The Signalman (1976)

4.5 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Lawrence Gordon Clark
Written by: Charles Dickens, Andrew Davies
Actors include: Denholm Elliott, Bernard Lloyd
Genre: Horror, Drama
Length: 37 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Part of the UK's A Ghost Story For Christmas series and likely the best story of the lot (though I've only ever seen one other that was also quite good). It's a short period piece but it packs a nice little punch. We follow around a Signalman (bet you wouldn't have guessed that) who seems to be haunted by an image that appears when a disaster happens. This all started after he watched a nasty crash between two trains in a tunnel. He meets a friendly fellow and the two talk about life, work and become friends. It's more than just that though as the dreary ominous atmosphere builds into quite a wonderful flick. When you consider this will only take a little more than a half hour of your time and it's probably the best Christmas ghost story how could one say no?

Availability:  Currently Unavailable

A Warning To The Curious (1972)

4.5 / 5 Dec 09
Tagline:  N/A
Directed by: Lawrence Gordon Clark, M.R. James
Written by: Lawrence Gordon Clark
Actors includes: Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Julian Herrington
Genre: Drama, Horror, Short
Length: 50 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I had no idea how much The Woman in Black borrowed from this, but it certainly did. It's part of the series of UK short films that aired yearly in the "Ghost Story For Christmas" grouping. It's just 50 minutes long but it's really clever somewhat frightening and very much to the point. It's about three crowns, the legend goes that as long as one isn't disturbed that all will be fine. Over time, two have been destroyed by various natural disaster issues and only one remained. There was a family in charge of guarding this buried crown but as soon as this hobby archaeologist discovers that the whole family is dead he digs up the treasure. Im not going to tell you what happens from there on but it's effective, great acting, exciting and well it teaches a good lesson. I'll definitely watch more in this series as this was a load of fun though I should mention it's not related to Christmas in any way aside from that being the title of the series.

Availability:  On DVD