The Spirits are Willing and Rarely Weak...... The Spirit World in the Movies

I have the spirit world on the brain right now, having had my first reading by a medium (you know, they hear dead people). It was quite an amazing experience. Before the reading, I was 50/50 believer/skeptic, but after the reading, I have to admit there might be something to it! However, I am more easily mesmerized by a movie than a spiritualist, and even more mesmerized by movies about these special powers. 


I don't know about you, but I love to be mystified by the eerie unknown.Things like ghosts, spirits, messages from the spirit world, etc. that present a mystery are just plain fun! I doubt I would find having a restless spirit in my home fun, but on film, they do delight me. The spirit world has inhabited the movies since the beginning of film time. Here are a few of those spooky stories that "haunt" me.

Shadow of a Doubt

One of the most fascinating things to me about this endlessly fascinating Hitchcock film is young Charlie's psychic connection with her Uncle Charlie. As she longs for his presence and begins to send him a telegram, she receives one from him telling her that he is on the way. Of course, he is the notorious "Merry Widow Murderer" on the lam, but young Charlie doesn't know that (yet). She keeps hearing Franz Lehar's "Merry Widow Waltz" in her head. What does it all mean? I suppose we are to divine that there is a mystical bond between young Charlie and her uncle, but those powers of hers are never elaborated upon and it leaves me a bit frustrated. Did Charlie get married to Mcdonald Carey's cop? Or, did she share more of a dark side with Uncle Charlie than she would care to admit and run off and join a circus to gaze into her crystal ball?

Nightmare Alley

Speaking of the circus, this one just blows my socks off. Of course it's all about fakes and con artists, but Tyrone Power (along with Joan Blondell) are fabulous. Blondell's "Mademoiselle Zeena" holds the code to the phony mind-reading act, but Tyrone soon has it and she is left out in the cold. Not content with ripping off circus folk and nightclub patrons, he soon enters into an unholy alliance with a crooked psychiatrist. Ty is next passing himself off as a medium, as well as a mind-reader, and it all ends badly. Next thing you know, Ty's in the geek ring, biting off the heads of chickens. Love might save him in the end, but the love story is a drag on this otherwise great film about the dirty rot of ambition that corrupts the soul and how the vulnerable are preyed upon by phony spiritualists. 

The Others

I always love a movie where I just don't see the ending coming! I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might not yet have seen this, but Nicole Kidman and the rest of the cast are terrific. Also terrific is the look and mood of this 2001 film. You will constantly be asking yourself "what the xx%$^ is going on here?" and once you find out, your jaw will drop.


The Uninvited

This is a beautiful, atmospheric film with a great ghost story. Gail Russell is breathtaking and Ray Milland is romantically heroic in this English tale of a house with secrets. There are ghosts, but all is not what it seems. A chilling version of "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," it's a winner and once you see it, it will be a favorite. Guaranteed. A bonus is the theme song "Stella By Starlight," which captures the fragility and beauty of Gail Russell's haunted Stella.


What Lies Beneath

This is a bit of a guilty pleasure. I know it's all been done before, but it does have Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford, an unbelievably beautiful house in Vermont, a thrilling (if over the top) climax and a pretty good ghost story. Again, I won't give it away, but there are lots of spooky things going on in the spirit world in that Vermont home, and even freakier real-life things, too. Michelle is glorious, Ford plays a nasty man here and the whole thing is gorgeous to look at. Turns out their outwardly beautiful life is not so beautiful. So, not for the hall of fame, but a spirit-world winner for me.

Some Other Spirit-World Favorites

The Wizard of Oz
Auntie Em! Auntie Em! (who looks like Dorothy's grandma, not aunt, but that was another blog).
Ghost
A popular favorite love story, I also just love Whoppi Goldberg's con artist fake psychic who suddenly hears voices. She is a hoot. Karma, indeed!
The Sixth Sense
While my eyes were glued to the screen the entire time, I missed all of the clues and was shocked, surprised, and delighted when it all came together in that one scene (you know, ring dropping on the floor..... that's all I'm saying). I love it when that happens!
Seance on a Wet Afternoon
Haunting, atmospheric and tragic story of a demented medium's attempt to use the staged kidnapping of a child to promote her abilities. Things backfire when the tragedies of her life intervene. A film I like and a rare chance to see the great Kim Stanley at work.
The Gift
A bona fide psychic, murder, southern gothic, suspects galore and Cate Blanchett. How could I not like this movie?
Topper
Well, it is a bit light, but I just wanted to give a shout out to my favorite ghost, George Kerby (aka: Cary Grant). Shameless of me, no?

Did I omit your favorite visitors from the other side? Which other-worldly film forces send a welcoming shiver up your spine?