Robert Eggers knows a thing or two about scary scenes, and he’s right when he says the ending of Whistle and I’ll Come to You has one of the scariest scenes ever filmed. Robert Eggers’ horror movies like The Witch and Nosferatu are some of the most stylish and intense of the past decade.

Eggers has established himself alongside Jordan Peele and Ari Aster as a modern master of the genre. In terms of influences, Eggers tends to lean towards classic genre cinema, such as Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror (obviously), Rosemary’s Baby and British ghost story The Innocents.

Black and white British horror movie in general seem to be Eggers’ bag, as in 2024 he selected Whistle and I’ll Come to You as featuring the scariest scene of all time. This 1968 short film adapted a story by M.R. James and became the unofficial first outing in the BBC’s A Ghost Story for Christmas strand.

Robert Eggers Named Whistle And I’ll Come To You’s Ending As Cinema’s Scariest Scene

The original A Ghost Story for Christmas lasted from 1971 to 1978 and largely focused on M.R. James adaptations. The BBC has resurrected this series over the decades, such as Mark Gatiss’ adaptation of mummy tale Lot No. 249, a story by Arthur Conan Doyle. Despite having some fantastic entries, Whistle and I’ll Come to You is still the best.

Like most James tales, this focuses on a fussy old academic named Professor Parkin (Michael Hordern) who takes a trip to a small coastal village and unearths a whistle from a graveyard. Naturally, Parkin blows into the whistle and is soon haunted by a ghostly figure, though it’s never made clear if he’s imagining the haunting. Says Eggers (via THR):

[Whistle and I’ll Come to You] is 40 minutes of slow-burn atmospheric and understated horror that all leads up to perhaps the best articulation of a shroud-like ghost and of sleep paralysis in film. I watch it about once a year.

What gave an entire generation of British children nightmares for life is Whistle and I’ll Come to You’s ending, where Parkin is confronted in his bedroom by the phantom. From the black and white cinematography to the ghost’s unearthly movements and Parkin’s distorted shrieks of terror, it’s a truly bone-chilling sequence.

What Whistle And I’ll Come To You’s Final Scene Is Really About

M.R. James was a scholar and intellectual who also had a deep love for writing and performing ghost stories. There are certain themes he came back to again and again, with the setup for many of James’ stories involving academics uncovering some forbidden knowledge and paying the ultimate price for their hubris.

That’s true of Whistle and I’ll Come to You too, where Parkin is portrayed as an aloof, stubborn intellectual who mocks the mere concept of the supernatural. When faced with increasing proof that he’s been pursued by a ghostly figure, the paranoia and fear Parkin endures make him revert to an almost childlike state.

As Eggers mentioned, Whistle and I’ll Come to You also features a truly nightmarish take on sleep paralysis. Parkin is so petrified when the figure rises from his bed that all he can do is howl in choked fear as he’s rooted to the spot.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter