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'I do believe in spooks, I do I do'
Ghost movies
Posted
at
12:01 am
by Jacqueline McCartney
The oldest horror staple is still 24-karat, and I believe that will never change. For horror movie buffs, ghost stories are grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup on a rainy Saturday — and the pinto beans that can haunt you well into the night.
Really, what scares you when you turn off the tube or walk out of the movie theater? Aliens, zombies, witches? Jason, demons, vampires, anything or anybody irradiated?
Ghosts.
Okay, maybe clowns.
By the way, a 2005 Gallup poll found that a third of Americans believe in ghosts. When I was very young, I wandered in the living room while my mother was watching a supernatural thriller. Before she shooed me out, I saw a ghost appear to a woman in the movie while she was gazing into a large mirror in her dim bedroom. I was well into adulthood before I could look at a mirror without lights on.
Except, as it occurred to me as I was writing that, I haven’t had a mirror in my bedroom since I became an adult. Hmm.
Childhood trauma aside, I can’t pick out a favorite ghost film because the volume is just too overwhelming. I can tell you the “The Shining’s” Overlook is my favorite haunted house; at the other end of that scale is “The Amityville Horror.” (For me, “Poltergeist” is a supernatural thriller, not horror.)
About haunted houses, before I forget: On the next three Fridays, The Herald will list area haunted houses and related Halloween event in the A&E section. The lists also will be posted here on HeraldNet.
Some of the best ghost films I’ve seen in the last decade came from Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. I hope watching movies with subtitles doesn’t put you off, because there’s some darned creepy stuff coming out of the East. I discussed Asian horror movies in two other entries, but some you might want to check out are “Ringu” (remade as “The Ring), “Ju-on: The Grudge” (remade as “The Grudge”) but be aware there are "Ju-on: The Grudge" sequels, “Dark Water” (also remade), “Phone” and “Reincarnation,” although the last two could have been scarier.
Guillermo del Toro’s spooky films are well worth your time. One could make a good case that these films are more supernatural thrillers or dark fantasies, but with quality like this, who cares? “The Orphanage,” “Pan’s Labrynth” (nonghost) and “The Devil’s Backbone” are in Spanish with English subtitles.
Back in the USA, pickings are darn skinny so far this decade. I liked “The Grudge,” although I prefer the Japanese movie on which it was based, those two del Toro films, “1408” and “The Others,” the last being a fine example of a good old-fashioned gothic haunted house.
Otherwise, we’ve been subjected to “Rose Red,” “Darkness,” “The Return,” “The Messengers,” “American Haunting” and I have to stop before I cry.
And, sure, I liked the “The Sixth Sense,” and to a lesser degree “Candyman” and “Stir of Echoes.”
But for all the ghost movies, the ghost that frightened me the most came from TV. Think back with me, boomers, to “Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol.” Remember the Ghost of Christmas Future? Now that was scary.
What’s your scariest ghost or haunted house, or favorite ghost movies? Click on “comment” below and tell us about it.
I’m still waiting for a clown to rise from the grave.
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