GHOST STORY [1981 / 2015] [Blu-ray] [UK Release] Unquestionably a Supernatural Chiller of Its Time!
Four of Hollywood’s most distinguished statesmen, Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., and John Houseman, join forces against a paranormal nemesis in ‘GHOST STORY,’ and based on the terrifying novel by best-selling author Peter Straub.
In a peaceful New England town, the four lifelong friends who make up the Chowder Society come together each week to regale each other with tales of terror. But when one of the elderly gentlemen experiences a family tragedy, it becomes apparent that a buried secret from their youth has arisen to remind them of the sins of their past. Soon, they will learn they have never been forgiven… and a supernatural vengeance awaits them all. Craig Wasson, Patricia Neal, and Alice Krige also star in this chilling and atmospheric telling of one of horror’s greatest stories.
FILM FACT No.1: 1982 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA: Nominations: Best Horror Film.
FILM FACT No.2: ‘GHOST STORY’ was the final film for Fred Astaire and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and was the final completed film for Douglas Fairbanks Jr., because he sadly died four months before the film's release, and the first film to feature Michael O'Neill. The film was shot in Woodstock, Vermont; Saratoga Springs, New York; and at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida. ‘GHOST STORY’ was released in the United States on 18th December, 1981. Universal Pictures had purchased the rights to Peter Straub's novel, “Ghost Story,” in 1978 for $225,000. English director John Irvin was asked to direct the film by producer Burt Weissbourd on the basis of his direction of “Haunted: The Ferryman,” a British television film. Upon reading Straub's novel and Lawrence D. Cohen's screenplay, John Irvin envisioned the narrative as being about hypocrisy and principally “men's fear of women, and at some point, hatred.” John Irvin, who was a newcomer in Hollywood, hired several British film makers as part of his team and stated that the film's cinematography was intended to be “European” in appearance and to “look like a Christmas card.” Principal photography took place in Saratoga Springs, New York and Woodstock, Vermont. Interiors of the abandoned home in the film were crafted inside the former Union Station in Albany, New York, while shooting for the Florida-based scenes was completed in Deland and New Smyrna Beach, Florida; scenes set in New York City were shot on location in Waterside Plaza. Additional photography took place at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, California. According to Irvin, the filming process was emotionally turbulent for star Fred Astaire, who confided in John Irvin that he felt he was going to die or be murdered while shooting the film, and at one point considered dropping out of the production.
Cast: Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, Patricia Neal, Alice Krige, Jacqueline Brookes, Miguel Fernandes, Lance Holcomb, Mark Chamberlin, Tim Choate, Kurt Johnson, Ken Olin, Brad Sullivan, Michael O'Neill, Guy Boyd, Robert Burr, Helena Carroll, Robin Curtis, Breon Gorman, James Greene, Cagle D. Green, Kyra Carleton, Ruth Hunt, Deborah Offner, Virginia Bingham, William F. Conway, Russell R. Bletzer, Terrance Mario Carnes, Alfred Curven, Edward F. Dillon, Alvin W. Fretz, Hugh Hires, Raymond J. Quinn, Barbara von Zastrow, Betty Low, Mason Cardiff (uncredited) and Gale Grindle (uncredited)
Director: John Irvin
Producers: Burt Weissbourd, Douglas Green and Ronald G. Smith
Screenplay: Lawrence D. Cohen (screenplay) and Peter Straub (novel)
Composer: Philippe Sarde
Make-up and Hair Department: Albert Jeyte [Make-up], Dick Smith [Make-up Illusions], Carl Fullerton [Special Make-up Effects Artist], Irving Buchman [Make-up], Rick Baker [Special Make-up Effects Artist], Rick Sharp [Make-up], Robert Jiras [Make-up], Lee Trent [Hair stylist] and Philip Leto [Hair stylist]
Costume Design: May Routh
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff, O.B.E., B.S.C. (Director of Photography)
Special Effects: Henry Millar Jr. and Steve Johnson
Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock [Special visual effects], Bill Taylor [Matte photographer], Dennis Glouner [Matte photographer], Henry Schoessler [Matte crew] (uncredited), Susan Turner [Visual effects] (uncredited) and Syd Dutton [Matte Artist]
Image Resolution: 1080p (Color by Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English: 2.0 LPCM Stereo Audio
Subtitles: English
Running Time: 110 minutes
Region: Region B/2
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Universal Pictures / SECOND SIGHT
