Top 10 Creepiest Ghost Movies
12.10.09 # Top Ten # 186 Comments
It is fast approaching that unique portion of the year when all true matters arcane and diabolical are given the festive treatment, as Halloween prompts folks to deploy their broomsticks for something other than sweeping up after the household pet. Although we have recently seen cinematic quotas of the supernatural gobbled up by vampire and zombie flicks, it would be remiss to overlook the genuine chills instilled by the most successful exponents of the ghost movie genre. So here are ten of the scariest ghost movies to put the frighteners on us poor, trembling cinema-goers.
10. Dark Water (2002)
Leaky plumbing becomes an unlikely source of spine-tingling terror in this J-Horror offering from director Hideo Nakata, the man who had previously attached creepy connotations onto video cassettes and cold-calling in the first two Ringu films. Sharing some narrative ground with his earlier horror hits, Dark Water finds Nakata once again casting a supernatural child as his primary wellspring of unsettlement, as the spirit of Mitsuko (Mirei Oguchi) seeks some redress for her premature demise. The red of Mitsuko’s lost bag and the prevalence of water in the movie both establish a link to Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, and the blend served up on this occasion by Nakata was beguiling enough to inspire Hollywood to deliver an unexceptional 2005 remake starring Jennifer Connolly.
9. The Fog (1980)
Gar! Me hearties! Spectral seadogs resurface to wreak vengeance upon the small coastal town of Antonio Bay, as Jamie Lee Curtis collaborates with director John Carpenter on a more expansive chiller than their earlier Halloween. The Fog sees Curtis cast alongside her mother, Janet Leigh, and although the shock ending of Carpenter’s movie is certainly not up to Psycho standard, the enveloping mist of the title provides an effectively eerie shroud under which the succession of revenge killings can be enacted. And, as ever with horror aficionado Carpenter, there some teasing little genre nods too – such as a twosome of characters turning up bearing tributary monikers to Robert Fuests’s Abominable Dr. Phibes and Great God Pan writer Arthur Machen.
8. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
Better known for the bizarre, tactile mutant bodies that inhabited his Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy movies, The Devil’s Backbone saw Guillermo del Toro adopting a rather less-outré approach to the paranormal than that which we have come to expect from the fuzz-faced Mexican auteur. Death looms large over the film’s scenario, with the Spanish Civil War-era action taking place in an orphanage in which roams the restless spirit of deceased young resident Santi (Junio Valverde). A sense of unease stalks The Devil’s Backbone throughout, as the darkest facets of human behaviour overshadow Santi’s baleful haunting – although del Toro himself might have felt like he was the one coming back from the dead, as he fully grasped the opportunity to rebuild following the production difficulties and poor reception of Mimic.
7. Poltergeist (1982)
And we reach the first haunted house movie of the list. Tempted as I was to include The Legend of Hell House (which sees the astral presence of Michael Gough’s devilish Emeric Belasco spreading misery as an expression of the resentment he harboured about his titchy little legs), I decided to plump for this successful collaboration between writer-producer Steven Spielberg and director Tobe Hooper. The sense of wonder one has come to typically associate with The Beard’s output is given a darker tint here, with Carol Anne Freeling (Heather O’Rourke) being ripped away from her family and subsumed by the static of the television set. Meanwhile, Texas Chainsaw Massacre helmer Hooper keeps the schlock coming; as evinced by Martin Casella’s psychic researcher clawing his own face to shreds, and some slightly bathetic final revelations about a defiled burial ground.
6. The Haunting (1963)
Blimey, wait for one haunted house movie and then a pair of the blighters show up at once. What are the odds? Well, probably significantly better than finding someone who prefers the Jan de Bont-directed remake of The Haunting to the 1963 original. Coming as it did between his work on West Side Story and The Sound of Music, The Haunting perhaps represents a slightly unlikely interjection in the production schedule of the period for its director Robert Wise. However Wise brings the kind of intelligence to proceedings that you might expect from the man who cut Citizen Kane, delivering a disquieting thriller that is high on aesthetic quality and psychological sophistication.
