Rating: 
Summary: THE ULTIMATE SCARE
Review: This movie is one of the most intellectually scary movies I have ever seen. Ghost Story and The Changeling (with George C. Scott) rival one another for best scary movie ever. The acting is top-notch; John Houseman is superb, Fred Astaire is also very good. The plot is easy to follow and mesches well with the excellent acting that was directed by John Irvin. This movie is truly one of a kind and frightfully scary. It is not as well known as it should be.
Rating: 
Summary: HORRIFYINGly bad.
Review: This has to be the worst horror film I have seen in a long time. It is utterly boring, and anti-climatic at best.I expected to see a horror film about a haunted old house full of wierd sounds and eerie happenings (like "The Haunting")....no such luck. A description like that sounds weak, but would have been better than this waste of time. And if any "big haunted houses" show up in "Ghost Story", the images are jumbled, boring, and annoying. The only plus in this movie is Alice Kridge. Avoid this one.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, I'm a chicken...
Review: I can't get into creepy-ghoul movies, as a rule. But "Ghost Story" is a definite exception to the rule!! Is it the characters? Is it the plot? I couldn't say, and I really don't want to analyze it to find out. I just know that, for whatever reason, this is one GREAT movie!
Rating: 
Summary: THIS MOVIE JUST WANTS TO SIMPLY SCARE YOU!
Review: THE BOOK WAS BETTER THAN THE MOVIE, OF COURSE, BECAUSE YOU CAN'T FIT ALL THAT DETAIL INTO A MOVIE WITHOUT MAKING IT EXCRUCIATINGLY LENGTHY. THE BOOK WAS GREAT; A REAL PAGE TURNER AND I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN. THE MOVIE ITSELF WAS DECENT COMPARED TO SLASHER FILMS OF TODAY. THIS MOVIE, LIKE THE BOOK, IS CLASSIC AND CLASSY. IT UTILIZES VITUALLY NO GORE TO GET ITS POINT ACROSS. ITS RIGHT UP THERE WITH "THE CHANGELING". THE BOOK WAS CREEPY AND LEFT ALOT TO THE IMAGINATION. THE MOVIE TRIES TO DO THE SAME. A GREAT FLICK FOR THOSE LOOKING FOR FRIGHT WITHOUT THE HACKING OF FLESH.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste of a perfect opportunity!
Review: This movie should have had everything going for it: A splendid cast of Golden Age film icons, a powerful music score, and a script adapted from a now-classic novel by Peter Straub. What the hell happened?! The filmmakers have eviscerated Straub's storyline, paring it down and needlessly simplifying it to the point that there is nothing left. It's like a Cliff's Notes version of the Cliff's Notes for GHOST STORY. Condensation is often neseccary when adapting a novel for the screen, but they took out all of the most cinematic aspects of the book and left nothing but a simplistic and (in the film at least) illogical shell. And this is not a case of a fan of the book not being satisfied with a filmmaker's interpretation -- they could have trashed the book totally and started over if they had just managed to come across with a decent film. But what we have is choppy and nonsensical. Why did they even bother to include the character of Fenny Bate? In the film we never find out who he is or how he relates to the titular haunting at all. He just shows up in a few scenes and is gone. The only explanation is that there must have been a ton of footage that hit the cutting-room floor. And, is it just me, or is Craig Wasson just about the worst actor in the history of cinema? Also, director John Irvin has absolutley no feel for horror movies or ghost stories. In a ghost story, atmosphere is everything, and this one just falls flat. It's filmed like one of those boring and badly-staged Masterpiece Theatre snore-fests. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that I hope someone one day takes a notion to adapt this book for the screen again. They can't possibly do a worst job than was done the first time. If you want to see a cinematic ghost story done right, rent Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING or Kubrick's THE SHINING.
Rating:
Summary: Get yourself a good pair of adult diapers.
Review: A stylish ghost story for adults. Old guys get together to share spooky stories at a men's club. More than just the "stories around the campfire" type scenario, the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. The sexy and exciting Alice Krige (also of Star Trek "Borg Queen" fame) is excellent as the lover of a new men's club enrollee... His only entrance fee to the society, one heck of a good ghost story (which has ties to the group itself, and the terrible secret they share).
Rating:
Summary: Haunting Tale with Strange and Beautiful Alice Krige
Review: This is my favorite contemporarily made horror movie. Alice Krige is spellbinding as the ghost of Eva Galli (also Alma Mobley), who was accidentally murdered by 4 young men in 1931, who sent her into the Dedham Pond in a Model A to hide her mistakenly still alive body, as the boys found out too late as the car sank. Fifty years later, she comes back to haunt an dshock each one by revealing herself as she now is - a rotting corpse. Great haunted story.
Rating: 
Summary: Novel: Excellent, Film: Not!
Review: First, let me say that Straub's novel is one of the finest ghost stories ever written. It's terrifying, too, as good ghost stories should be. Hence, I had high expectations of this film. The fact is the film is dreadful! It's almost nothing like the novel, and the only reason I give it two stars is due to some atmosphere. The cinematography looks good. That's about it. Spend your money, sure, but spend it on the novel and you'll spend many dark evenings in your reading chamber casting furtive glances at those darkened corners.
Rating: 
Summary: Great cast. Interesting concept. Low on chills.
Review: Several elderly gentleman are tormented by the ghost of a beautiful woman who is also in hot pursuit of one of the men's sons. The reason behind her revenge makes an interesting story that may please soft-core fans of the genre.
GHOST STORY stars several famous, accomplished actors- Fred Astaire (devoid of his dancing shoes), John Houseman, Douglas Fairbranks Jr and a new comer, the beautiful Alice Krige. The performances are quite good by the ensemble cast but the real stand-out is Krige. Aside from being possibly the most attractive killer cadaver ever screened, she is also very seductive, cold, calculating and her voice is irresistible. In other words, she is perfect for the role. She also has some of the best one liners in the film: "Dance with me you little toad", "I think I'll take a bite out of you", "What's the matter darling, I thought you'd be DYING to see me", and "I will see the life run out of you". Freddy Krueger, eat your heart out.
The cinematography is also excellent. The overall look and feel of the film is what makes it worth viewing. We get some beautiful and eerie shots of the sleepy, quaint little village covered in ice and snow adding tension and fear, a frozen lake, a creepy crumbling house with leaking, crumbling walls and colourful period costumes. All is very pleasing to the eye.
The main problem with this film however is that it's billed as a horror film but the chills are few and far between. The make up effects are quite good but the ghoul only appears for a couple of seconds of screen time and the viewer has to wait for another 30 minutes before the nasty corpse is briefly shown again. So despite a lovely leading lady and promising effects make-up, the film drags quite a bit.
This film may not satisfy the hard-core horror nut but for the casual viewer who prefers substance over guts and gore, you might enjoy this overlong but sinister early 80's tale of supernatural vengeance.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Horror Film!!! 4.5 stars
Review: Ghost Story features some old timers in their later years tormented by a guilty past and a very vengeful ghost. Great atmosphere, fine acting and some spooky moments for sure!
|
