LOCK YOUR DOOR [1949]

 ONE OF THE TREATS FOR THE HALLOWEEN SEASON CONTAINED IN "SHORT SHARP SHOCKS".

  The BFI have released two blu-ray volumes of (not always) horror-themed British short films called SHORT SHARP SHOCKS and they contain some priceless gems.  First up to (vampire) bat is one of only two surviving short films featuring the legendary horror author Algernon Blackwood telling the viewer a story.  Sadly, the only other film to survive is "THE REFORMATION OF ST. JULES" which unfortunately is not really a horror story but interesting all the same. 

Now, ANY fan of horror will know Algernon Blackwood as the author of such classic ghost stories as "The Wendigo", "Ancient Sorceries" and "The Willows" among many others.  So the chance to see the man himself in his (studio-set) study in front of a fireplace regaling the viewer with a story . . . . of ANY kind frankly . . . . is a treasure not to be missed.  And here "LOCK YOUR DOOR" is a nicely-creepy little tale which will do the trick on a chill October night.  One can't help but remember that this is the way the also-legendary ghost story author M.R. James used to read his stories to a group of students in his study at Christmastime.  So Blackwood here is continuing that tradition -- I'm sure intentionally.  This is the lost art of storytelling which requires an attention span, I'm afraid.  So, if your brain works at longer than 3 second spurts, I'm sure you will be caught up in the telling.  The film is 15 minutes long and consists solely of Algernon Blackwood telling his story so, if you're a Know-Nothing-Tot who can't focus for that long, I'm sure there's something on Twitter you'd rather be doing.  But for those of us who appreciate the art of telling a story as well as the creepy ghost story told by a fire . . . . turn out your lights and watch a master at work.  Oh, and don't forget to LOCK YOUR DOOR!!!

And P.S.:  both of these Algernon Blackwood shorts (LOCK YOUR DOOR and THE REFORMATION OF ST. JULES) are available to watch on youtube.