'The Town is So Quiet, the Church is So Still......'

"......the Secret that Was Buried Has Come Back to Kill."
(1981 television commercial for the newly released movie, GHOST STORY)

People have forgotten today what a good, classical horror movie can be in that it doesn't always entail blood, gore, and splatter. The storyline, the actors' drama quality, the atmosphere, the gotcha factor, all make for enjoyable and spooky ghost horro movies without unnecessary violence and bloodshed.

GHOST STORY was a truly scary and creepy horror film that received a national theatrical distribution release back in 1981. The reason for this may have had to do with the fact that several old-time famous actors were in it. Alice Krige was an unknown at the time but this classic horror flick brought her lasting fame.

I applaud horror films where the director cleverly employs female nudity to enhance the scary and horror factor as opposed to mere titillation. The only other example I can think of right now is PHANTASM II. If you see attractive female nudity in a horror flick and are more frightened instead of aroused, then the director succeeded. In 'Ghost Story' whenever ALMA/EVA (Alice Krige) appeared nude, you knew something diabolical and scary was about to occur. Indeed the youthful Alice Krige, aged 27 at the time, beautiful and sexy, would look even more provocative at age 31 in 'King David', proving that some women look more beautiful as they age.

ALMA/EVA (Krige) was a revenant in GHOST STORY, which according to ancient mythology is a vengeful human spirit returned from the grave to seek revenge against those who wronged it terribly in life. The mythology is vague, but the revenant can be something akin to a cross between the undead and a zombie but with self-awareness, although possessed only of single-minded determination to seek vengeance. Ironically, GHOST STORY pre-dated the popular, Japanese-influenced vengeful spirit horror movies of the past decade.