Recommend Some Good Ghost Stories to Me (1 Viewer)

[Larry Talbot]

While I like a wide variety of horror movies, my girlfriend is a lot more particular. She prefers intelligent spooky ghost stories or movies with a supernatural theme that do not depend on gore or shock tactics to get their scares across. Some gore is okay, the movie just can't be based AROUND gory special effects. I guess what I'm saying is that mood and atmosphere are more important that gushing blood.

Unfortunately I'm afraid that, over the years, we may have already hunted down all the films that fit this catagory. Here's a partial list off the top of my head of what we've already seen (I put an asterisk by those we liked best)

*The Innocents

*The Haunting (original)

The Uninvited

*The Haunting of Julia

*The Changeling

*The Others

The Devil's Backbone

*The Kingdom

What Lies Beneath

*Blair Witch Project

Does anyone have any suggestions of other spooky/supernatural films we might try?

 

[george kaplan]

Well opinions about this are varied, but if you haven't checked them out you might try:

The Shining
Rosemary's Baby
The Sixth Sense

 

[Steve Christou]

Poltergeist (1982)

Ghost Story (1980)

Jack Clayton's The Innocents (1961) is the best 'ghost story' ever made IMO,
and still effectively chilling today, an absolutely superb film, where's the DVD?

 

[MartinTeller]

Kwaidan

 

[Richard Kim]

The Ring (The original Japanese films or the 2002 US remake)

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

The Shining
Kwaidan
Rosemary's Baby
The Tenant
Legend of Hell House
Black Sabbath
Black Sunday (Mario Bava)
The Devil Rides Out

 

[Ricardo C]

The Others
The Eye

EDIT: Oops, The Others had already been mentioned :b Take this second recommendation as further proof of its greatness

EDIT 2: And now I see the film was already in your list. I swear I missed it the first time around :b:b

 

[Jim_K]

You might want to check out often overlooked The Legend of Hell House. Intelligent script by Richard Matheson, it oozes a creepy atmosphere thanks to a great score and unusual photography & also sports a fairly erotic scene involving Gayle Hunnicutt and a nude statue. Always a plus when watching with a wife/girlfriend.

 

[Larry Talbot]

Thanks everyone! Many excellent suggestions - some of which I had already seen and liked, but had forgotten about. Never heard of Kwaidan and The Eye, but I'll follow up on them along with the other suggestions. Thanks again and Happy Halloween!

 

[Pete B.]

Also check out Stir Of Echoes!

Pete

 

[Stephen_Dar]

The thing about Kwaidan is it's an awesome DVD, great work for an old print. Fabulous colors. It is very Japanese but I find it spooky in it's subtle way.

I have the same requirements as your GF, and unfortunately there are VERY FEW movies that fit the bill it seems. Hollywood doesn't like to do ghost stories straight, they always have to be comedies or at least silly

I will admit that, although I despised The 6th sense overall and the director completely, there are moments in the movie that are really effectively creepy ghost moments. Oh how I wish that hack could have had the restraint just to leave it at that and not put in the fake ending. Oh well, his subsequent work shows he doesn't have the talent to recognize subtlety anyway.

 

[Perry Jonkheer]

Identity
Candyman
Psycho
Event Horizon
Stigmata

 

[Alex Prosak]

I second Stir of Echoes. Excellent movie.

Another you might want to try is The Serpent and The Rainbow.

 

[Steve Christou]

erm you've all managed to miss out one of the most frightening ghost movies of them all, tsk tsk.


no no the other spoiler, the other spoiler





Ghost (1990) starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopie Goldberg, okay, who cried at the end of Ghost? come on own up.

 

[Perry Jonkheer]

I third Stir of Echoes...

Awesome Movie, period.

 

[Al Stuart]

Kairo, which at the moment is only officially out in R2 and R3, but is obtainable from Ebay in region free status. Absolutely terrifying movie. Sort of a riff on Ringu, and IMHO, better, but using the internet instead (and no, it has nothing to do with feardotcom).

 

[Cagri]

The Entity.
Not great but worth checking out IMO.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I saw Kwaidan the other day. It's not really spooky or scary, but uses a mix of modern (at the time) cinematic techniques, wild color, and traditional Japanese style story-telling to create moods. It's a series of 4 tales.

 

[Juan Castillo]

I also give props to Stir Of Echoes.. not really scary, but a good movie none the less..

One that got me as a kid, besides Serpeant and the Rainbow, was the Prince of Darkness... Cheesy, but got me..

 

[Joseph Young]

Speaking of cheesy, how about Dominique is Dead with Cliff Robertson? A very unsettling, slow but creepy psychological horror/ghost movie with a couple of effective moments such as the sound of a creaking hangman's rope swinging in the arboretum across the house.