For those of us who rank ghost stories among our favorite horror subgenres, there's never been a better time to be a fan. Japanese directors like Takashi (Ju-on) Shimizu and Hideo (Ring) Nakata have reinvigorated the form to such a degree that both men were recently called upon to direct U.S. versions of their overseas hits, thereby exposing themselves and their original products to a vast international audience.
But J-horror isn't the only game in town. American and European filmmakers alike have re-entered the fray with a vengeance; just take a look at last year's After Dark HorrorFest. The Abandoned, Unrest, and The Gravedancers were recognized by most as the best of the fest along with Shimizu's Reincarnation. All revolve around restless spirits and put a fresh spin on a tired subject. And already only three months into 2007 we've seen in theatres The Messengers (not so fresh) and Dead Silence (a classic in the making if there ever was one), and a slew of direct-to-DVD offerings like Bloody Mary, Dead Mary, Mary Had a Bloody Dead Lamb... Okay, so I made that last one up, but you get my drift. Ghosts rule! But this is hardly a new craze. Spooky specters have been gracing the silver screen for longer than just about any other horror cliché, and now, thanks to Staci Layne Wilson, we have a definitive resource guide that lays them out for us in neat chronological order: 50 Years of Ghost Movies.
The 50 years covered span 1935 to 1985, "golden" times in cinema indeed. From the first entry The Fantasy of the Monastary to a little-known Spanish version of The Turn of the Screw that closes out the book on Page 138, every film released from January 1935 to December 1985 that has anything to do with "the soul or spirit of a deceased person" is included here. They are further broken down alphabetically by year with some films summarized in just a few choice words and others given a more lengthy paragraph. A few — the cream of the crop like screwball favorite Topper, Boris Karloff's beloved horror/sci-fi hybrid The Devil Commands, Gothic classics Rebecca and The Uninvited, the incomparable William Castle's Thirteen Ghosts, the timelessly creepy and disturbing The Innocents, the dated but still effective The Amityville Horror, and Ms. Wilson's personal pick for the best ghost movie of all time, The Shining — merit a full-page description. Just about every base is covered. My only quibble is that while the listings include the director, writer, source (if applicable), and tagline (if available), a number of them don't make any mention of the lead actors. There were a few instances where I remembered the film but not the players, and having that information all in one place would be ideal.
Article comments
1 - GL Hauptfleisch
Enjoyable review and overview--thanks.
2 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net, which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States. Nice work!