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: In the film ‘GHOST STORY’ [1981] we see Don [Craig Wasson] travels back to his hometown in peaceful New England for the funeral his brother David [Craig Wasson], after he dies under strange circumstances on the day before his wedding to the ethereal Alma Mobley [Alice Krige], a woman who Don himself had once loved. Arriving there he meets his elderly grieving father Edward Charles Wanderley [Douglas Fairbanks Jr.], who it transpires is a member of “The Chowder Society,” who are affluent friends who meet regularly to drink brandy, smoke cigars and share chilling ghost stories. Following the suspicious death of one of the member’s sons and the subsequent apparition of a mysterious young woman, the old friends are forced to confront a terrible secret from their past. What follows is the most terrifying ghost story of all, one in which they have all played a part. The group formed with his old friends Ricky Hawthorne [Fred Astaire], Dr. John Jaffrey [Melvyn Douglas] and Sears James [John Houseman], who meet weekly to tell each other tales of horror. When the members of the society as well as Don find themselves haunted by the presence of spectral woman and people start dying in mysterious circumstances, the elderly gentlemen tell Don [Craig Wasson] a story of a 1920’s romance involving themselves and Eva Galli [Alice Krige] and a terrible secret is revealed…
Perhaps best known for featuring the last film appearances of veteran actors Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Melvyn Douglas, ‘GHOST STORY’ was originally the 1979 Peter Straub penned novel when it eventually hit cinema screens in 1981. It was hardly surprising given the amount of simplifications and changes made by director John Irvin to the densely written and heavily thematic original text of Straub, yet, despite this initial reaction from fans of Peter Straub’s work though, ‘GHOST STORY’ has rightly gone on to become somewhat of a classic for fans of supernatural spooky horror.
Indeed, taken as a standalone piece of work, as the film should be really, and there is a hell of a lot to like here. Seeing veterans Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. all working together is of course a joy, even if they do put in some rather shaky, doddering performances as the members of “The Chowder Society” alongside the altogether stronger turn from Craig Wasson [‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3’] in the dual roles of Don and David. There is some fantastic cinematography courtesy of Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, O.B.E., B.S.C., who excellently captures the strong mood that pervades throughout, particularly in the other-worldly, hallucinogenic moments of the society members fevered dreams. This off-kilter atmosphere lends ‘GHOST STORY’ a fairly unnerving feel that works very well with the supernatural nature of the story at play, as well as a permeating sense of dread that works well as the backbone for some genuinely spooky moments that are to be had thanks in no small way to the superb makeup FX work of legendary makeup artist Dick Smith [‘The Exorcist’].
Perhaps more than anything though, it is the presence of a young Alice Krige who is starring in a dual roles that really stands out here. As fans of her work will know only too well, there are few actresses out there who can quite match the way in which Alice Krige is able to exude an ethereal beauty while at the same time simmering something somewhat dangerous below the surface, and her highlight performances here as both the beautiful, strong and independent Eva, and the somewhat more unstable Alma is a superb early example of just that.
‘GHOST STORY’ real appeal as a major work of adult horror rests on the porcelain shoulders of the young Alice Kirge, who is nothing short of electric here. Alice Krige can be fragile, coy, terrifying, fearlessly uninhibited and skin-tightening malevolent, sometimes within the stretch of a single scene. As Alma/Eva, Alice Krige is nothing short of mesmerizing. ‘GHOST STORY’ a film that is unquestionably one of the best supernatural chillers of its time and one totally deserving of being rated as a classic of the genre.
‘GHOST STORY’ mutes some of Peter Straub’s story arcs and pushes Eva’s fellow shape-shifting ghouls into the peripheral of the tale, never really explaining the cult of fiends who hang around acting as her familiars. But those elements are explored in the book in depth and said to me is readily available for those who seek it out to enjoy. But the film ‘GHOST STORY’ it is a sterling work of sophisticated terror that hasn’t aged a day since its release and is ripe for rediscovery.
At the start of the film when we are listening to Sears James [John Houseman] tells his monthly spook story to the other three men, the lights are low and the red cast of the fireplace spotlights the fear in each man's eyes and sets the tone for the rest of the film. It's immediately evident that the intent is to scare the pants off of viewers. The men are at once on edge and it continues with no real stop the whole way through. The movie is wrought with tension that you could cut with a knife, which is unsettling and let's face it, disturbingly delicious. Isn't that why we watch these films in the first place? “I will take you places you’ve never been. I will show you things that you have never seen and I will see the life run out of you.”