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Decent list, I’ve seen a lot that are very cliched and go for the obvious ones(The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc). I haven’t seen the original Dark Water, I thought the remake was pretty poor though. The Others is very underrated, so good on you for including it. Overall, a nice list.
Ok… I’m noticing people saying Movies that have no GHOSTS in them…aka exorcist, jacobs ladder.. These films have no GHOST’s in them… Maybe a demon.. or a lethal vietnam experiment gone haywire…but NO GHOST’S DURING THE FILMS STORYLINE.. Sorry I know im overreacting.. but there is a list for those films..Now lets be creative and find some GHOST FILMS that change our lives.. THANKS and i am sorry.
Why do you say “you’re sorry? You are correct by putting this theme in perspective. People, here, keep putting any ole horror movie in this article that aren’t even “ghost” movies. Someone wonders why GHOST DAD didn’t make it here. That’s because this film is a comedy. THE EXORCIST? THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE? Etc., Etc. These films have their own sub-genre. Not all horror movies are the same.
okay buddy unless ur a dumbass christian that still believes that deamons are real then i would consider the demons in jacobs ladder and exrosist to be more like ghosts but whatever
I’d still call a demon a demon and a ghost a ghost, though…
Scumbag Brandon: says you’re a dumbass for believing in demons… Believes in ghosts…
But seriously, the movies here tailor to the audience as ghost flicks. The Exorcist is made as a demon movie, there’s no other way around it. You can theorize all you want that it’s really ghosts, but that’s not what the creator was going for.
I saw someone earlier say Insidious, and I 100% agree with that one. However, this was written in 2009 and that movie wasn’t released yet, so makes sense it isn’t up here.
Demon stories are demon stories, and ghost stories are ghost stories regardless of your own religious beliefs. Movies have their own internal logic, and you need to use something called “suspicion of disbelief” when you watch them. This means, of course, ignoring your own PERSONAL beliefs and taking the logic of the movie the way that the characters and the movie tell you to take it. A good example, although it’s not a ghost story, is the Craft. We know that the craft and the spells that are in it “exist” because the movie says they exist. It doesn’t have to exist in real life to be effective. Similarly, if the people in a movie tell you that a demon is, in fact, a demon, then it is a demon, because the story says it is. Hence, the exorcist is a DEMON story, regardless of your beliefs, because the characters in the story TELL YOU that Reagan is being possessed by a DEMON.
The Woman In Black is pretty decent. Not one of my favorites, myself, but it had a pretty good atmosphere.
Isn’t the Mothman Prophecies about ALIENS?
Brilliant. Utterly brilliant.
Completely agree with The Shining – I only watched it for the rest time a few months back and I was starting to become convinced that I couldn’t be scared anymore. Oh boy was I wrong.
For me it was the music. The slow, nerve-shredding build-up that seamlessly turns into the loudest and most ear-splitting soundtrack I’ve ever heard. Loved it, utterly loved it.
That and the barman. Brrr.
Yes, “The Shining” was a great movie, with Jack Nicholson playing an excellent role as Jack. But what in the HELL was Kubrick thinking….casting Shelly Duval as Wendy???? Anyone who read the book, before seeing the movie, would know that the Wendy Torrance character, was a STRONG woman….frightened, yes….but not a simpering fool running around in hysterics, on tippy-toes, screeching at everything that moved. That had to be one of the WORST choices in any good movie that I have ever seen.
The made-for-TV remake of “The Shining” starring Rebecca DeMornay as Wendy was excellent, and she portrayed the character the way it should have been done.
Novels are not bibles, you can make improvements. The TV movie was faithful but was a shadow of the Kubrick movie. Shelley Duvall was excellent. Her freaked out looks and raw emotion added a tremendous amount to the film. If you look at the Here’s Johnny scene without her reactions, Nicholson isn’t scary. The two worked with each other to create something extremely effective.
