Fantasma per amore

What cuteness, great adaptation, half youthful, half romantic, a little dramatic and almost nothing frightening, anyway, delicious ... Gracinha da Família, a simple and captivating film...

Neve Campbell and her family (small brothers, sympathetic mum, physicist and cynic father) travel from America to England when he lands a lucrative research post, and almost immediately strange things begin to happen in the de Canterville ancestry home.

Bumps and moans in the night, bloodstains, invisible hands on the shoulder - yes, there's a ghost about.

Oscar Wilde's story takes shape beautifully in this TV version, one of the numerous adaptations of his tale for children. Patrick Stewart is the ghostly Simon de Canterville, doomed to walk the house at night for all eternity for his earthly crimes, and he is watchable, especially wrestling with the pride of 400 years dead and no one to bow and scrape around him.

This being a fairy tale there's romance for Ginny as well in the shape of a local Duke (Daniel Betts) who is sympathetic to ghosts and very charming, as local Dukes so often are in these stories. Donald Sinden and Joan Sims play butler and housekeeper, shielding guilty secrets, and Leslie Philips appears briefly as the current representative of family de Canterville.

Recommended for children and adults alike, 'The Canterville Ghost' is charming, touching, and with just the right amount of suspense. The Americans may be paint-by-numbers stereotypes, but that doesn't matter. Without Stewart, I might have rated this much lower, but it definitely deserves high points for his performance alone.

This is a little gem of a movie, with lush sets and surprisingly good special effects, in a truly English (as opposed to a Disney/Mary Poppins British) setting and an attractive cast. Patrick Stewart brings the full weight of his Shakespearian background to bear, and creates a tragic and tender ghost, never lapsing into bathos or slapstick. Neve Campbell as the heroine is convincing as a brave, warm-hearted girl embarking on a gentle romance with the well-cast Daniel Betts. Kids will love the ghostly capers, teenagers and older family members will enjoy Ginny and Francis getting closer together, and empathise with the father-daughter conflict, and more mature watchers will be moved by the sad history of Sir Simon. A three-hanky movie. The only fly in the ointment was the entirely wasted presence of Joan Sims and Donald Sinden - "ham" really should have been off the menu in their case, but at least we don't have to see much of them.

Fore I did in fact enjoy this.

Its not everyday that after years of watching thousands of movies, shows and anime from across the decades from the turn of the century with black and white silent flicks, to modern crud or the odd good modern film. I am not going to pretend I am some great critic that writes like a poet, but this film, though made for tv, was good. IT had the super talented and entertainment Sir Patrick Stewart, Neve Campbell back in her super cute early 20s, and a relatively funny "newer" version of one of Oscar Wilde's short stories. The irony is that this story was like the polar opposite of The Portrait of Dorian Grey, which is a storye of Wilde's I love. Yet for those not familiar with the Canterville Ghost the tale is about a different kind of immortality; stuck in perpetual pergatory and not actually being allowed to move on to heaven or hell. Just stuck in a lonely, sad, soul crushing, purposeless ghostly existence. At least Dorian Grey got to live, but he was too much of a hollow, nearly dead foppish fool. Dead on the inside as the Ghost of Canterville was in all truth and meaning of the word. BUt it was kinda light hearted as older made for tv stories were.Its got that kinda grainy lower quality look to the film from the older tech and trying to shoot scenes by actual candlelight ( with dim but noticable staged lgihting here and there too at times)...but I loved that back in the day. The story is nice and charming ina simple way that almost anyone can watch, even young children of 5+ years old. Its hardly a real horror story. And the family and myself liked it immensely. Almost an 8 out of 10 for that fine tale and ending.

This movie was quite enjoyable. Patrick Stewart is great in everything and this was no exception, he transformed his ghost character to be engaging and sympathetic. Neve brought charm and warmth. The rest of the cast were pretty good, some better than others. I didn't give it a full 10 stars because certain scenes were a bit too hokey, eg. the portrait scene with Sir Canterville and Neve (anyone who saw it will know what I mean - harks back to hammy 80s photos) and the father character was a little too smarmy and annoying. There will be no plot surprises but all up it was an interesting and entertaining 1.5 hour movie.