GHOST STORY MUSIC TRACK LIST
SWEETHEART OF SIGMA CHI (Written by F. Dudleigh Vernor and Byron D. Stokes) [Performed by Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians]
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Blu-ray Image Quality – ‘GHOST STORY’ is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Pictures and SECOND SIGHT with a 1080p transfer encoded image transfer and also presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Elements are in generally very good to excellent condition, though eagle eyed viewers will be able to spot occasional minor anomalies in the form of dirt and scratches and the like, especially if you look just below Alice Krige's left cheekbone in the second screenshot accompanying this review for a typical example. The colour palette has weathered the intervening decades, and while a lot of the film is intentionally autumnal, things like flesh tones look natural and some of the more gruesome hues of things like rotting corpses still pop with quite a bit of immediacy. Detail is very good to excellent in close-ups, though some midrange shots are softer looking. The film has a number of optical effects, and those bring with them the customary uptick in grain, softness and dirt. Grain looks nicely organic and encounters no resolution problems throughout the presentation. Please Note: Playback Region B/2: This will not play on most Blu-ray players sold in North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. Learn more about Blu-ray region specifications.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – ‘GHOST STORY’ is a Universal Pictures and SECOND SIGHT Blu-ray and features a very fine sounding 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track. Dialogue and effects are rendered cleanly and clearly, and the atmospheric composed film score by French Philippe Sarde sounds excellent, if just a trifle bright and far too loud at times for my liking. Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range fairly wide, especially when considering some of the more frightening moments, and with dynamic range fairly wide, especially when considering some of the more dramatic moments in the film, especially with the very gruesome horror scenes in the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’
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Blu-ray Special Features and Extras:
Special Feature: Audio Commentary by John Irvin [Audio only] [2015] [1080p] [1.85:1] [107:47] With this featurette, we get to hear this audio commentary by Director John Irvin and as the film starts, introduces himself, and informs us that he was the one that directed the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ and the film he directed in 1981 and was his second film and his previous film he directed was ‘The Dogs of War’ and was a 1980 American war film based upon the 1974 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth and largely filmed in Belize, and starred Christopher Walken and Tom Berenger. Director John Irvin says he was offered the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ by Producer Burt Weissbourd and Universal Pictures and also says that he has done Ghost Stories exclusive for British Television and they were “Possessions” [1974] and “Haunted: The Ferryman” [1974] and the pilot for “The Nearly Man” [1974]. In 1977, he directed an episode for ITV Playhouse and did the adaptation of Charles Dickens's “Hard Times” series and really enjoyed the experience, and informs us that when he was a young boy at his boarding school, he was frequently invited to tell ghost stories with lights out and he was very popular and in demand. Director John Irvin says that with the early sequences of the film, he borrowed a little bit of it in a way of introducing the characters from the BBC Television adaptation of John le Carré's “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and of course starred Sir Alec Guinness and he thought it was a very neat idea of introducing the principle characters for the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ who are tormented in their sleep and their very vivid dreams and he wanted the audiences to get a portrait of these characters early on. Director John Irvin now says the film ‘GHOST STORY’ has a legendary cast, and when he got back to Hollywood, he was invited to lunch by a certain well-known director and he said to John Irvin, “My god, they will pay you to make the movie, you should pay them,” then the well-known director says, “still it will be an honour and a privilege to work with all these legends.” Director John Irvin now comments that he was new to Hollywood and therefore he wanted some British comfort and some sort of security and so he chose heads of departments who were British through and through, like the cinematographer Jack Cardiff, Production Designer Michael Seymour and Ralph Eggleston. Director John Irvin also wanted to get away from the European film genre and talks about French film composer Philippe Sarde who apparently initially Universal Pictures didn’t want composing the film score, but due to circumstances hired Philippe Sarde and John Irvin really admired Philippe Sarde, but comments that Universal Pictures were not very welcoming to French film composer Philippe Sarde. Director John Irvin felt the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ was about hypocrisy, but was principally about men’s fear of women and at some point in the film; the four of them also had a hatred of women. Director John Irvin also says that the four men who tell their ghost stories and the reason why they tell their ghost stories is to press a wound, which is of course revealed much later on in the film. Director John Irvin also says that he feels the challenge of the film and the aspect of the film and very badly agreeing to direct the film, was a chance to show off personally a bit, and to show that there actually three films in one film, because there are actually three episodes in the story and also three narratives, where you have the present, and there is a recent story which is horrific and there is a critical moment in the film for the four young men and their lies in the 1920’s and there was a wonderful way for them to show off, and John Irvin feels the three styles did not quite come off and was not as emphatic as he wanted it and Universal Studios did not want him to shoot the 1920’s section of the film in either black-and-white or sepia, so he felt slightly inhibited, none the less, he feels the 1920’s section of the film is still a