Ghosts in the Movies
From LoveToKnow Sci-Fi
Ghosts in the movies are a tradition that blend science fiction with horror and thriller.
An Ancient Tradition
Ghosts have appeared as speaking characters in drama as long as drama has existed, at least as far back as Homer. Perhaps the most familiar 'early dramatic ghost' is Hamlet's father, seen stalking the battlements at Elsinore. When confronted by Hamlet, he intones: "I am thy father's spirit, Doomed for a certain term to walk the night, And for the day confined to fast in fires, Till the foul crimes done in my days of nature Are burnt and purged away." He then goes on to describe his murder at the hands of his brother, instructing his son to avenge his death, setting in motion the events of the play.
Romantic Ghosts
Ghosts in the movies have always been popular subjects in film-making, often used as plot devices to inspire fear. A 1947 movie, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, featured the ghost of a sea captain, played by the dashing Rex Harrison, as a romantic figure to the widowed Mrs. Muir, played by Gene Tierney. The movie spawned a short-lived television sitcom in the sixties.
Later romantic ghosts include the hunky, if deceased, Patrick Swayze, in 1990's movie Ghost, and also in 1990, Alan Rickman as a man returned after death to haunt his lover in Truly, Madly, Deeply. Either (or both) of these movies are great for a home-alone-with-a-hanky night of popcorn and angst.
Comedic Ghosts
Ghosts are played for laughs in 1984's Ghostbusters, featuring Dan Ackroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis as a trio of 'parapsychological researchers' who are called in to deal with serious hauntings. They sell themselves as Ghostbusters, advertising like exterminators. The catchphrase 'who you gonna call?' resonates two decades later. Ghostbusters spawned a sequel and several cartoon series.
The Harry Potter series features several ghosts played mainly for comedic effect, including Nearly-Headless Nick.
Scary Movie Ghosts
And of course, there are movie ghosts whose intent is to frighten, and frighten they do.
Small children being threatened by the revenants is a particularly frightening scenario, exploited to good effect in 1973's The Exorcist and its sequels. Poltergeist, in 1982, brought ghosts into a family's familiar home, threatening the youngest member of the family.
Haunted houses are always good movie fare, and Shirley Jackson's 1959 novel, The Haunting of Hill House, is probably one of the scariest haunting novels. It has been twice filmed as a movie, in 1963 and 1999.
Also in 1999 was the evocative The Sixth Sense. More poignant and sad than frightening, this film tells the story of Cole Sear, a troubled young boy, movingly played by Haley Joel Osment. Thought to be the subject of hallucinations and emotional or psychological problems, he confides to psychologist Malcolm Crowe that "I see dead people". The child is gifted with the ability to communicate with the dead at the location of their death, and his life is made miserable by his inability to shut them out.
Ghosts Among Us
Ghosts can be horrible, ghosts can be funny. Ghosts can be sexy (Alan Rickman!) and sad. But whatever the case, they're almost always great storytelling.
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