Spooky, Scary!: My Favorite Ghost Films

Guess what ghouls! Halloween is right around the corner. A magical season, when we gorge ourselves on candy and delight in being scared. It is also prime time for horror movies and as an avid horror fan, I relish the opportunity to revisit all my favorites. Today, I am going to take a look at my top 10 favorite ghost films. Ghost stories are as old as the hills, or at least as old as campfires and s'mores, and they lend themselves perfectly to cinema. They tickle our fascination with the supernatural and make us wary of cemeteries and dark basements. I am going to keep this list strictly to horror, leaving out films like Ghostbusters and The Frighteners, whose ultimate goal is to make you laugh (even though these movies are great in their own right). So, without further aBOO (PUN), here they be:

10. The Entity (1981) - dir. Sidney J. Furie
This is one of those countless movies that starts off saying it is based on a true story. Being about ghosts, you know it is based on the "true" story of a crackpot lady who believes in ghosts. It is a rather simple plot: a woman is being tormented by a ghost. And by tormented, I mean RAPED. Yes, this ghost is a sexual deviant. And he picked a pretty nice target in Barbara Hershey. The attack scenes are pretty intense, and Hershey acts the shit out of them. After several attacks, she goes to a series of unhelpful professionals until finally seeking out paranormal pros. The scenes involving the ghost are actually pretty intense and the ghost is very violent, a change from how they normally are shown.

9. Poltergeist (1982) - dir. Tobe Hooper
It says it is directed by Hooper, but this is a Spielberg film through and through (Spielberg wrote and produced it). The film could easily take place in the same town where E.T. did, which would make it certainly a scary place to live. I don't care how cute E.T. was, the prospect of aliens is fucking scary, and if there is one, there are a million. Anywhoozle, Poltergeist sports some top-notch special effects that make for some legitimately scary sequences. But even more creepy than all the ghosts and paranormal activity are two of the human actors: Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) and Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein). O'Rourke had the freakiest and most memorable line in the whole movie and Rubinstein is just creepy looking (dwarves scare me). It is a bit cartoonish at times, but still very effective.

8. Session 9 (2001) - dir. Brad Anderson
What is scarier than an abandoned psychiatric hospital? How about a HAUNTED psychiatric hospital!?!!? Well, possibly haunted. I think this may be disputed, but I will buy the fact that it is just to include it on this list, because it is really great. This film is all about atmosphere. You feel that any moment, something absolutely crazy is going to happen and when it finally does, hold onto your butts. Basic plot: a group of slightly dysfunctional workers are hired to remove the asbestos from the abandoned hospital. Things pretty much immediately start getting weird as they find boxes of "evidence" and strange therapy session tapes of a super looney. Each of the men becomes increasingly effected and paranoid about the whole place, leading up to a huge revelation that I will not share with you to avoid spoiling anything. The presence of ghosts is somewhat ambiguous, but they definitely can make sense in some readings of the film.

7. The Changeling (1980) - dir. Peter Medak
This is the kind of movie where, even though you know what is coming, it will still scare the pants AND socks off of you. I've seen it a bunch, and there are still points that give me chills. This stars George C. Scott and he turns in an awesome role (for other great Scott roles, see Dr. Strangelove and The Exorcist III, which will surprise you). He is a professor who experiences a terrible tragedy when both his daugher and wife are killed in an accident. Still grieving, he accepts a new teaching position and moves into the creepiest house in the whole entire town. Of course, nothing could possibly go wrong in this giant, cobweb-covered mansion! So things start going to shit and Scott has to uncover the truth of what actually happened in this house. There are some serious scares here that will be effective every time you see it.

6. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003) - dir. Ji-woon Kim
There has been a huge influx of J/K/C-horror films (and their compulsory American remakes) in the past 10 years. For my money, this one is the best. There are so many twists in this film, it is sometimes hard to realize what is actually happening; it definitely requires more than one viewing. The basic framework is as follows: two sisters are trying to deal with living with their new stepmother after the very recent death of their mother. The sisters rely on each other quite a bit for support, and they both have some serious emotional problems. But that is about all I can divulge because the story takes one wild turn after another. This is a creepy ghost story, but also is an excellent example of effective storytelling.

