Whistle and I'll Come to You

I have on two separate occasions watched videos on movies and shows that traumatized British viewers, either unintentionally or entirely on purpose.

Both videos featured:

Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968).

This 42 minute long TV movie is based on “Oh, whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad” by M. R. James who wrote many acclaimed ghost stories in his time.

It stars Michael Horden as Cambridge Professor Parkin who we meet as he arrives at a hotel somewhere on the English east coast. The professor is there on a small walking holiday, unlike the few other guests who are there for golf. On his first outing, as he walks briskly around, muttering and humming to himself, he finds a crumbling grave in an old cemetery. The grave is half exposed due to the erosion of wind and sea, and upon closer inspection he finds and pockets an ancient flute, or whistle. After dinner, he cleans it up and blows it. That night as he falls asleep he hears a vague fluttering noise. The next night, the noise is louder and almost sounds like a heartbeat, and as he falls asleep, he is constantly disturbed by dreams where a spectral figure chases him along the beach. Something is coming closer, but that is all I'm going to reveal. Watch it yourself if you want to know the ending.

It is worth noting that this story was first published in 1904 and this was shown in 1968, so it's not incredibly scary. If you are a horror aficionado, you may even find it a bit dull, but they managed to make something very atmospheric with very little. Whistle and I'll Come to You is a proper ghost story, not a gore fest.

Whistle and I'll Come to You was remade in 2010 starring John Hurt but I haven't seen it yet.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely. As I said, it isn't super scary, but I did get a couple of quick chills, which is more than enough. It is a bit slow and very old fashioned, but they really did a great job building the atmosphere from the very beginning. Being so short, I would urge any and every fan of ghost stories to give a go, in fact, I'll embed it below.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!