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)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 111 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-07
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Ghost Story
Movie Review: Will You Forget the Book!!!
Summary: 4 Stars
When I saw this movie in '81, a breath of fresh air. From the late '70s on,our basic horror choices were along the lines of Halloween or Friday the 13th. Becoming tired of slasher films this was done with good old fashion supernatural and psychological suspense with a great cast.
Having gone to movies and read books for over 48 years, this is the one case in which the movie is better than the book [not easy to say that folks]. If I had read the book first, I would never have seen the movie. The book meanders through too much time, nothing in it was scarey, and it wasn't really about a ghost as an evil spirit/demon that had existed for centuries in many different forms.
The movie really just takes the book title {based on the novel by} and uses the material from one or two chapters. It became more concise, focused and was about a ghost coming back after fifty years for revenge [period]. It had the right atmosphere applied at the right time with the right score and flashbacks done perfectly. Well developed with Alma's vengence evolving at a correct pace to build the suspense for the finale.
I would agree that the nudity wasn't necessary, but it wasn't gratuitous [it did apply to what was happening at the moment] ... and remember this was the early '80s. If you took of this nudity out, you'd be losing two minutes of the movie ... maybe.
Take this movie for what it is: loosely adapted from a book, it is a reawakening of the best attributes of the horror genre.
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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