Ghost Story

This 1981 John Irvin picture constitutes an adaptation of Peter Straub's colossal, bestselling novel. The central plot -- shared by both book and film -- revolves around the four elderly members of the Chowder Society (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and John Houseman), who ...more

Arriving at the end of arguably the most fertile decade of horror filmmaking, John Irvin's Ghost Story (1981) proves that even the lesser-known genre entries could be quite chilling. In fact, elements that might have detracted from this film's scare factor -- a score that's too bombastic, and a starring role for the 82-year-old Fred Astaire -- do nothing of the sort. Irvin's smart, tension-sustaining visual setups and James Alexander's haunting sound design, each prepare the viewer, but not ...more