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Am I the only one out there who thought this was actually a good movie?

posted 21 years ago by LittleMissSunshine1993
49 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one out there who thought this was actually a good movie?

I actually thought this was a very good movie (of course, I never did read the book). I first saw this movie in 1981 when I was 12 or 13 (back in the days when they didn’t ask for ID’s to get into movies). Needless to say it scared the you know what out of me. The next time I remember seeing it was when I was a senior in college in the fall of 1990. My roommate and I wanted to rent “Halloween” to watch on Halloween, but all copies were checked out, so we rented this one instead. I was just as scared watching it then as I was the first time I saw it (and just as scared as she was … that was the first time she had seen it).

[–] Scarlet_Illuminati 20 years ago

I saw this movie when it came out in theaters in 1981. I was eight years old at the time. This movies still scares the piss out of me.

[–] Hythlodaeus 20 years ago

I guess I have a similar story as many of you. I saw the movie for the first time around 12 - I think I saw it again around 16 - but haven't seen it in years and I thought it had a classy feel to it and still and old-fasioned ghost story feeling. When I saw The Others recently I told my wife that we should see Ghost Story because it reminded me of it.

Report: Our High Schools May Not Adequately Prepare Dropouts For Unemployment

[–] JEL66 19 years ago

I don't have time for a long reply, but I just saw it tonight for the first time in quite a while. The fact is, I once loved before having read the novel, and it helped lead me to Peter Straub's writing. He's now my favorite autthor, and having read the book I could only thereafter see what wasn't there instead of what was.

Tonight was the first time I ever really appreciated it as much as it deserves. There was never any way a film could do real justice to Straub's work, but this preserves the bare bones of his story, still retains much of the texture and tone of the novel, and succeeds in its own right as a good old-fashioned ghost story (and a classy, intelligent one at that). It's also good to see it having read Straub's entire body of work, to see some of his recurring motifs in play.

[–] missmarie1971 19 years ago

You're not the only one, I loved this story. My parents took us to a drive-in when it first came out. There was a double feature playing, and we got to watch the first movie, but my parents made my brother, sister, and myself lay down in the back to sleep cause it was past our bedtime. I snuck and watched a few parts of it.

I ended up watching it on Cable a couple of years later. Back then, I believe it was on Cinemax. I didn't necassarily think it was scary, but it was kinda creepy and haunting. I really saw Fred Astaire do acting that had nothing to do with dancing or musicals and I was in awe of him, and I began my fascination with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. because of that film.

I thought it was great. I wish I could get the movie sometime, I would love to show it to my daughter.

[–] riverheadestelle 19 years ago

No you're not. I loved this movie. However......

Perhaps there was too much too soon. The rotted corpse of Alma Mobley showing up every minute. This technique should have been used sparingly. Think back to 'Jaws', when the audience is fed better views of the shark gradually - not all in one scene. That's the same problem with 'Ghost Story'.

I didn't read the book, either, but I feel the movie could have been better in this one respect.

[–] lngjon 19 years ago

I love this movie. It is the gold standard of ghost movies for me, and when I compare it to some of that japanese inspired crap like the Grudge, it just shows the difference that good writing makes.
Terrific acting for its time, and good god Alice Krige was hot.

[–] elinmagdalena 19 years ago

I love it! Great to hear about some others. I don't get all the bad reviews of it. But I never read the book either. Perhaps that's it.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] elcamino66 19 years ago

no you r not the only one . I also saw this movie when I was like 9 or 10. I n fact saw it with "The Funhouse", if you have not already u should watch it. I actually own it and Ghost Story. In fact i have quite a collection. But back to backing you up in liking this movie.Great scenes of back east in the snow, good-creepy score , good acting. Many people don't realize that those 4 old guys r legends in the movie industry,especially Fred Astaire. Anyway I am the one who is glad that he is not the only who loves this movie. your friend david

[–] elcamino66 19 years ago

No you r not the only one . I also saw this movie when I was like 9 or 10. I n fact saw it with "The Funhouse", if you have not already u should watch it. I actually own it and Ghost Story. In fact i have quite a collection. But back to backing you up in liking this movie.Great scenes of back east in the snow, good-creepy score , good acting. Many people don't realize that those 4 old guys r legends in the movie industry,especially Fred Astaire. Anyway I am the who is glad that he is not the only who loves this movie. your friend david

[–] sir73069-1 19 years ago

The book is almost always better than the movie. "Ghost Story" tends to skip major parts of the plotline (Gregory and Fenny Bate were not vagrants living in Eva's house),but it is a very good effort, especially for an older film. Read the book. It's definitely one of the scariest novels I've ever read.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] RToddNash 19 years ago

This is one of my favorite suspense films of all time...underrated and appreciated.

[–] ozymandias312 19 years ago

I still love this movie a lot, after 25 years, and as soon as I can afford it, I'm going to buy a copy of it on DVD, if available.

Ozy

[–] Hup234! 18 years ago

It's a minor masterpiece and history will treat it kindly.