Ghost Story (1981)

Director: John Irvin

Starring: Craig Wasson, Alice Krige, Fred Astaire

Two generations of men find themselves haunted by the presence of a spectral woman. When the son of one of the elderly men returns to his hometown after his brother’s mysterious death, they attempt to unravel her story.

‘Ghost Story’ is a vengeance story, and also a very tragic tale about a freak accident.

Unfortunately, the execution was a bit – dare I say – tedious. This was actually just plain boring, with a lot of talk. The film is filled with nudity – to make it more interesting, I suppose. Alice Krige obviously had such a good time being in the nude and the director had a good time in the process… (nothing insinuated, off course…).

The performances by the all-star cast were very good, but by golly this…was…just…too…slow. There are some creepy moments and great make-up effects scattered throughout. The film’s pacing does improve a bit during the final act after the big reveal, but by that time it was way too late to salvage this. I believe this would have worked very well as a 90-minute film instead of 110 minutes.

Would I watch it again? No.