I worked this weekend at the funeral home and last weekend and the coming weekend. I am seriously considering putting a cot in one of the family rooms and just moving in. But, it would be way to quiet for me. In my off time there I watch videos, it is the only way I get to watch any movies since I am never home. So I was working my way through the first two seasons of Ghost Whisperer but I got tired of the irregular stories and how weird they were. I know they have two acclaimed ghost/spirit/mediums working on the stories but I got tired of the demon ghost turns good ghost plot so I stopped watching them. But, I still love my ghost stories so I found a movie that I saw back in 1980 when it came out and it scared the crap out of me then. Of course I was 12 years old and knew nothing about ghosts. Anyway, I wanted to watch it again as an adult who has spent 75% of my day the last 20 or so years working with ghosts and spirits. I was really curious if it would scare me or if I would laugh my ass off through it.
The movie is called The Changeling with George C. Scott. (IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE DON'T READ THE REST) Apparently he is not known for this movie but for some other movie called Patton but this is all I know him for. The movie is based on a true story (supposedly) that happened in Colorado. So his character is a composer who loses his wife and child in a freak accident, he sells their New York apartment and he moves to Seattle. Of course through a friend he gets a HUGE mansion from the Historical Society to rent and guess what? It is haunted. It takes him awhile to decide that the place is haunted and he has some weird mental lapse and is shown how the ghost died. It turns out the ghost is a child named Joseph, his father killed hm because he was crippled and went to Europe adopted another kid and passed him off as his. The new kid did not know but the dead one did. Needless to say he was pissed. So Joseph is now making George C. Scott's life a living hell in order for him to find his body and bring justice to those who know about his death. It goes on and on and it does not end on a Disney note, the whole story is let out, the new Joseph dies, the dead Joseph apparently stays in the house. I was sad to find out the house the filmed the movie in was a real house and it was accidentally destroyed by the fire in the movie. Sad, Sad, Sad.
I am happy to say that the movie did not scare me, I did have to get over the cheesy Hollywood music. It is enough to drive you insane. What I did find out was that I am sitting there watching this movie wondering "What the hell?" As someone who has worked and lived with ghosts I was baffled and confused. Why was this ghost getting away with this? Why was this guy not stopping him from making his life a living hell?
Just because he is dead does not mean he has the right to terrorize someone who is living in his old house. I understood that the spirit was angry because he was killed by his father and replaced by someone else and his body was dumped in an old well. Okay, that would probably upset me too. But it was so Hollywood and wrong and I had to remind myself that it was a movie not a situation and it was done in 1980 way before we started trying to understand ghosts and how to live with them.
So if you are looking for some good "fun" ghost movies here are my picks.
1. The Changeling - 1980
2. The Haunting - 1999 (May take watching it several times to get the story but it's good)
3. Ghost Ship - 2002 (Best death scene ever)
4. What Lies Beneath - 2000 (Great Ghost Revenge)
5. The Sixth Sense - 1999 (Love the ending)
6. The Others - 2001 (Just Great)
And no you will not find Ghost with Patrick Swayze on it because that movie was just stupid. I did enjoy the evil ghosts that took the bad people away. Other than that it was just stupid.
The movie is called The Changeling with George C. Scott. (IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE MOVIE DON'T READ THE REST) Apparently he is not known for this movie but for some other movie called Patton but this is all I know him for. The movie is based on a true story (supposedly) that happened in Colorado. So his character is a composer who loses his wife and child in a freak accident, he sells their New York apartment and he moves to Seattle. Of course through a friend he gets a HUGE mansion from the Historical Society to rent and guess what? It is haunted. It takes him awhile to decide that the place is haunted and he has some weird mental lapse and is shown how the ghost died. It turns out the ghost is a child named Joseph, his father killed hm because he was crippled and went to Europe adopted another kid and passed him off as his. The new kid did not know but the dead one did. Needless to say he was pissed. So Joseph is now making George C. Scott's life a living hell in order for him to find his body and bring justice to those who know about his death. It goes on and on and it does not end on a Disney note, the whole story is let out, the new Joseph dies, the dead Joseph apparently stays in the house. I was sad to find out the house the filmed the movie in was a real house and it was accidentally destroyed by the fire in the movie. Sad, Sad, Sad.
I am happy to say that the movie did not scare me, I did have to get over the cheesy Hollywood music. It is enough to drive you insane. What I did find out was that I am sitting there watching this movie wondering "What the hell?" As someone who has worked and lived with ghosts I was baffled and confused. Why was this ghost getting away with this? Why was this guy not stopping him from making his life a living hell?
Just because he is dead does not mean he has the right to terrorize someone who is living in his old house. I understood that the spirit was angry because he was killed by his father and replaced by someone else and his body was dumped in an old well. Okay, that would probably upset me too. But it was so Hollywood and wrong and I had to remind myself that it was a movie not a situation and it was done in 1980 way before we started trying to understand ghosts and how to live with them.
So if you are looking for some good "fun" ghost movies here are my picks.
1. The Changeling - 1980
2. The Haunting - 1999 (May take watching it several times to get the story but it's good)
3. Ghost Ship - 2002 (Best death scene ever)
4. What Lies Beneath - 2000 (Great Ghost Revenge)
5. The Sixth Sense - 1999 (Love the ending)
6. The Others - 2001 (Just Great)
And no you will not find Ghost with Patrick Swayze on it because that movie was just stupid. I did enjoy the evil ghosts that took the bad people away. Other than that it was just stupid.