If she had been a tough, unphased type then that makes her less vulnerable, reduces the threat from Nicholson and the situation is made less frightening. She’s not weak, rather just an ordinary person in a terrifying situation. The nature of her character is one reason the film is far more frightening than the TV movie.
I simply disagree. Duval really ruined the movie for me. As far as I’m concerned, she was a mistake, a miscast. She had totally the wrong look, and played the part perhaps only as she could. She would not have been believable had she attempted the character the way it should have been done.
If you haven’t seem the made-for-TV movie with Rebecca DeMornay….give it a view. She brings the right balance of alternately being terrified and yet managing to remain in control of herself to protect her son and herself. Duval’s Wendy is a doormat, a subservient punching-bag that jumps at shadows and puddles with hysteria.
Movies based on novels can change things around however they like. But their biggest mistakes is redefining the characters into something that they are not. Duval was wrong for this part, and wouldn’t have been able to pull off the character the way it should have been portrayed.
To say that Nicholson isn’t frightening is an odd observation. You are, of course, entitled to your opinion on his portrayal and Duval’s.
I have to say, I’ve been torn on the THE SHINING. First, I was greatly disappointed when I first went to see this. I couldn’t wait to see the hedges coming to life. I understand now, that it was probably difficult to film such a scene back when CGI didn’t exist but still…
Secondly, I don’t know if there were time constraints, if there were more time to work with the actors, we may have had something more decent on that big screen. Specifically, the Duvall and Lloyd actors… terrible, terrible acting. Sure there were some good moments/scenes. Duvall is not a bad actress but in THE SHINING it was just plain disconnected and very bland. Lloyd’s performance wasn’t any better. He acted more like he was in a coma than interacting with his counterparts. I could alost feel Jack’s impatience with these two.
Unfortunately, it showed in the numbers/box office. THE SHINING was a major disappointment.
The only things I treasured most about THE SHINING, was Jack’s evil- personified and the elevator blood-letting scenes.
I didn’t say Nicholson isn’t scary in the movie, I said if you take the Here’s Johnny scene it’s her acting that sells the fear of that scene. Don’t you think that one of, if not the most frightening ghost movie of all time might have something to do with the performance of the female lead?
What?! No Ghost Dad!?
The theme here is strictly straight “ghost” horror movies- not comedy. GHOST DAD is not a horror movie and is quite a disappointment at that.
Two of my favorite ghost movies aren’t on the list. The orphanage and Stir of echoes. Other than that you got a really good list. I completly forgot about dark water until i saw that movie in your list. I really feel like watching that again now.
I think JU ON-THE GRUDGE 2 is the creepiest movie till date.
“Jacob’s Ladder” should be in here somewhere…
I don’t remember it having a ghost in it. I saw it so long ago. Did it have a ghost?
It pisses me off that Japaneese horror is even up there ive seen so many j-horror films and evry time they get worse in worse the japaneese do not know scary. I agree with the shinning but its not number 1. a good ghost story horror movie has to be a mind bender and jacob’s ladder takes the cake, the caller is also good or maybe even insidious thats the best recent one ive seen. i agree with poltergeist and the others but the fog and dark water and ringu? come on u know better!
The Changeling (1980) is good too. I’d also point fans of the ghost horror genre toward The Woman In Black stage play and the BBC series ‘A Ghost Story For Christmas’ which is now available on region 2 dvd – very old school, but still extremely eerie.
Yes- The Changling
I posted about it (further down the blog list and then backtracked to see it mentioned here….should have just read posts from the threads start)
The Changling scared me. Really scared me. CREEPY!
You forgot Let’s Scare Jessica to Death
scared the bejesus out of me as a kid. still disturbing
What scares me most about that one, now, are all the creepy “Porno Mustaches” on male characters. The bell bottoms are shudder worthy as well. 🙂
Good list…I’m sure a lot of these (those that haven’t all ready, at least) will be remade soon.
great list, there’s so much more intelligence in these films than in your standard slasher/gore flick.
