Ghost Story
by John Irvin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Craig Wasson, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn DouglasDirector: John Irvin
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Letterbox, 1.85:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1998-03-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Ghost Story
Movie Review: Any real horror fan can appreciate the old school scares of Ghost Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Ghost Story was released in 1981, adapted from a novel of the same name. Sid has never read the book, admitedly, but we really can't imagine it being better than this great movie. The film stars Fred Astaire, John Houseman and others. Sid remembered seeing this flick one late night on tv. It scared the everliving out of this young elf then, so we decided to see if it held up today. So, we settled in with a little of the sacrament, and an inordinate ammount of food, sat back and watched a great horror flick. And if you were there, you'd have been like ahh sweet.
Ghost story is centered around a group of guys called the Chowder society. We see them as young men and old men. As young men, they are a fruity barbershop quartet type of group. As old men they aren't much better, the're snooty old fogies. Except for Fred Astaire, you couldn't even make fun of him too much here. This actually works for the story though. You're not supposed to totally like these guys, but you're supposed to kind of like them and that sucks you in. The basis of the Chowder Society is telling ghost stories. In their old age, the members have become unsettled. They are having nightmares, and one of them, Edward, dies. He is wandering around in the snow following the death of his son. He suddenly sees the hideous face of a creature. It looks like a dead woman whose corpse has been rotting for a very long time. Obviously, this scares him. It sends him over a bridge, falling to his death. Ironically, or maybe not, his son fell out of his high-rise window after seeing his girlfriend turn into that same horrible creature. This brings Edward's other son, David into town, wanting membership into the Chowder Society. So, he has to tell a ghost story. He tells one about his brother's girlfriend. Years earlier, he dated the same woman, but dumped her because she was cold to the touch and also because she was ugly. But she did put out a ton. I mean David was getting just a huge ammount of booty. A yooogge...ammount...of booty. Then his brother Don tells him that a woman stopped him on the street years later and thought he was David. David warns him, but his brother doesn't listen, dates this woman and she ultimately kills him then kills their father. Creepy.
Now comes the why of all this. The old guys tell a ghost story of their own. 50 years ago, when they were in school a young woman came to town. Each of the guys wanted to make her a member of their personal chowder society. Giggety! Shockingly, she looked just like the woman who killed David's father and brother. Well, you know, when she was her normal ugly self, not the super ugly creature who caused two men to plunge to their deaths. So, she and Edward, David and Don's father, are all set to make a sexy time. But this yambag's bird is earthbound. What a loser! What a freak! Good. Good. More for you and me. This little scene was hilarious, just trust us. Then, this broad is making fun of Edward for his um, issue. And, to shut her up, he gives her a smack/push and she smashes her head against a stone fireplace. The Chowder Society thinks she's dead. Damn, now they all have to take turns with young Fred Astaire. Anyway, these are all promising young guys. If they admit to killing this girl, game over. So, instead, they stick her in the back of a car and push the car in a lake. Just as the car is being submurged, the girl starts to move. And the last we see of her alive is her screaming for help behind the back window of the car. The guys just stand on shore, stunned. They don't try to save her or get help. They let her die, and now she's back to haunt them all.
David suggests that they go to the girl's old house to end the madness. The ghost's accomplices (don't ask) are there and they bump off one of the old men, and almost kill Fred Astaire. Eventually, Fred Astaire goes to the cops and they pull the car up. He and David confront the ghost/corpse and all is well.
We just glossed over the ending of the film because it was terrible. As we said earlier, Sid saw this flick as a young elf and was terrified. As Sid remembers, the movie ended with the chick looking out the car window, and the car becoming submurged in the lake. Aparently, we blocked out the crappy ending. We really liked this movie. It was entertaining, ubercreepy, you could even go as far as saying it was kind of scary. And if it ended with the car dipping into the lake, this is a top 10 all-time horror movie. That awful ending knocked the flick down a peg in our eyes, but not enough to take a star away. This is a 5 star horror flick. Check it out, but turn it off when the chick is underwater.
Summary of Ghost Story
Upon its release in 1981, John Irvin's version of Peter Straub's bestselling horror novel was deemed one of the worst adaptations that the genre had ever produced. Now it's available on DVD, and for the first time in widescreen presentation, and not much has changed. It's still a nearly unwatchable dud. Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. play old friends, members of the self-created Chowder Society, who get together and tell ghost tales. The scariest story of all, however, is the one they never speak to each other. Fifty years ago, the four men accidentally killed a young woman, and now she's back (with much less meat on her bones) and seeking vengeance. Sound chilling? Well, in Straub's hands it was, and the novel remains the author's finest achievement. Irvin, however, distills Staub's rich characterizations, gradual tension, and creepy atmosphere, and replaces them with aging golden oldies (only Houseman appears to be having any fun) hamming it up and hokey special-effect shots of a rotting corpse. The film moves about as quickly as its ancient cast could during a relay race. The whole thing has arthritis. --Dave McCoyHorror DVD Video
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