Greatest Ghost Movies

[dougspaulding]

I think ghosts are among the most frightening of all horror entities, perhaps because they're so unpredictable, or that they can appear out of nowhere, or that the bad ones can be so evil. You never know what you're getting with a ghost.

Three sections here: First the good ones that weren't horror.

Ghost and Mrs Muir
Hold that Ghost
Ghost and Mr Chicken
Ghostbusters
Ghost

Second, honourable mention:

Don't Look Now
Fall of the House of Usher (1960)
Haunted
Legend of Hell House (the novel would score much higher)

Anyone seen "The Woman in Black" or "The Devil's Backbone"? I read that they are excellent, but have not seen them as yet.

Now, the countdown (just like Letterman):

10. The Gift (little-known, but excellent)
9. What Lies Beneath
8. The Innocents
7. The Others
6. Poltergeist
5. The Changeling (little-known, but terrifying)
4. The Uninvited (oldie, but a goodie)
3. The Sixth Sense
2. The Haunting (1963) (perhaps the most aesthetic of all ghost movies)
1. The Shining ("See, it's alright. He saw it on the television")

[Zombie-F]

Poltergeist is my favorite ghost movie of all time. I just needed to say that. :D I won't be redundant and post a mirror of DS's list as my own, but suffice to say, all of my movies are covered there.

[DarkEmpress]

Casper was a cute "kid's" ghost movie.But, I like (INPO)

-Don't Look Down
-Trick or Treat
-The Sixth Sense
-Gothika
-Bones
That's all that comes to mind at the moment...I'll most likely think of more. :

[Sinister]

Spaulding does indeed have some great one's on the list, but he also has some verified snooze-fests as well. The Haunting, The Others, The Changeling, The Sixth Sense and Poltergeist immediately come to mind as movies that I have had a hard time staying awake for. Dark Empress has Trick or Treat which I think is also good. Some that I do not see are:

Pet Semetary, Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Ghosts of Mars ( I truly believe I am one of the only people on this planet that like this one) A Christmas Carol, Beetlejuice and Poltergeist II.

[The Shape]

Gasp! No Amityville Horror fans?! I hated the sequals, but first one was definitely creepy.

[Zombie-F]

Gasp! No Amityville Horror fans?! I hated the sequals, but first one was definitely creepy.

You gotta check out the book someday so you can appreciate the fact that the movie could have been better. I do agree that it should have been on the list though, so I'll add it to mine.

How in God's name could I have forgotten Beetlejuice? :eek:

[dougspaulding]

Thanks, Empress. I forgot "Casper", a great family fantasy.

Now you see why I keep 'spont around. He reminds me that I forgot "Pet Sematary", (perhaps I didn't associate it with ghost movies - it's about a revenant; but what is a revenant but a ghost? And it's not really about a revenant, but rather the corpse that walks among us [more zombie-like, almost]) "Pirates of the Caribbean" (a real ghost story, and a real good movie[notice how I didn't put "The Haunted Mansion" on my list!]), and "A Christmas Carol" (just about all versions are very good).

Those who know us well, know that 'spont and I are miles apart on "The Haunting", and always will be. We must live with it.

I didn't care for "Beetlejuice". I wanted to, but just didn't - sorry.

"Amityville Horror" was a badly made movie.

Any more I've disremembered (or dismembered)?

[DarkEmpress]

Ghost Ship was an okay movie too.I got lost a couple times, but I always figured out what I didn't get.I don't know if I worded that correctly, but oh well.I guess it's understandable.

[Sinister]

Gasp! No Amityville Horror fans?! I hated the sequals, but first one was definitely creepy.They are remaking this one as well. A lot of legalities going on because of one sham artist, George Lutz. I think he's over seeing a lot of what's going on because he owns the rights and was displeased with the original and its subsequent sequels. The book, like Z mentioned is interesting, although chock full of bullshit.

Pet Semetary did INDEED have a ghost. His name was Victor Pascow. The spoken of, but never seen Wendigo, is a wood spirit, and I think that qualifies as a ghost, even more so than a revenant.

As for Ghost Ship, this is one I reviewed on the other board, and although it had some great set pieces, I'm afraid the rest of it was pure crap.

Does Event Horizon fit in here? If so, add it to my list. :D

[dougspaulding]

Pet Semetary did INDEED have a ghost. His name was Victor Pascow. The spoken of, but never seen Wendigo, is a wood spirit, and I think that qualifies as a ghost, even more so than a revenant.

This is true, but the movie isn't really about Pascow, and although a helpful spook, Victor was one of the scariest parts of the film.

[VtheVamp]

adding to the ones mentioned above

Ghost Story
The Entity

Cant think of any others not allready mentioned.

[dougspaulding]

Vanessa,

I'm interested to know whether you read the novel or not? I thought the book was among the most frightening I've ever read, but I thought the film was dreadful!

[VtheVamp]

Vanessa,

I'm interested to know whether you read the novel or not? I thought the book was among the most frightening I've ever read, but I thought the film was dreadful!

No didnt read it.

[DARKNESS]

13 Ghosts is a very old black and white thriller. It was very scary for the time. The remake was blah.

[Witterally]

I liked William Castle's 13 Ghosts and House on Haunted Hill. But generally... not a big fan of ghost-horror movies. I must admit.

[Revenant]

I'd say my ghosty faves would be Poltergeist, Sixth Sense, Trick or Treat (headbanger spooks! Yeah baby!)... The Others was kinda slow, but I liked it...Beetlejuice is one of my favorite movies ever! Um... oh, yeah! Foreign film (either Chinese or Korean, can't remember) "The Eye." Scary! Love that one. A lot of people trash on the new "13 Ghosts", I really enjoyed it. Oh, and Stephen King's "Rose Red", though that was a miniseries so dunno if that counts on this list.

Did anyone see a little low-budget indie called "The Ghosts of Edendale"? The commenters on IMDB totally trash on it but I liked it a lot, I thought it was a perfectly respectable little ghost flick and the FX were surprisingly good for the wee budget.

Not many ghost movies in the states. In America it seems horror is all about zombies, monsters, or psychos. In Japan it's all curses or the occasional demon. In China and Korea it's hard to find a horror movie that's NOT a ghost story... oh and someone always falls in love with the ghost, too...

[Dreadnight]

Gotta go with Poltergeist as all time number one..... I remember reading that Speilberg (producer) actually took it over from Tobe Hooper (director)because things weren't going in the right direction. Whatever he did - it worked!

[Pumpkin5]

I love all the movies mentioned here. The old time scary movies that depended on suspense and "not knowing" are better to me than all the current blood and guts. I have just purchased The Devil's Backbone and I will let you know how what I think. I resisted because of the subtitles, but I finally broke down. No one mentioned The Ring. Don't boo and hiss me on this one, but I thought it was a good scary movie.

[heresjohnny]

Now I like ghosts, one of my favs that was only mentioned once was 'Ghost Story' from 81 with Fred Astaire and John Houseman. Another one at the top is Poltergeist. Decent, but not great ghost stories include the english version of the Grudge and The Ring. I have always like the latest House on Haunted Hill for some reason.

[hauntedyardofdoom]

Didn't see anyone mention The Fog - the original version. Great ambiance in this one