There was a horror film I saw as a young child in the 60's. I cannot
remember the name of it to save my life. All I can remember about the
movie is that either a man or woman or both were riding in a
convertible out in the countryside, possibly near a cliff and ended up
at some castle or brick mansion. The only other part I can recall is
some man lifting up a shovel and driving it down either into someone
or into a wooden casket. Something like that. Ring a bell with anyone?

Waldo Lydecker <ferrante276-waldolydecker@yahoo.com> wrote:

There was a horror film I saw as a young child in the 60's. I cannot
remember the name of it to save my life. All I can remember about the
movie is that either a man or woman or both were riding in a
convertible out in the countryside, possibly near a cliff and ended up
at some castle or brick mansion. The only other part I can recall is
some man lifting up a shovel and driving it down either into someone
or into a wooden casket. Something like that. Ring a bell with anyone?

In "The Shuttered Room," Gig Young & Carol Lynley drove in a
convertible through the countryside to the old mill house, where the
crazy old Flora Robson lived. But I don't remember the shovel scene.



Thanks! I will check it out.

____
"He was a-whetting his bowie on
his boot -- so I let it pass."

-- Twain, The Whittier Birthday Speech

On Jun 30, 9:20 am, Bill Anderson <billanderson...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Okierazorbacker wrote:
There are some great ones like "Rebecca" that have a ghostly air to
them, but here are a few not mentioned that have actual ghostly
presence...and not including any zombiemoviesw/o ghosts:

Places In the Heart

I think your interpretation of the end must be very different from mine.

It's been awhile since I watched it, but I remember being strongly
impressed by the number of dead characters who show up for communion.
Maybe this is meant to represent heaven? Unsure.

Big Fish

Maybe this one too.

I saw no ghosts in either movie. (I remember a story about a werewolf
in Big Fish, but I recall no story about a ghost.)

I think the whole town of Spectre would qualify.

Places In the Heart

I think your interpretation of the end must be very different from mine.

It's been awhile since I watched it, but I remember being strongly
impressed by the number of dead characters who show up for communion.
Maybe this is meant to represent heaven? Unsure.

We see the sanctuary in a long shot and we see who is sitting in the
pews. Then, as communion is being served, we realize some of the
people we're seeing were not present before. By my count, three of
the worshipers who have inexplicably appeared are dead; the others,
e.g. a member of the dance band, are still living. I think the scene
is not meant to represent Heaven; it's meant to represent a place in
filmmaker Robert Benton's heart.

I can understand that, but to me it seems at odds with the rest of the

Big Fish

Maybe this one too.

I saw no ghosts in either movie. (I remember a story about a werewolf
in Big Fish, but I recall no story about a ghost.)

I think the whole town of Spectre would qualify.

OK, maybe. The name of the town indicates that could be a valid
interpretation, but the people who lived there struck me only as odd
-- not ghostly. In Lost Horizon, were the the inhabitants of Shangri-
La supposed to be ghosts? I'd classify them as touched by magic,
certainly, but not ghosts as I normally understand the term. The
inhabitants of Brigadoon could be considered ghosts, I think, but to
me Spectre more closely resembled Shangri-La than Brigadoon.

To me this is a clearer indication of a ghost town, but I never

On Jul 5, 1:51 pm, The Mighty Favog <billander...@my-deja.com> wrote:
Places In the Heart
I think your interpretation of the end must be very different from mine.
It's been awhile since I watched it, but I remember being strongly
impressed by the number of dead characters who show up for communion.
Maybe this is meant to represent heaven? Unsure.
We see the sanctuary in a long shot and we see who is sitting in the
pews. Then, as communion is being served, we realize some of the
people we're seeing were not present before. By my count, three of
the worshipers who have inexplicably appeared are dead; the others,
e.g. a member of the dance band, are still living. I think the scene
is not meant to represent Heaven; it's meant to represent a place in
filmmaker Robert Benton's heart.

I can understand that, but to me it seems at odds with the rest of the
film. I've always interpreted it as a statement that those who passed
on are still among us in a spiritual sense; perhaps not quite as
ghosts, but there it is.

Big Fish
Maybe this one too.
I saw no ghosts in either movie. (I remember a story about a werewolf
in Big Fish, but I recall no story about a ghost.)
I think the whole town of Spectre would qualify.
OK, maybe. The name of the town indicates that could be a valid
interpretation, but the people who lived there struck me only as odd
-- not ghostly. In Lost Horizon, were the the inhabitants of Shangri-
La supposed to be ghosts? I'd classify them as touched by magic,
certainly, but not ghosts as I normally understand the term. The
inhabitants of Brigadoon could be considered ghosts, I think, but to
me Spectre more closely resembled Shangri-La than Brigadoon.

