{"id":13311,"date":"2026-10-22T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=13311"},"modified":"2026-10-15T12:40:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T12:40:29","slug":"a-small-ghost-story-resurfaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/a-small-ghost-story-resurfaces\/","title":{"rendered":"A Small Ghost Story Resurfaces"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 21 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEW
\nThis Old Man<\/strong>
\n –  <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Horror, Short
\nYear: <\/strong>1974, 2026 Blu-ray
\nRuntime: <\/strong>24m
\nDirector(s): <\/strong>Francesco Lucente
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Francesco Lucente
\nCast: <\/strong>Alf Lamers, Mario Lucente
\nWhere to Watch:<\/strong> available now; order your copy here: www.mvdshop.com<\/a> or www.amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW: <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>A rocking chair in the snow is an effective invitation to a ghost story. The object belongs somewhere sheltered, with someone tending a fire nearby, and placing it in a bitterly cold forest immediately makes its occupant seem wrong. THIS OLD MAN builds its premise around that kind of displacement. An ordinary encounter becomes unsettling because the people and objects involved don’t quite belong where they’ve been found.<\/p>\n

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Francesco Lucente’s early short follows a solitary drifter, played by Alf Lamers, through a winter landscape and into an encounter with an elderly stranger. Mario Lucente plays the old man, whose heavy military coat and strange drawings make the traveler wary. Shelter eventually enters the picture, but it arrives attached to someone he doesn’t understand. The situation has the straightforward appeal of a fireside tale. A person needs help, encounters something unusual, and follows curiosity further than good sense recommends.<\/p>\n

The strongest element in that setup is the weather. The cold makes the drifter vulnerable before any supernatural explanation is needed. A stranger’s guidance carries more weight when staying outside is dangerous, and the promise of a building offers an immediate, practical reason to keep going. That’s a useful foundation for a horror short because it keeps the character’s movement connected to a recognizable need. He isn’t simply exploring an ominous place because the story requires him to.<\/p>\n

The old man’s appearance adds another layer of uncertainty. His coat suggests a history that predates the encounter, while the charcoal portraits reveal a private activity the drifter can observe without fully understanding it. These details give the premise texture beyond discovering a ghost. Clothing, drawings, and a chair suggest someone who has lived in a physical world, leaving objects behind that still carry traces of his presence.<\/p>\n

The portraits suit this approach particularly well. A drawing records what a person sees or believes about himself, making it an intimate object for a stranger to examine. Encountering images whose purpose isn’t immediately apparent can be uncomfortable, especially when their creator stands nearby and offers little explanation. They give the story something concrete to investigate while preserving the uncertainty surrounding the man who made them.<\/p>\n

Lucente relies heavily on visual storytelling, with little or no dialogue according to the available accounts. That choice suits a meeting between two people who have no established relationship and no easy way to explain what’s happening. It also places considerable responsibility on movement, expression, music, and spatial arrangement. The short’s appeal rests on watching the encounter develop rather than listening to a character describe its significance.<\/p>\n

That restraint distinguishes it from the busier horror anthologies invoked in the release’s advertising. The premise offers no host, collection of punchlines, or elaborate parade of creatures. Its interest lies in the gradual disturbance of an otherwise recognizable environment. Viewers looking for a compact, old-fashioned supernatural encounter have a clearer entry point than those expecting the comic energy or variety associated with CREEPSHOW.<\/p>\n

The men's relationship also offers a modest emotional possibility. A solitary traveler meeting another isolated figure introduces companionship alongside suspicion. The encounter carries the question of whether this stranger is a threat, a guide, or simply someone whose presence briefly interrupts loneliness. Keeping those possibilities open makes the journey more interesting than a direct march toward a frightening discovery.<\/p>\n

The material has limitations, particularly in how much dramatic development the premise supports. A wandering man, an unsettling companion, and a destination form a clean narrative outline, but the final explanation carries the weight. Earlier details need to gain meaning as the story progresses, rather than merely postpone an answer. The available criticism suggests that THIS OLD MAN sustains curiosity more effectively than it resolves it, leaving the payoff less satisfying than the atmosphere leading there.<\/p>\n

That’s a meaningful weakness in a roughly 24-minute short. A feature has space for relationships and secondary developments to contribute value beyond its final revelation. Here, the destination carries more of the experience. An uncertain conclusion can suit a ghost story, but uncertainty still needs shape. When the last movement complicates an already simple encounter without deepening it, the effect becomes less haunting and more hesitant.<\/p>\n

The distinction matters because the earlier imagery gives the film enough material to stand on its own. Winter, an abandoned building, an unfamiliar figure, and drawings with an obscure purpose establish a coherent set of concerns. They connect exposure outside with isolation inside, and human traces with places that no longer seem inhabited. The story doesn’t need a large mythology to make those connections interesting. Its challenge is bringing them together with enough confidence to justify the time spent following them.<\/p>\n

As an early work, THIS OLD MAN also has interest beyond its immediate success as horror. Lucente went on to make features including THE INNER VOICE and STARBRIGHT, and this short offers a starting point for viewers exploring his filmmaking. Its small cast and concentrated premise reflect the practical scale of an initial production. That context helps explain why preserving it matters, though historical interest and dramatic effectiveness remain separate judgments.<\/p>\n

The visual identity comes from the contrast between the exposed winter landscape and the objects that suggest a private, enclosed life. A rocking chair, a heavy coat, and a bundle of drawings suggest recognizable routines, yet their placement disrupts them. The snow leaves the drifter exposed, while the abandoned hotel offers enclosure without the reassurance that shelter normally brings. Moving between those environments gives the premise a visual progression from physical vulnerability to uncertainty about what’s occupying the space. The story’s imagery makes entering a building feel as questionable as remaining outdoors.<\/p>\n

The charcoal sketches extend that unease through a different kind of image. Their handmade quality introduces something personal into surroundings defined by weather and abandonment, giving the stranger a trace of individuality beyond his unsettling appearance. Drawing is an act of observation, and self-portraiture turns that attention inward. Placing those pictures within a ghost story raises questions about how the old man sees himself and what he’s trying to preserve. This distinctive detail gives the mystery a visual subject beyond the familiar deserted building.<\/p>\n

The edition’s description needs clarification before its scope can be assessed confidently. MVD identifies THIS OLD MAN, FOREST, DAM, CHASE, and GHOST as five shorts, while also listing those names as tracks credited to Alf Lamers. A published disc assessment describes the title short with a trailer and companion CD. That discrepancy prevents a fair appraisal of the supposed collection as five separate films. The title short remains the basis for this assessment.<\/p>\n

THIS OLD MAN has a compelling image at its entrance and a limited amount of story behind it. Its winter setting and sparse approach offer enough interest to explain why an obscure early short has been brought back into circulation, even with reservations about its resolution. The most promising part of the encounter arrives before the drifter understands anything. Someone is sitting comfortably where comfort seems impossible, and following him offers the only apparent route out of the cold. That’s a good reason to begin a ghost story, even when the destination doesn’t fully reward the journey.<\/p>\n

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[photo courtesy of RUBY MAX ENTERTAINMENT, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]<\/em><\/p>\n

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MOVIE REVIEW This Old Man –      Genre: Horror, Short Year: 1974, 2026 Blu-ray Runtime: 24m Director(s): Francesco Lucente Writer(s): Francesco Lucente Cast: Alf Lamers, Mario Lucente Where to Watch: available now; order your copy here: www.mvdshop.com or www.amazon.com RAVING REVIEW: A rocking chair in the snow is an effective invitation to a ghost story. The object belongs somewhere […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/img\/0367\/0367915.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":2,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t