very elegant film and also felt the four male actors Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and John Houseman came from the history of Hollywood and were totally legendary and all of them in their way, were again legends and most of them before this film had not seen each other for a very long time, not spoken to each other until appearing in this film. Director John Irvin says the film really starts in the heart of Manhattan and faraway from the idyllic nature of New England, and also feels personally that the special effects in the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ were very primitive, compared to what you would see in modern films and of course their technology and if the film had been filmed today, it would be so much different and possible closer to the novel “Ghost Story,” but despite this, he got to work with the legendary matte painter Albert Whitlock, who of course worked closely with the legendary director Alfred Hitchcock. Director John Irvin also says that although working in Woodstock and all the difficulties with the heavy snow and bad weather, did not want the film to look like a Christmas card scenario. When we get to around the 100 minutes part of the film, John Irvin gets to talking about the ice in the lake where the 1930’s car was pushed into by the four young men with the live character of actress Alice Krige who they thought they had killed her and eventually we see the 1920’s car being pull out of the frozen lake and of course the very dead corpse that falls out of the car onto the frozen lake and John Irvin says some very nice complimentary comments about the actress Alice Krige and especially when we see her as a ghost coming down the stairs in her wedding dress and is very impressed in what we are viewing. John Irvin also talks nice complimentary about the legendary Dick Smith who did all the fantastic gruesome prosthetics for ‘GHOST STORY’ and again says he was a total legend, and a total master in what he does so professional, and feels no one else can live up to the outstanding professional standards that Dick Smith does and at that point the John Irvin comes to an ends. So to sum up, Director John Irvin who sort of gives a fairly lucid solo audio commentary on one of his first studio films in America. John Irvin is unafraid of sharing personal titbits on the cast or how the studio handled things and is very interesting and also informative, even though it was fairly low key, and director John Irvin offers some sort of appealing anecdotes about some of the aspects of the shoot of ‘GHOST STORY’ and again including working with such iconic Hollywood actors.
Special Feature: ‘GHOST STORY’ Genesis with Author Peter Straub [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [39:42] With this featurette, we get to meet the author Peter Straub and exploring in-depth his process of writing the novel and talks about the source of the novel in relation to the film ‘GHOST STORY’ and the different issues writing the book, his other works and inspirations. The author Peter Straub reads a great deal of passages from his 1979 novel throughout the featurette and explains how the novel became the basis for the movie. Peter Straub informs us on how he goes about putting stuff together to put in his novels, especially when going for a walk and taking a notepad and pencil or a ball point pen and simply makes random notes as he walks around and especially with things going around in his mind, and out of that situation, suddenly ideas come into his mind. Peter Straub says sometimes ideas come to him in vivid dreams, which of course he included in his novel “Ghost Stories,” and of course immediately wakes up from his vivid dream, puts the light on and has to rapidly write everything down what he saw in the vivid dream, because if not, then of course what he had dreamed will be forgotten. Peter Straub says that Jazz music is very important in his life, because in a very nice way it provided him with company and especially individual Jazz musicians, and for some unknown reason does not mention what Jazz musicians that he really likes. But suddenly mentions that a female cousin of his named Ann from Seattle and mentions to him that he should check out The Dave Brubeck Quartet and so Peter Straub went and bought the well-known 12” Vinyl Album “Time Out” and did not understand the music he was hearing, so eventually after playing the 12” Vinyl Album quite a few times started to like what he was hearing. Eventually Peter Straub found another 12” Vinyl Album by the Jazz musician Paul Desmond and this type of Jazz music Peter Straub which he really loved instantly and really got into the groove of that Jazz music that he listened to. Peter Straub now informs us that with his wife, they went to stay in London for quite some time and wrote his first three novels entitled “Koko” [1988], “Mystery” [1990] and “The Throat” [1993] and revolved around the hunt for a serial killer, but then wrote his 1979 novel “Ghost Story” and Peter Straub informs us that when he started writing the 1979 novel “Ghost Story” he actually did it hand written and wrote it down in big bound journals, until he filled out five of these journals, but eventually had use an old fashioned chunky typewriter to type up all that he had hand written what he really hated at that time in this this situation, and especially the fact that you have to put carbon paper between two sheets of white paper and of course you have to after a certain time period you have to change the typewriter ribbon, which really annoyed him, and then on top of all that, if you type a spelling mistake, you have to paint out the spelling mistake with some white liquid and when it hardens, you then have to type in the right spelling word. As to the novel “Ghost Story,” Peter Straub says he feels it has been the best novel he had ever written and when it was released as a Paperback he was really very pleased as it sold more than hardback novel. Peter Straub was even more pleased when he heard his novel “Ghost Story” was going to be made into a film and was even more pleased and excited when he heard that the actors Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, Patricia Neal and Alice Krige were going to be the main actors to appear in the film. This Peter Straub interview of Peter Straub reveals far more about his creative process than we normally get. Peter Straub does tend to ramble on a bit but it’s very cool and to hear the author read passages from his own novel and then explain its characters and themes.