“I’d also point fans of the ghost horror genre toward The Woman In Black stage play and the BBC series ‘A Ghost Story For Christmas’ which is now available on region 2 dvd – very old school, but still extremely eerie.”
I haven’t seen The Woman in Black but i’ve got a couple of the episodes from the A Ghost story for Christmas series on video; A Warning to the Curious based on an M.R. James story and The Signal-man which is a Charles Dickens story, they’re both really atmospheric and chilling.
Daniel Radcliffe is currently wrapping up filming “The Woman In Black”. I’m looking forward to it.
Yeah the other BBC dvd to check out is Whistle And I’ll Come To You (or something like that).
I’m trying to stay pertinent to your “ghostly” theme – the Japanese Anthology classic ‘Kwaidan’ (Masaki Kobayashi, 1964) is essential, and while it isn’t strictly speaking a ghost story (but certainly in its cumulative effect qualifies for genre inclusion), ‘Onibaba’ (Kaneto Shindo, also 1964) boasts some of the most atmospheric and moody cinematography I’ve ever seen. Both these movies are available on Criterion DVD. Others have mentioned ‘The Orphanage’, an informal companion piece to ‘The Devil’s Backbone’, and you yourself give passing reference to Jack Clayton’s masterful ‘The Innocents’ (1961), adapted by Truman Ccapote from Henry James, and boasting a pitch-perfect performance by Deborah Kerr. And demonic rather than ghostly the entities may be, but Raimi’s ‘Evil Dead’ Parts 1 and 2 still deliver laughs and thrills in equal measure. Other than that, take a copy of M. R. James’s Collected Ghost Stories to bed, start with ‘Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad’ then continue with ‘Casting the Runes’ (which formed the basis for the brilliant UK supernatural thriller, Tourneur’s 1957 classic ‘Night of the Demon’) and you’ll be on the way to a troubled night’s sleep filled with delicious nightmares and anxious narratives of your very own…
While “The Shining” was scary, it will always fail me as a viewer because I read the book. Kubrick took King’s basic plotline and then decided to throw whatever random wackiness he could into the movie, while at the same time junking some of the freakier moments in the book. The ABC movie was closer to the book (and better in plot since King wrote it), but most people still hold on to Kubrick’s version for whatever reason.
Better choices:
One Missed Call (Japanese version)
Pulse (Japanese or American, as both had their moments)
Shutter
The Eye (not the crappy Alba version)
Hell, you could do a top ten of Japanese ghost movies and still have a killer list.
THE SIGNALMAN is another of the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas, and it’s quite pant-crapping in its own way. Although I guess it’s not a movie.
Anyways, THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES for the win.
THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES is not a ghost story.
The Mothman Prophecies only has 52% on Rotten Tomatoes, it can’t be very good?
It’s not very good. It doesn’t stink. It’s not a ghost story.
The Mothman Prophecies either bores people or scares the crap out of them. A very interesting effect. I have made it my buisness to try and see every ghost film ever made in English and as many good ones in other countries as can be recomended. Shutter the original was one very creepy one with a great ending. There are so many good asian ones.
The Orphanage
The woman in Black (BBC VIDEO)
Haunted 1995 UK
The Other 1972 U.S.
How many times is somebody(in this case-me)going to correct you all who keep insisting that THE OTHER (1972)is a ghost story? This is NOT a ghost story. Technically, this would be considered to be a psycological drama/thriller.
******SPOILER ALERT******
There isn’t a ghost in this picture at all. It is the imaginary memory of what once was- coming from the mind of a disturbed boy who takes on the duel personalities of himself and that of his dead, twin brother.
Although “The Haunting” remains the scariest movie (the final line was burned into my brain) for viceral reasons “2000 Maniacs” is my favorite ghost film.
And we can’t, of course, forget “Ghostbusters”.
Ghostbusters is not a ghost story, per sey. It’s considered a comedy.
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