Ghost Story is set in 1930's England where two Duller (Vivian MacKerrell) & Talbot (Larry Dann) meet at a train station & recognise each other as both having been invited to the countryside to stay in a large manor house recently inherited by one of their old college buddies McFayden (Murray Melvin). Once Duller & Talbot arrive McFayden is rather vague about his plans but they try to make the best of it, in the middle of the night while in bed trying to sleep Talbot is attacked by a large porcelain doll which disappears as suddenly as it appeared. The following morning Talbot witnesses an argument between some people he has never seen before in the house which looks different than it did when he arrived but they also disappear quickly & the house returns to it's present state. Talbot thinks that McFayden & Duller are playing tricks but it turns out that McFayden invited the pair their to try & prove the existence of ghost's & whether his new house is haunted...
This British production was co-written, produced & directed by Stephen Weeks & is a real oddball obscurity from the early 70's, until the recent 2009 British DVD this had only ever been released on VHS in the US once under the exploitative title Madhouse Mansion & had a few airings on UK telly but otherwise was pretty much impossible to watch. The script has three credited screenwriters & it felt to me like each of them had their own ideas & were pulling in the opposite direction to the other's which makes for a bit of a weird, jumbled mess of a film that simply didn't work for me. The three main character's are amongst the oddest & most eccentric you are likely to see, they are all just plain weird & it's impossible to relate to them or feel any sympathy or care about their story. Every scene the three are in is just so stiff, unnatural & strange I couldn't work out what I was watching. Of course some may like this odd feel but I most certainly didn't & what the hell's their problem with Jam? Then there's the extremely poor ghost story itself, I mean the script doesn't even offer up any good scares & the only memorable supernatural activity of note is when a large creepy lifelike doll comes to life but again it's at odds with the straight flashback style ghost story of terrible events in the past coming back to haunt the present aspect which many ghost stories consist of, the scenes featuring the doll feel like a killer toy film & the final twist when McFayden drives off & the dolls arm pokes out of the suitcase on the the back of the car feels like a million miles away from the dull supernatural ghost story that Talbot gets to experience. Even these flashbacks to the past have no logic, I mean at first Talbot experiences these visions in parts of the house where they happened while later he just has visions while looking at an old insane asylum sign, his behaviour & reaction feels so different to what any normal person might do that it I suspect the makers wanted him to come across as creepy, he's certainly more bizarre & creepy than the predictable & lame ghost story offered up.
At just over 80 minutes Ghost Story feels a lot longer, not that much actually happens. Take away the living doll scenes & this isn't even much of a ghost story but more of a discovering past horrific events story that don't seem to have any great relevance to anything. Shot in real locations Ghost Story looks alright but the low budget lighting & camera-work might be a good or bad thing depending on your opinion. Personally I though it looked somewhat amateurish & like it was made cheaply for telly. Forget about any blood or gore as there isn't any but that's not what Ghost Story is about, it's about atmosphere & telling a story neither of which it does very well unfortunately since it's all over the place.
This must have had a really low budget, the whole look & feel of it is cheap although it's a puzzle as to why this British production supposedly set entirely here in Britain was filmed in India. I personally didn't like the performances at all, everyone seemed to play it wrong & nothing seemed right or natural & it was all so awkward & odd.
Ghost Story is a mess, the story has no great internal logic & the actual ghost story about a few patients escaping from an old insane asylum is lame, a living doll that might be alive or might be possessed or might be haunted is the only memorable aspect to this dull & dreary film notable for it's strangeness but little else. Not to be confused with the better Ghost Story (1981) starring Fred Astaire of all people.
This British production was co-written, produced & directed by Stephen Weeks & is a real oddball obscurity from the early 70's, until the recent 2009 British DVD this had only ever been released on VHS in the US once under the exploitative title Madhouse Mansion & had a few airings on UK telly but otherwise was pretty much impossible to watch. The script has three credited screenwriters & it felt to me like each of them had their own ideas & were pulling in the opposite direction to the other's which makes for a bit of a weird, jumbled mess of a film that simply didn't work for me. The three main character's are amongst the oddest & most eccentric you are likely to see, they are all just plain weird & it's impossible to relate to them or feel any sympathy or care about their story. Every scene the three are in is just so stiff, unnatural & strange I couldn't work out what I was watching. Of course some may like this odd feel but I most certainly didn't & what the hell's their problem with Jam? Then there's the extremely poor ghost story itself, I mean the script doesn't even offer up any good scares & the only memorable supernatural activity of note is when a large creepy lifelike doll comes to life but again it's at odds with the straight flashback style ghost story of terrible events in the past coming back to haunt the present aspect which many ghost stories consist of, the scenes featuring the doll feel like a killer toy film & the final twist when McFayden drives off & the dolls arm pokes out of the suitcase on the the back of the car feels like a million miles away from the dull supernatural ghost story that Talbot gets to experience. Even these flashbacks to the past have no logic, I mean at first Talbot experiences these visions in parts of the house where they happened while later he just has visions while looking at an old insane asylum sign, his behaviour & reaction feels so different to what any normal person might do that it I suspect the makers wanted him to come across as creepy, he's certainly more bizarre & creepy than the predictable & lame ghost story offered up.
At just over 80 minutes Ghost Story feels a lot longer, not that much actually happens. Take away the living doll scenes & this isn't even much of a ghost story but more of a discovering past horrific events story that don't seem to have any great relevance to anything. Shot in real locations Ghost Story looks alright but the low budget lighting & camera-work might be a good or bad thing depending on your opinion. Personally I though it looked somewhat amateurish & like it was made cheaply for telly. Forget about any blood or gore as there isn't any but that's not what Ghost Story is about, it's about atmosphere & telling a story neither of which it does very well unfortunately since it's all over the place.
This must have had a really low budget, the whole look & feel of it is cheap although it's a puzzle as to why this British production supposedly set entirely here in Britain was filmed in India. I personally didn't like the performances at all, everyone seemed to play it wrong & nothing seemed right or natural & it was all so awkward & odd.
Ghost Story is a mess, the story has no great internal logic & the actual ghost story about a few patients escaping from an old insane asylum is lame, a living doll that might be alive or might be possessed or might be haunted is the only memorable aspect to this dull & dreary film notable for it's strangeness but little else. Not to be confused with the better Ghost Story (1981) starring Fred Astaire of all people.