Special Feature: Alice Krige: Being Alma Mobley and Eva Galli [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [28:52] With this featurette, Alice Krige talks about her character in the film ‘GHOST STORY,’ Alice Krige also talks about her life before becoming a professional actress. But Alice Krige first informs us that she was born in Upington, Cape Province, South Africa. Alice Krige also informs us that herself and her family later moved to Port Elizabeth, where Alice Krige grew up in what she has described as a "very happy family", with two brothers, one of whom became a physician and the other a Professor of Surgery. Alice Krige attended Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa with plans to become a clinical psychologist. Alice Krige then turned to acting after taking an acting class at Rhodes, and then completed a Bachelor of Arts degree and a BA Hons degree in drama, with distinction. She went on to London to attend the Central School of Speech and Drama. Alice Krige then informs us that she made her professional debut on British television in 1979, and appeared as Lucie Manette in the television movie “A Tale of Two Cities.” Alice Krige then went on to play Sybil Gordon in the film ‘Chariots of Fire’ in 1981. Alice Krige then informs us that she earned a Plays and Players Award, as well as a Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer, after appearing in a 1981 West End theatre production of George Bernard Shaw's “Arms and the Man.” Alice Krige then informs us that she then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing Cordelia in “King Lear” and Miranda in “The Tempest,” Bianca in “The Taming of the Shrew,” and Roxanne in “Cyrano de Bergerac.” Alice Krige then also appeared in plays such as Thomas Otway's “Venice Preserv'd” at the Almeida Theatre in London and “Toyer” at the Arts Theatre in the West End. In April 2004, Alice Krige was awarded an honorary Litt.D. degree from Rhodes University. In 2015, Alice Krige received the Special Jury Award at the International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration and Equality in Jakarta, along with Andy Garcia and Jimmy Carter for her performance in the film ‘Shingetsu,’ in which she plays a war-traumatised surgeon of Doctors Without Borders, opposite Gunter Singer. Alice Krige now talks about her audition for the 1981 film ‘GHOST STORY’ and eventually and excited got the part in the film as the characters Alma Mobley and Eva Galli and was even more excited when she heard that she would be acting is the film with some amazing brilliant actors who she so admired and they were of course Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson and Patricia Neal. Alice Krige was also so enamoured and honoured to wear the beautifully designed outfits by the wonderful and brilliant talented May Routh and Alice Krige also says that she wore some wonderful silk stockings, and wonderful period shoes, beautiful period dresses and really wonderful hats, which all helps to get herself into the character in the film. Alice Krige also says that one scene shot in the film was in the wonderful Apple Blossom orchard and it really helped Alice Krige to act out her scene with the four male actors and felt the scene was really wonderful. Alice Krige also says that her main acting career was in the theatre and the stage, and felt everyone treated her really nice in the film ‘GHOST STORY’ and also very sympathetic, that made shooting the film a really wonderful experience and also felt the film looked really beautiful. One thing Alice Krige was really self-conscious about, was having to do several naked scenes in the film, but despite this, the film crew treated me with great respect and also really nice and also very sympathetic. But Alice Krige says she had an extraordinary experience in working with Dick Smith [Make-up Illusions] who they say is the The Godfather of Make-up and of course has worked on truly amazing films such films as ‘Little Big Man,’ ‘The Godfather,’ ‘The Exorcist,’ ‘Taxi Driver,’ ‘Scanners’ and ‘Death Becomes Her.’ Dick Smith won a 1985 Academy Award for Best Make-up for his work on ‘Amadeus’ and received a 2012 Academy Honorary Award for his career's work and had an extraordinary experience working with Dick Smith Alice Krige had to visit Dick Smith’s massive workshop lab in New Jersey where she was fitted up with her horrific face mask, as well as a body cast, and found Dick Smith a really wonderful professional and special person and especially creating my special frightening and horrific prosthetics, and again Alice Krige says that Dick Smith was a really special person and extremely professional and helped me get into my ghostly horrific character so well and made me feel at ease when shooting the horror scenes in the film, and also says that Dick Smith was such a pioneer and a true master in what he did being the wonderful Make-up Illusionist in his profession. So all in all, this featurette interview with Alice Krige was totally fascinating and very interesting featurette and is a definite must view interview. As usual, we get to view quite a few clips from the 1981 film ‘GHOST STORY.’
