Diagonaldi Very well executed

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "The Signalman" is a British television short film from 1976, so this one had its 40th anniversary already last year. It runs for 38 minutes and was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark. But the names of the writers are probably more known as there is Charles Dickens who came up with the original material and Andrew Davies came up with the script. Davies made headlines not too long ago when he scored Emmy nominations for his work on "House of Cards" and back in 1976 he had already been in the industry for a decade, so if you check out his body of work you will see that he is still enjoying a truly special career with many well-known titles. This one we have here mostly lives through the atmospheric take I guess and the actors are solid too, even if I hope that this is not a career-best achievement for any of them. Probably not because the small cast even includes an Oscar nominee (not yet back then). However, in terms of the story or the way it was executed, I would not say it was a success unfortunately. Something is missing. It is not an interesting character study and as a horror film it comes short in terms of creepiness unfortunately. So it is a bit of everything, but not really enough of anything. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

alexanderdavies-99382 This BBC adaptation of the classic short story "The Signalman," is easily the equal of all the TV version of M.R James's work.The fact that this episode is mainly a two- hander, works in its favour. The drama is more focused and devoid of any irrelevant subplots.The whole episode has a more natural look, what with every scene shot on film.Watch this one with the lights out! You won't be disappointed.

jmcmenemy8 A Charles Dickens classic short, expertly transformed to mid-seventies TV by director Lawrence Gordon Clark on the expert adaptation for the small screen by Andrew Davies. Taught, direct camera-work keeps the claustrophobic feel of the Signalman's life superbly realized; more so when the 'Traveller' comes to visit unexpectedly in the low autumn sunlight that barely reaches the cutting track below. The use of an actual signal box, so not in a studio, helps to keep the realism and feel of trepidation at a heightened level (their breath can be clearly seen in the cold air come night time when they both step outside of the signal box). All in all, a classic piece of British TV that could been rarely bettered, even today. You don't need cgi and huge production values to scare; just 40 minutes of first class direction and acting, which this has in abundance.

SBULGACS1 I remember watching this movie as a kid and then again late at night a few years ago. I had to be honest totally forgotten about it until I was recently researching ghost stories. Well to say that I had totally forgotten about it is wrong, when watching movies such as The others this movie always sprung to mind. This short is full of atmosphere and suspense it is a ghost chiller in the purest sense and we are never really sure if the entire thing is in the signalman's mind or not. This pure fact alone makes it superior to most modern Hollywood attempts, were you work out in the first five minutes what is going on and how it will all work out. I would recommend this short to all fans of chillers as the ending even when watched in the day is still shocking. If you are a sensitive type though I would keep clear.