To me this is a clearer indication of a ghost town, but I never
thought of Shangri-La. Interesting idea. I'll have to watch this one
again soon.

I agree that the final scene sits apart from the rest of the film, but I
disagree that it is at odds with it. That final coda hit me like a ton
of bricks; I loved it. But others disagree. Roger Ebert, for example,
asserted that it didn't belong in the movie -- but he didn't see ghosts.
Here's what he said in his review:

The movie's last scene has caused a lot of comment. It is a dreamy,
idealistic fantasy in which all the characters in the film -- friends
and enemies, wives and mistresses, living and dead, black and white --
take communion together at a church service. This is a scene of great
vision and power, but it's too strong for the movie it concludes. PLACES
IN THE HEART can't support such an ending, because it hasn't led up to
it with a narrative that was straight and well-aimed as an arrow. The
story was on the farm and not in the town, and although the last scene
tries to draw them together, you can't summarize things that have
nothing in common.


Ebert, like all of us, sometimes just doesn't get it. I do enjoy

Well keep in mind that when we first encountered the inhabitants of
Spectre, we saw them as they were being described by the old man -- the
teller of big fish tales. We saw later in the film that they were real
people, that Spectre was a real town, and that any ghostliness was a
creation of the old man's imagination. Do you think the old man
intended people listening to his story to think of Spectre as a ghost
town or as just a very strange town? I think it's the latter. The story
of Spectre was one of his tall tales, but it wasn't a ghost story. I think.

Point well taken. However, just because the old man was TELLING it as

amol...@gmail.com wrote:


So I looked in the IMDb and lo and behold! I find a remake scheduled for
2008, with Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper. Why am I less than excited
about the prospects?

So I looked in the IMDb and lo and behold! I find a remake scheduled for
2008, with Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper. Why am I less than excited
about the prospects?

Some friends and I were discussing good gost movies -- not horror or
splatter flicks -- and came up with the following list. Let's see if
we can add to it:

BayonneTe...@gmail.com wrote:
Some friends and I were discussing good gost movies -- not horror or
splatter flicks -- and came up with the following list. Let's see if
we can add to it:

one that hasn't been mentioned:
"A Matter Of Life And Death" ( 1946 )

On Aug 2, 4:54 am, fake-name <fake-n...@fake-address.example.com
wrote:
BayonneTe...@gmail.com wrote:
Some friends and I were discussing good gost movies -- not horror or
splatter flicks -- and came up with the following list. Let's see if
we can add to it:
one that hasn't been mentioned:
"A Matter Of Life And Death" ( 1946 )

Great movie, but where are the ghosts?

Tom

amolad2@gmail.com wrote:

I mentioned to L that we had been kicking around ideas about films to
remake and it occurred to me that _Topper_ might be a suitable candidate
*if* the new script went back to the Thorne Smith novel, which is
considerably more risqué than the 1937 film and even more so for Smith's
_Topper Takes a Trip_.

So I looked in the IMDb and lo and behold! I find a remake scheduled for
2008, with Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper. Why am I less than excited
about the prospects?

Frank R.A.J. Maloney <frajm@blarg.net> wrote:
amolad2@gmail.com wrote:

[..]

I mentioned to L that we had been kicking around ideas about films to
remake and it occurred to me that _Topper_ might be a suitable candidate
*if* the new script went back to the Thorne Smith novel, which is
considerably more risqué than the 1937 film and even more so for Smith's
_Topper Takes a Trip_.

So I looked in the IMDb and lo and behold! I find a remake scheduled for
2008, with Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper. Why am I less than excited
about the prospects?

Existence always detracts from truth.

Avoid normal situations. wrote:
Frank R.A.J. Maloney <fr...@blarg.net> wrote:
amol...@gmail.com wrote:

[..]

I mentioned to L that we had been kicking around ideas about films to
remake and it occurred to me that _Topper_ might be a suitable candidate
*if* the new script went back to the Thorne Smith novel, which is
considerably more risqué than the 1937 film and even more so for Smith's
_Topper Takes a Trip_.

So I looked in the IMDb and lo and behold! I find a remake scheduled for
2008, with Steve Martin as Cosmo Topper. Why am I less than excited
about the prospects?

Existence always detracts from truth. :-)

I'd prefer to say that reality always lets me down.

--
Frank in Seattle
____