Special Feature: Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen and Producer Burt Weissbourd: Story Development [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [29:09] With this featurette, we first get to meet Producer Burt Weissbourd and contributes in this interview detailing the production process in making the 1981 movie ‘GHOST STORY’ even though his profession is a producer, but also talks about other screenwriters he has met throughout his working life in the movie business, and that is how he ended up working for Universal Pictures, and that is how eventually got to work on the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’ Next we get to meet Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen and talks about his first job doing the screenplay for the film ‘Carrie,’ and of course eventually got to work on the Peter Straub novel “Ghost Story” and to turn it into a proper screenplay, and of course the horror genre. Lawrence D. Cohen also worked with Barbra Streisand on the film ‘Yentl.’ Lawrence D. Cohen also worked on adapting two other Stephen King novels to television miniseries, the 1990 version of “It,” and the 1993 Stephen King’s version of “The Tommyknockers.” In 2006, Lawrence D. Cohen wrote a segment for the TV series “Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King,” and Lawrence D. Cohen also makes the interesting point that Peter Straub’s novel wasn’t fully translated to the screen; it would have required a much longer TV mini-series treatment for that to happen. Then Lawrence D. Cohen also talks about how eventually got together with Producer Burt Weissbourd in working through his screenplay to get it finally well put together, and also how to adapt the totally massive novel “Ghost Story” into a cohesive screenplay to bring the movie down to sensible 110 minutes in length, but also says that the novel “Ghost Story” could have easily been translated into a TV Mini Series, because he say that if they has done a screenplay for the length of the novel, the actual film would have been far too long, so of course a lot of stuff in the novel had to be ditched, because translating the novel 100% into a movie would have been a three to four hour movie. Lawrence D. Cohen actually contacted Peter Straub to let him have a look at his screenplay to see if he was not happy with the treatment he had read, as Lawrence D. Cohen wanted his screenplay to be as faithful as he can to his novel as best as possible and after peter Straub read his screenplay and gave Lawrence D. Cohen the green light to now get on with making the movie. We find out that Marianne Moloney who is the Vice President of Productions at Universal Pictures who had heard of the young British director John Irving who throughout the Sixties, Irvin made numerous award-winning documentaries for his own company Mithras Films, the BBC and ITV; culminating in the Omnibus film “Beautiful, Beautiful” [1969] about war photographers, featuring Don McCullen, Larry Burrows, and Eugene Smith shot in Vietnam and New York. At the start of the Seventies director John began a career in Television Drama with “Captain Cook” for Time-Life BBC, the pilot for the BAFTA award-winning series “Explorers.” John Irvin then directed the multi-award winning TV Dramas “The Nearly Man” and “Hard Times” for Granada TV and the hugely successful “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” for the BBC starring Sir Alec Guinness and Universal Studios viewed some of the BBC TV Seven part Drama Series “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” and was very keen to have John Irving to come over to America to direct the movie ‘GHOST STORY,’ and they found John Irving a very professional director, and Lawrence D. Cohen got on enormously well with this young British director and because of being a director of brilliant documentaries and his realist movies and always a particulate vision of his movies he directs. We eventually get to hear from Producer Burt Weissbourd and starts to introduce himself properly and talks about Universal Pictures and how keen they were to make the movie ‘GHOST STORY,’ and also says that once you cast the actors, once you get the go ahead to make the picture and you get to feel how things are going to work out and you think how you can improve the movie. We also get to view some wonderful illustrations related to the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’ Lawrence D. Cohen thinks the movie had an incredible atmosphere and the cinematographer Jack Cardiff was totally outstanding, and also praises Dick Smith for his totally awesome Make-up Illusions of the ghosts and also with the other awesome Make-up specialist Rick Baker who were both really talented artist and if we did not have them both for the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ then we could not of been possible to make the movie. Screenwriter Lawrence D. Cohen said that to have Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Patricia Neal in one movie and also united in one film was just a world shattering experience, and also praises the actress Alice Krige, who acted the two characters so wonderful, and had a really ghostly ethereal performance, and was totally perfect for the film. Producer Burt Weissbourd now talks in-depth about the location Woodstock for the film ‘GHOST STORY,’ which was a town in Vermont with all of the wonderful Historic buildings that were perfect for the era of the film because of the surrounding central square, known as the Green, include the 1880’s pink sandstone Norman Williams Public Library and also informs us that they also used the location Sarasota is a city south of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast for the film ‘GHOST STORY.’ But they say filming in the location of Woodstock they were ready to start filming, but unfortunately very bad weather set in and they had to wait quite a while until the bad weather stopped. Burt Weissbourd says he spent a great deal of money of purchasing massive amount of snow to ship into Woodstock location, and there was also a lot of crisis management. Lawrence D. Cohen said that they would have incredible diners with the four main legendary male actors and he wished they had filmed the event as they were something to behold. Burt Weissbourd says that they had a test screening of ‘GHOST STORY’ and it went pretty good, and was at the time of the test screening that he was worried about the length of the film, and the timing, the pacing of the scenes and of course he had a slight anxiety about the test screening. Then suddenly you get to read an in-depth script about the Deleted Extended Ending of the film, and Lawrence D. Cohen says that a number of scenes were filmed, but last minute got cut out of the movie. Burt Weissbourd says after the shooting of the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ and having young children of his own he started writing and since then has now starting writing novels and really enjoys the process, especially writing a screenplay. Lawrence D. Cohen says that he has worked with director Brian De Palma and felt it was a fine collaboration working with him on the 1976 film ‘Carrie,’ but at other times we were not very friendly to each other in a warm cordially situation, but the result was totally thrilling, and it was beyond my expectations, but the experience with director John Irving was totally amazing and I adored him and I was also crazy for him, and Lawrence D. Cohen says he has learned a great deal more over the years working with other directors and I think it is a critical decision and it is a great benefit and sometime it is not. At that point, this featurette come to an end.
