J_Knox

Ghost Story, the movie, is based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub and unfortunately that's about as much as they share since most of the story structure, major plot points, the beginning and the ending have all been modified beyond recognition.

I have never been one to say "the book is better" blindly. A movie is a movie and should always be seen as a separate entity than it's literary counterpart. In this case we have a beautiful gothic horror tale that is wonderfully acted with amazing special effects and cinematography. Craig Wasson flawlessly holds his own against veterans like Melvyn Douglas and Fred Astaire; Alice Krige adds depth to a character which was not scripted with much depth. The movie easily rates high marks, it's slightly confused at times but very good nonetheless.

However, if one reads the book, you'll wonder if this is even the same story. Only the basic idea of 4 old men (5 in the book) hiding a long forgotten secret as the ghosts of the past come to haunt them remains. Watching the movie after reading the book feels a bit like watching a film version of Dracula where the count isn't a vampire but simply a psychopath. The story structure is there, but the layer within a layer feel of the book is gone, as are the wilder supernatural elements and nearly all of the spooky scenes. In short, we're left with character names, the title and a few random passages and bits of dialogue. Why anyone would have paid what was probably quite a bit of cash for what amounted to little more than a title and an idea is kind of hard grasp.

Nevertheless, as a stand alone story, this is a fine film. One of the last "quiet" horror movies to be made before the slasher/splatter craze took off in the early 80's.

Texasville is easily one of my favorite movies of all time because it doesn't go down the easy road, trying to please everyone, by being the same movie as Last Picture Show was. However, after having seen both Picture Show and Texasville back to back I noticed how surprisingly similar in context and theme they are. Both are about sad adults who look longingly onto the younger generation, all the while committing adultery as a way of recapturing their youth. I love both Picture Show and Texasville equally; but have a soft spot for Texasville because I was 11 during the timeframe shown in the movie, and 17 when it came out in 1990 so it is a bit more relevant to me. Also the dark humor helps make the film more enjoyable for those hot summer nights when the urge hits me to see it.

I've never thought of Texasville as fiction, more as cinematic fact. It's about as close to real life as you'll get without living it yourself. It was one of the first films I saw in a theatre as a cinema "connoisseur" and it'd be a shame to let it fade into obscurity. I highly recommend it to anyone reading this, a true minor masterpiece

I saw this movie in the late seventies when I was 6 and was mildly amused. I saw it again in the late eighties when I was 16 and was aghast that his had ever been considered a comedic masterpiece. I saw it again about a year ago on television and even though I can forgive a few of it's quirks because it serves as such a good time capsule of 1963 I still can't consider it funny or amusing. I realize that by it's very nature comedy changes, what was daring thirty years ago is tame today. However, that isn't the case here. I can watch the 3 stooges shorts from 1935 and laugh myself to tears, I can watch most Jerry Lewis and Peter Sellers films and giggle hysterically. Mad World is nothing like those; in fact I doubt it was ever really funny. What happened was that it had the honor of being one of the first films with in all star cast which, more than anything, helped cement it as a classic. Despite the fawning and praise, however, the entire film's humor boils down to basically a much older version of the "rake hidden in the grass that pops up and hits the guy in the privates" gag told over and over again; no more, no less. It's lazy, loud, obnoxious comedy that thinks people screaming and running is funny. This is NOT funny, jokes are funny; jokes have pacing, timing and a punchline. This movie has none of that, people just yell out lines as loudly and shrilly as they can until they run out of energy, then someone else takes over. In a 15 minute bit this may be humorous, over the course of an almost 3 hour film it's exhausting. Watch it for the historical value but don't expect to really laugh.