5. The Fog (1980) - dir. John Carpenter
This movie is always overshadowed by Carpenter's other masterpieces The Thing and Halloween. It is easily as good as both of them and it is criminally underrated. The film takes place in a small Northern California town on the eve of its centennial celebration. A mysterious glowing fog decsends on the town, and some really weird shit starts going down. As the film progresses, we learn that in the town's history, a group of lepers were shipwrecked by some plunderers. Now, the ghosts of the lepers have returned to seek their lepery vengeance!! This movie oozes atmosphere and it has the the scariest fog ever recorded on tv film. If you are fan of Halloween an Carpenter, you should most definitely see this (in fact, if you call yourself a "fan" of Carpenter and you haven't seen this movie, you aren't a real fan).

4. Carnival of Souls (1962) - dir. Herk Harvey
B-movie goodness. I read that this was made for $33,000 and you would never even know it from watching (ok, you might). It is really very effective for how cheap it was made. A woman mysteriously survives a car accident where the other two passengers perish. The event leaves her a cold and emotionless person. After accepting a new job, she starts seeing visions of a ghoulish figure and becomes strangely attracted to an abandoned pavilion at an amusement park. She soon descends into madness as she continues to be harassed by these haunting visions. This is an incredibly eerie film and the soundtrack matches the action perfectly (it is entirely organ music, appropriate since the lead is an organist). The film is a great mix of cheesiness and artiness.
3. Kwaidan (1964) - dir. Masaki Kobayashi
This is the most beautifully shot film on the list. Not only is this one of my favorite ghost movies of all time, I think it is in serious contention as the best anthology horror film of all time (think Creepshow or Black Sabath). The film collects four traditional Japanese ghost stories, each one of them contributing equally to the entire film. There is one stand out story though: Hoichi the Earless, which is about a blind musician who summons the ghosts of the ancient imperial court with his songs. The film is just stunning to look at and it is a true example of the art of cinema. Imagine what it would look like if something like Van Gogh's "Starry Night" were brought alive on screen; that is approximately how this film looks. A must watch for everyone. 2. The Haunting (1963) - dir. Robert Wise
Robert Wise might be one of the most underrated American directors to ever live. A lot of people remember him for his two musical powerhouses, The Sound of Music and West Side Story. But before both of these, he got his start in horror and science fiction, with two Lewton-era RKO releases with Curse of the Cat People and The Body Snatcher and the science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. The Haunting came out between the musicals and you can really see how he has grown as a director. You will not find better character development in any movie on this list than you will in The Haunting. You get a very distinct sense for each character in this film, their background, their desires, their secrets. All of this development is punctuated by some of the simplest yet most potent haunt effects ever caught on screen. That Wise could create such a chilling film while also making classic musical favorites is just a tribute to his range as a director. This film is a must watch for any fan of cinema, not just the horror fan.

1. The Shining (1980) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
I think a lot of people forget that this is a ghost movie. People have become more focused on Nicholson's performance which, for my money, is the best of his career. I can't remember where, but I once heard someone comment how the Overlook Hotel is really a part of the cast of this film. The secrets that it holds take on a life of their own and are equally important as the human performances. I really cannot find fault in this movie and I can firmly place it in my top 5 favorite horror films, perhaps even my favorite horror of all time. I've read some criticism about Shelley Duvall in this movie and I don't see what the problem is. She is definitely a woman that I would want to kill if I was stranded alone in a hotel with her. The same goes for that snot nosed kid. I don't blame Jack at all in this one!! Anyway, I consider this (and probably all of Kubrick's films outside of Eyes Wide Shut) to be required viewing and I will loudly guffaw in your face if you haven't seen it.

There are several movies that I unfortunately had to leave off this list. Honorable mentions go to the following:
The Uninvited (1944)
Dead of Night (1945)
House on Haunted Hill (1959)
13 Ghosts (1960)
The Ring (2002)
Some others that I can't think of right now. I hope you take a look at the films from this list you have not seen. They all have my seal of approval. And if you don't like them, I hope you become tormented by some crazy pervert ghost that touches you in your sleep and turns your TV on in the middle of the night. TAKE THAT!