Special Feature: The Visual Effects of Albert Whitlock: A Discussion with Matte Photography Bill Taylor, A.S.C. [2015] [1080p] [1.78:1] [28:51] With this featurette, we get to meet Bill Taylor [Matte Cameraman] and talks in-depth about the process of filming the 1981 movie ‘GHOST STORY’ and found the experience outstanding and talks fondly about Albert Whitlock and his involvement with the scene of the man buried alive six feet underground and Bill Taylor says it was done with lighting shining into the coffin with the translucent sides of the coffin and Bill Taylor says that what was achieved was totally brilliant what Albert Whitlock achieved, who of course was the legendary matte painter for Universal Pictures who worked on all of Alfred Hitchcock’s Universal Studios output. On top of all that, Albert Whitlock was a British-born motion picture matte artist and best known for his work with Walt Disney and Universal Studios. Albert Whitlock began his film career Gaumont Studios in London in 1929, before going on to build sets and work as a grip. Trained as a sign painter, he began an intermittent association with Alfred Hitchcock, assisting in the miniature effects for ‘The Man Who Knew Too Much’ [1934] and then completing all of the signs for ‘The 39 Steps’ [1935]. Bill Taylor now talks about the disposable 1965 comedy film with Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee entitled ‘That Funny Feeling’ where a New York publisher humours an actress/maid who tries to pass off his apartment as her own, well Bill Taylor says it was actually set in Manhattan and you would of seen these gigantic and convincing shots of the Manhattan skyscraper buildings and they were of course matte painting done by Albert Whitlock and feels they were totally amazing and so life like and also totally amazing quality and also says that Matte paining is a very skilled piece of art, that was done with oils and brushes and painted on glass and were of course combined with the outdoor background locations. Then one day Bill Taylor telephone Albert Whitlock and spoke to him, even though they had never met before and Bill Taylor had a brilliant conversation with Albert Whitlock and after that they became very good friends and Bill Taylor actually went to visit him in his studio, and of course ten years on from that meeting, and of course worked on the film ‘GHOST STORY,’ and says his work was of the highest quality, and completely deceptive, and basically extended the scope of the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’ Bill Taylor says he worked with Albert Whitlock on the 1975 film ‘The Hindenburg’ which won Albert Whitlock Oscar. Bill Taylor then became his assistant as the matte photographer on ‘GHOST STORY’ and also talks about working in Woodstock in the town in Vermont and all of the problems they endured in holding up the filming because of the very bad weather of very heavy snowfall and Bill Taylor also says that all main shots of the buildings in Woodstock in the town in Vermont with all the roofs with snow on them were done by Albert Whitlock outstanding and amazing professional matte paintings, and were also amazingly combined with any scene with live action. Bill Taylor talks about the scene in ‘GHOST STORY’ where John Housman is driving his car in the snow and Alice Krige appears in the distance and as John Housman gets closer and closer and suddenly goes through Alice Krige and her skeleton face fills the frame of the film and of course Bill Taylor goes into great detail how Albert Whitlock achieved this spectacular special effect, and to find out it was achieved, you will of course have to view this featurette. Bill Taylor now goes into great detail about a deleted Poltergeist scene, and also goes into great detail why it did not end up in the film. Bill Taylor now talks about the brilliant cinematographer Jack Cardiff and was very keen to meet him on the set of ‘GHOST STORY’ and was totally impressed with his massive spread sheet of how he would go about filming certain scenes in the film. On top of all that, Bill Taylor talks about going to see how Jack Cardiff filmed the interior scene inside a church for the film ‘GHOST STORY’ and again Bill Taylor was totally amazed how cinematographer Jack Cardiff coped in filming inside the church with not much lighting and again found Jack Cardiff a totally wonderful man and so easy to get on with and on top of all that, Bill Taylor finds out that Jack Cardiff was a very good old friend to Albert Whitlock and Jack Cardiff would spend lots of time at Albert Whitlock’s home/workshop and Jack Cardiff and Albert Whitlock were thick as thieves. Bill Taylor says that Universal Pictures had a policy that if you hire a cinematographer from outside America, you have to have an American cinematographer shadow them all the time, so when Universal Pictures hired cinematographer Jack Cardiff, and because Bill Taylor was an American, and was able to be the one that shadowed cinematographer Jack Cardiff and he felt it was a totally great honour to do this task and especially watching how Jack Cardiff worked. Bill Taylor says that he was totally excited about two people that would be in the 1981 film and they were Fred Astaire and Patricia Neal and actually got to meet them personally and had a great time talking to them both and totally idolised Patricia Neal and especially all the movies the actress has appeared in and also feels the actress totally elevated the film ‘GHOST STORY.’ What amazed Bill Taylor on how professional Albert Whitlock worked and never got paint on his clothes, but if he got paint on his hands, he would get really angry, but Bill Taylor says, but learning from other artists, Albert Whitlock was told to paint like a scenic artist and that you have to use big brushes, especially on a 100 feet wide area, and if you don’t paint with a big brush, you will never get it done, but instead you have to work very quickly, and Bill Taylor was surprised to hear that Albert Whitlock did not to use a lot of paint and the way he painted, it helped speed up the filming schedule. Bill Taylor was also surprised to hear that the glass that Albert Whitlock painted on, was only five feet wide, but got a much wider shot, Albert Whitlock would paint on a much wider sheet of glass in a Panavision 2.35:1 aspect ratio for a film in that aspect ratio, but we are not informed how wide that sheet of glass was. Bill Taylor says that Matte Paintings are still very important for the movie genre and especially very professional matte painting artists and new rising star matte painting artists now working in the film industry that have learnt from the master Albert Whitlock. But Bill Taylor also says, now matte painting sadly is slowly being made obsolete by the progress of technology, because matte paintings were a critical part of filmmaking for decades in Hollywood, but of course VFX [computer-generated visual effects] have now sadly superseded Matte Painting. At this point, this featurette comes to an end. This is a totally fascinating and thoroughly entertaining and compelling look at the film's visual effects, including tons of interesting and esoteric knowledge regarding of matte painting. Of course, as usual, we get to view a lot of clips from the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’
Special Feature: TV Spot [1981] [480i] [1.37:1] [0:31] With this featurette, we get to view the American TV trailer for the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’
Special Feature: Radio Spot [Audio only] [1981] [1080i] [1.78:1] [1:00] With this featurette, we get to hear a very spooky American audio trailer for the movie ‘GHOST STORY.’
Special Feature: Photo Gallery [1981] [1080p] [1.78:1] [8:43] With this featurette, we get to view a series of Black and White and Colour advertisements, still shots of some of the actors, production photographs and other related images for the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ which runs in sequence. Unfortunately, it is spoilt my viewing experience, to have in the background the very loud and very annoying music by the French film composer Philippe Sarde.
Special Feature: Theatrical Trailer [1981] [480i] [1.37:1] [2:26] With this featurette, we get to view a really spooky terrifying Original Theatrical Trailer from the film ‘GHOST STORY.’
Finally, the movie ‘GHOST STORY’ [1981] is not like the very large novel that inspired the movie, because large swaths of Peter Straub’s source material are almost unavoidably absent. But looking at it now, almost 35 years after its original release, the movie holds up rather nicely, anchored by a quartet of performance by some talented pros and some unsettling scare sequences ingeniously staged by the director John Irvin that more than impress. With Universal Pictures and SECOND SIGHT finally giving this supernatural chiller its due release, here’s hoping more take the opportunity to give it a viewing experience. With a superb cast helps ‘GHOST STORY’ navigate throughout the plot that has perhaps been too severely condensed from Peter Straub's original novel to gain substantial traction. The film is still rather moody and has a couple of very good scary moments, though this is less of a traditional horror film and more of a psychological character study. Technical merits are generally excellent and Universal Pictures and SECOND SIGHT has once again assembled a sterling collection of supplements. It is great when films like ‘GHOST STORY’ is given the attention it deserves because it is great to find films that you may or may not have had the chance to see over the years that is not your normal run of the mill horror film. It is a very beautiful yet chilling tale, a film that needs to be experienced by every horror fan. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
