Historia macabra

"Ghost Story" charts two generations of men who find themselves being stalked by the vengeful spirit of a woman, hellbent on revenge against four elderly New England plutocrats who share a fifty year-old secret. When one of the men's sons returns to town after his brother's mysterious death, they are forced to unravel the story behind her.

Based on Peter Straub's wildly successful novel, "Ghost Story" came about during the peak of the slasher film and is one of the few remembered supernatural horror films of the eighties. Straub's source novel is probably one of the greatest American ghost novels ever written, and some people have found the adaptation unforgivable, as it does excise a great deal from the book; I personally am able to get past this.

What "Ghost Story" really is is a dark drama with a splash of horror, and this also has been a point of contention for genre fans. The film moves at a leisurely pace, and the scares are few and far between, but what director John Irvin does supply the audience is a profound atmosphere and general sense of weirdness that is unforgettable. The wintry Vermont landscape, the stuffy drawing rooms of the old men, and the abandoned mansion on the hill all provide a somber and pastoral backdrop that lend to the film's icy old-fashioned feel, and comparisons to "The Woman in Black" are well-earned.

The cast is one of the major selling points here: Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, John Houseman, and Patricia Neal round out a roster of classic Hollywood stars in their old age (for many, this was their last film). Craig Wasson plays two roles of the second generation, with Alice Krige as the haunting woman that runs between them. The acting is solid overall, though some of the older cast feel a bit underused; I think that may have to do with some wonky editing in the film, which is one of its few downfalls. It also feels dated at times, though not to its detriment.

Overall, "Ghost Story" is no less a well-made film with a classic, ghastly edge to it. It is a slow film in many ways, but the subtlety employed here combined with the bleak and picturesque New England winterland really made this an enjoyable experience. There are some phenomenal Gothic images throughout, and the story itself has a certain timelessness to it in spite of the film's more dated qualities. Memorable and atmospheric for a variety of reasons. 8/10.

When this film was first released, it was greeted with a sense of disappointment. Many felt it did not do Peter Straub's source novel justice.

I thought this was an unfair judgement at the time, and watching the film again today confirms this belief. "Ghost Story" does not attempt to emulate the complexity of Straub's epic tale : that would have been impossible. But it does distil the essence of that story - four ageing men haunted by a terrible tragedy from their youth - and puts it on screen with chilly precision.

With some masterly photography and a recurring motif of running water (most dramatically in the truly scary bathtub scene), Irvin imbues the film with a real chill of the grave feel. The ending, as Alma descends the staircase of her decaying house in her wedding dress, isn't a gorefest : there are no elaborate effects or dramatic battles between good and evil. But it is subtly terrifying nonetheless.

Just about all the IMdB reviews, good or bad, have praised Alice Krige's performance. For such a young actress, she's simply stunning. It's a brave, brilliant portrayal. A feminist reading of the film could argue that the real horror lies in the inability of men (and especially the callow youngsters featured in the 20s flashback) to cope with a powerful, sexually-assertive woman.

This is a clever, stylish film which lends itself to differing interpretations. It creates more elegant frissons of fear than almost any other 80s horror film.

A condensing of Peter Straubs' more complex, more intriguing novel, the film adaptation is no great shakes but it's certainly not bad at all either. It does have the appeal of a spooky yarn one might spin by a fireplace in the dead of winter. The simplified story deals with four elderly New England gentlemen who get together and tell horror stories, but who in fact share a tragedy from their long-ago past. Now a revenge-minded spirit is out to make their lives miserable - and strike out at the two sons of one of them, to boot. The film does speak of quality - Jack Cardiff did the cinematography, Albert Whitlock and his team supply some beautiful matte shots, Philippe Sarde composed the stirring music score, and Dick Smith creates the plentiful hideous apparition effects - but the powerful main attraction is the assemblage of talent in the four main roles - Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and John Houseman - who are a delight, although Fairbanks exits the story much too soon. Craig Wasson plays the twin sons, and is likable as usual and manages to hold his own opposite his legendary co-stars. Patricia Neal is utterly wasted as Astaires' wife, but making up for that is the showcase given to the beautiful South African actress Alice Krige, who's extremely alluring and enigmatic as the mystery woman to whom both sons become attracted. There's a real sexual charge in her scenes with Wasson. This is one element that may concern some viewers, when they think about Astaire, Douglas, Fairbanks, and Houseman acting in a film that has violence and nudity (male as well as female), but for other horror fans a sufficient amount of atmosphere is built up and there are definitely some memorable scenes. Things are sometimes told in a flashback style, as first Wasson tells of his association with the not-so-subtly creepy Krige, or Astaire and Houseman finally break down and tell Wasson their whole sordid story. Overall, it's just compelling enough to work, and it does have some mighty fine moments, especially an iconic one involving a lake and a sinking car. It manages to be pretty eerie on a fairly consistent basis if never very scary. It marked the final feature film appearance for Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas. Seven out of 10.

I watched this film with a friend who described it as `one of the scariest movies he had ever seen.' I will agree with this assessment because the thrills are not cheap ones – they are genuine scares. Ghost Story stars Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Melvyn Douglas as members of the `Chowder Society' a group that gathers around the fireplace to drink brandy and tell ghost stories. The problem lies in the fact that they also share a long-kept secret that is now coming back to haunt them.

While it was novel to see these great actors in action, particularly in a genre where they are not normally known, this film is great because it does not rely on gore or special effects to scare the pants off the viewer. The horrors come from lower scale thrill, like a spooky house, an eerie soundtrack and quick flashes of horrific images that are sudden and impactful enough to make your heart leap into your throat.

This is a small, fun movie that isn't without its faults; (you can see the `secret' coming from a mile away) but the buildup to the unveiling of this secret is pure fun.

--Shelly

I read Peter Straub's book and was quite pleased with the result of the movie. First of all, like many, I loved the cast. They are all great men of the world cinema and the pull off the story with great aplomb. The movie is about something someone does in his or her youth and then must live with forever. In a good ghost story, the characters get no points for being once youthful and reckless. The fact that they meet and share their stories means that they never seem to intend closure. They never allow themselves to face the music and, hence, the revenge of the spirit is acceptable in the world where they find themselves. I just thought that a society devoted to the telling of ghost stories was a great idea. Anyway, while the plot does wander around a bit and it takes time to get to the point, it still works great. It was nice to see that Fred Astaire could still act (because he was such a great dancer we forget that he had a great comic talent and, in this case, a dramatic talent). The others are equally formidable. There are also some pretty slimy, putrid visions that appear and make for a pretty good rank on the jump scale. The actually scene that explains everything (I won't spoil it) is both sad and revealing. While not the greatest movie, it works very well and I would recommend it.