Ten Best Ghost Movies

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ORIGINAL HEADING:

Here’s another blog I made.  Another one?  Really?  Oh well, I like lists so this blog contains lists only.  Unlike my Best/Worst of the Year lists posted on my other blog (one of many), Best and Worst Films Archive, this one will contain top ten lists for specific genres.  Whenever people ask me what my favorite movie is, I never have a definitive answer so these entries will give you a general idea of what some of my favorite films are.  Agree or disagree, I don’t give a ‘eff’ (that’s your right)…

*Read any previous lists in the archive section at the bottom or by clicking on arrow at top left*

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Ghosts.  I like a good ghost story, be it film, show, short story, novel, or vocal tale.  I am a skeptic, that’s for sure, but I think ghosts freak me out the most out of all the cinematic/literary “monsters.”  You can’t always see them, so they may very well be there.  I’ll always remember a meme I once saw on social media that said something along the lines of “During the day I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’m a little more open-minded at night.”  It’s a true statement even though I know it’s the living you should fear and not the dead, but sometimes entertainment (be it movies, shows, stories, etc.) tells us the once-living can be feared too.  Like always, it was hard picking just ten ghost movies to include on this list and I was actually able to narrow it down after much contemplating.  I wanted to list films that strictly involve ghosts and not ones that may contain them, like Pet Sematary (more a zombie film), The Shining (more psychological horror), and Coraline.  There are also those that may appear as ghost films, like Candyman and Paranormal Activity, but I don’t feel like they actually are (the latter deals more with demons/possessions and the former deals more with mythology/urban legends).  Ghost movies aren’t always horror either; Field of Dreams and the original Ghostbusters made this list (the latter may be labeled a horror-comedy, but I think the comedy vastly overshadows the horror), Scrooged as well as several versions of A Christmas Carol make for good holiday viewings, and films like Ghost Dad  and Ghost Cat are family-friendly (I was a fan of the former as a kid), and I’ll even mention that “friendly ghost” while I’m at it (I did used to watch the cartoons as a kid).  Ghost seems to be renowned as a romance film, but it’s actually darker than people give it credit for.  And while The Devil’s Backbone may be labeled as a horror film, I believe it to be more of a drama containing a ghost, but it’s still a good film that I do recommend (even for those that scare easily).  There are plenty of other ghost films I like, such as Stir of Echoes, Crimson Peak, Lady in White, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Changeling, The Orphanage and A Chinese Ghost Story (a title sounding as straightforward as they come, but actually involves much more), and I even enjoyed the Insidious and Conjuring films for the most part, but I didn’t feel like they quite belonged in the top ten (and that can always change).  Some movies do age well, while others not so much; for example, I saw What Lies Beneath in the theater and thought it was pretty chilling; the second time, I didn’t think it was as good; I recently re-watched it and actually thought it was kind of lame, so opinions do change over time (and that’s always subjective).  On the other hand, when I saw The Frighteners in the theater, I was kind of disappointed, but I grew to like it more over time.  I liked ParaNorman the first time I saw it, didn’t love it, but I love it now!  The Sixth Sense is pretty famous for containing a twist ending most didn’t see coming at the time, but it’s actually a really well-made film aside from that (M. Night Shyamalan is very good at making simplistic yet effective movies though).  The Others was another one containing a similar twist, but it’s also a very good film otherwise; more gothic too.  The Ring is the only example I can think of wherein I thought the remake was better than the original; I did like Ringu though.  Forget The Eye remake with Jessica Alba though; the original Pang brothers’ version is much better!  Ju-on and its first remake, The Grudge, were decent ghost stories, but not good enough to be on this list (and don’t even get me started on that recent second remake).  Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorite ghost movies, and it could always change and I likely might recall other movies later, but I dug as deep as I could before finishing this list, so this’ll have to do for now…

Ten Best Ghost Movies

1.            The Eye (2003)

2.            Field of Dreams

3.            The Frighteners

4.            Ghost

5.            Ghostbusters (1984)*

6.            The Others*

7.            ParaNorman *

8.            Poltergeist (1982)*

9.            The Ring*

10.          The Sixth Sense               

*indicates a standout title

---Sean O.
4/30/2020