Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Day 162: Ghost Story

This one is going to be kind of short by necessity. Firstly, it has been many years since I watched this movie. Secondly, it has some twists and turns in it that I don't want to give away.

The draw for this movie (a kind of proto-I Know What You Did Last Summer) is the cast. John Houseman, Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks jr. and Melvyn Douglas all star as a group of old codgers who gather together to tell ghost stories. Fairbanks has two sons, one of whom dies under mysterious circumstances. Later, Fairbanks himself falls from a bridge after seeing an apparition of a young lady. The surviving son makes his way into the group of old men where they compare notes and realize all the men (including the two dead ones) had contact with the same woman. From there, things get freaky.

The actors are better than the material in this case. Seeing these aged kings of the silver screen play off each other is less exciting than it should be. They are hamstrung by the cheap look of the film and the oddly lazy plot. This movie solves the old conundrum of how ghosts can be dangerous by giving one a couple of henchmen. This plays more like a Batman villain of the week than a real threat.

I recall a few standout scenes that I won't spoil here but I am compelled to say that one shouldn't seek this out unless the cast just really pulls you in.


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