Ghost Story

It's no Legend of Hell House. It's no The Other either. I'll let you decide which of those is better and which is much worse...and is basically a reworking of the movie Problem Child, complete with John Ritter himself, but I digress. This movie features one of my all time favorite iconic singer/dancers of the thirties, forties and fifties, and, of course, also full frontal male nudity. I refuse to make a Swing Time joke.

Even though the effects are outdated, there are some very genuine feelings of creepiness and read while watching this. This movie also relies heavily on flashbacks and more of a story than most brainless horror movies, even though it isn't as fun as some slasher flicks.

While the plot & how the "scares" are done (mostly jump cuts) are pre-70's straightforward, the early 80's makeup efx allows this to straddle old & new w/ the ghosts looking much "scarier"(gorier & disturbing) than they used to. The problem w/ traditional stories like this can be that the pacing can feel slow & things become predictable, but, to its credit, this never errs too badly on those fronts w/ 2 flashbacks. & wow, when's the last time a studio film starred 4 white male senior citizens?

Too many characters and time periods for me to keep straight in my little head. Probably would have worked better as a short story in a collection. I got bored with each scene and waited for the inevitable rotting face jump scare. Fav scene: guy stumbles backwards into a window, then slowly falls to the ground with his dick out.

The saddest thing about this movie is to see Fred Astaire one last time and without a top hat, tie, and tails, but other than that it is a blundering mess of a movie. There are a couple scenes that were scare-worthy, but they just don't seem to go with the plot or make a cohesive story.

A handsomely photographed simplification of Straub's mammoth best-seller, this is good to look at but makes little sense and features characters either so unsympathetic or sketchily drawn that you'll end up rooting for the ghost. Superb makeup effects by Dick Smith are all but lost in the ending. Look for Ken Olin of TV's "thirtysomething" in the flashback sequence as a young Houseman.

Haven't read the book, so I don't know how the stacks up against it - it feels like a lot of detail was possibly omitted. This is alright, reasonably creepy, and is well-cast and nicely shot, but it lacks a bit of cohesion. The creepy goings-on in the present-day scenes were somewhat undone by the less-successful flashback sequences. It didn't help that every time John Houseman appeared on screen the voice in my head said "America's favourite old fart". Bless you, Bill Murray.

It had some better moments at times but overall it's slow and way too long to hold my interest effectively, The highlight of the movie is definitely Alice Krige and her outstanding way of portraying the super creepy temptress, Eva.

This was a goofy movie that felt like it was a TV movie from the mid-70s as opposed to a theatrical early 80s film.

I always liked this one. Reminiscent of a good old-fashioned haunted house or ghost thriller.

John Houseman made two early 1980s ghost movies where the dead come back to get revenge on the living. The Fog may be the better of the two, yet this is a pretty solid 80s horror movie that has some quality slow burn moments.

It's not a good film. Having said that, it delivers some really creepy and drawn out moments.

Not bad.

Boring, maybe you will forward the movie to see the end but it is most likely not to care bout it.

Loses _a lot_ in translation

Could've been great instead of just passable entertainment. The veteran cast are fine but Alice Krige (in, I think, her second role) steals the show. Too bad she's never achieved the credit she's due. Outstandingly creepy performance.