Ghost Hunters of the South

FILMOGRAPHY

FILMOGRAPHY The Amityville Horror (1979). Directed by Stuart Rosenberg. Starring James Brolin, Murray Hamilton, Margot Kidder, John Larch, Helen Shaver, Rod Steiger, and Don Stroud. In this sensationalistic film treatment of Jay Anson’s “nonfiction” book, a Catholic family moves into a house in which a teenage boy murdered his family. Although best known for the campy command “Get out!,” its eerie lullabye-like theme song, and Rod Steiger’s hammy performance as a priest, the movie is more concerned with real-life scares (e.g., losing money) than with the fear of the paranormal. Oddly enough, the cliché-ridden film’s saving grace is the complete absence of flashy visual special effects. The sound effects, though, are unsettling. The Amityville Horror (2005). Directed by Andrew Douglas. Starring Melissa George and Ryan Reynolds. This violent remake of the 1979 film focuses on George Lutz’s descent into madness but substitutes contrived scenes for the original ’s re-creation of supposedly true incidents in Jay Anson’s book (e.g., a daughter nearly plummets to her death from the roof ). Still, many viewers found the new version to be much scarier than the original. 359 Below (2002). Directed by David Twohy. Starring Scott Foley, Bruce Greenwood, and Olivia Williams. This suspense-thriller set in a submarine during World War II is an old-fashioned ghost story/mystery tale whose characters attempt to learn the identity of their ghost and its reason for return. Like all good horror movies, Below never allows the special effects to distract the viewer from the story line. The movie demands that the viewer pay attention, but the resolution makes it worth the effort. The Blair Witch Project (1999). Directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. Starring Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams. This classic independent film, reportedly made for under $100,000, both thrilled and disappointed viewers. Based on an invented local legend, the young leads attempt to uncover the factual basis for the strange occurrences that have terrorized residents of a small New England town for over a century. While the film’s premise is intriguing, the director’s attempts to achieve verisimilitude (e.g., constant profanity and the wobbling camera ) are very distracting. However, this reviewer believes that the ending redeems the entire film. Carnival of Souls (1962). Directed by Herk Harvey. Starring Sidney Berger, Candace Hilligoss, and Stan Levitt. A young woman who has just survived an auto accident walks into a small town, where she has been hired as a church organist . She begins to suspect that something is wrong when nobody seems to be able to see her. This cult film benefits immensely from its low budget, which lends Carnival of Souls a TwilightZone -like atmosphere. A crumbling amusement park was used as the setting for the movie’s creepy climax. Filmography 360 The Changeling (1979). Directed by Peter Medak. Starring John Colicos, Melvyn Douglas, Jean Marsh, George C. Scott, Madeleine Thornton-Sherwood, and Trish Van Devere. A recently widowed musician moves into an antique Washington mansion. He soon realizes that he is sharing his home with the ghost of a child. The best haunted-house movie since The Haunting, The Changeling substitutes creepy setpieces (e.g., a ball bouncing down a darkened stairway) for gory thrills. The Devil’s Backbone (2001). Directed by Guillermo del Toro. Federico Luppi, Eduardo Noriega, and Marisa Paredes. A young boy is left abandoned at a completely isolated orphanage during the Spanish Civil War. The movie invites the audience to view the evils of the adult world through the eyes of the children, most of whom have been placed in the orphanage for protection. Although promoted as a horror film, The Devil’s Backbone is actually a drama populated with ghosts. This beautifully photographed film is much more frightening than most of the horror-thrillers produced by Hollywood every year. Dragonfly (2002). Directed by Tom Shadyac. Starring Kathy Bates, Kevin Costner, Linda Hunt, Joe Morton, and Ron Rifkin. Dragonfly is the story of a Chicago medical doctor who receives messages from his dead wife and an assortment of young patients who have had near-death experiences. Panned at its release as a re-hash of The Sixth Sense, Dragonfly is a moving account of one man’s spiritual journey. The startling revelation in the end will haunt the viewer for sometime afterward. Filmography 361 Dark Water (2002). Directed...