is probably the best reason to watch this. The rest of the admittedly small cast worked out also, what with Gemma Jones (Pomfrey from a few of the Harry Potter films), Lesley Sharp (who was in a Doctor Who episode titled ‘Midnight’), and Sophie Thompson.

What works best about this movie is the downbeat, depressing aura, along with the pretty suspenseful scenes at the end. Even the spectral figure on the deserted beach was a nice touch (the setting as a whole, an almost-empty hotel near the sea, was beautiful). This said, I felt that this was lacking something. Not enough to make it anywhere near a bad film, but still, not something I’d eagerly watch again in the future. As decent as some scenes were, I’d rate this around average.

7/10