Movie Review - Ghost Story

Ghost Story (1981)

Starring Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., John Houseman, Craig Wasson, and Alice Krige

Directed by John Irvin

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Who wouldn't want to watch an R-rated horror movie starring Fred Astaire?  I saw this while perusing new additions to Netflix's instant stream and I immediately added it to my list for the sheer absurdity of it to me.  In the final film of actors Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., the trio, along with fellow veteran actor John Houseman, make up the Chowder Club, an exclusive four-member group who have gotten together over the years to tell each other eerie ghost stories.  However, a criminal moment from their past over fifty years ago is rearing its ugly head in the form of a scary ghost (Alice Krige) and said apparition is affecting both them and their children.

I don't know what I was expecting from this.  I mean, it's a horror movie starring song-and-dance man Fred Astaire.  Was I thinking it would be good?  In the end, it's an okay horror flick that goes more for "eeriness" than sheer spooks...and that's not a bad thing except that it lingers a bit too long and the ending doesn't end up being completely satisfying.  The biggest issue is that about halfway through the movie, the tone shifts from a straight narrative to that of an "anthology" of horror stories that relate to the four main elderly actors.  I don't particularly have a problem with the shorter stories (and, in fact, they were actually quite good), but it's a tonal shift that the director didn't quite nail.  Overall, the acting from both the elderly cast and the younger folks is perfectly fine, but the reason you've never heard of this movie before is simply because it's just average.

The RyMickey Rating:  C