![]() They’re sad ghosts too, as the Maitlands return to their home after a car accident only to find that their house isn’t theirs anymore, and the new inhabitants can’t see them. Beetlejuice (1988)Īctually a bit scarier than you think it is, Beetlejuice features Tim Burton’s idea of a haunted house – all weird architecture and manic ghosts. ![]() ![]() The scariest parts of Sinister are probably the old Super 8 movies Ellison finds in the attic, showing what happened to previous families who messed around with this particular demon – they’re violent in disturbingly creative ways. But, well, things never quite turn out like that, do they? Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) is a crime writer who drags his family into danger by moving into a house where a horrifying crime was committed, hoping it’ll inspire his next book. Strictly speaking, the entity haunting the Oswalt family isn’t a ghost, it’s a kind of demon, but he comes with an entourage of ghostly kids, and they’re just as scary as he is, so I’m gonna’ say this counts. Eschewing the traditional haunted house structure where things start off creepy and escalate to terrifying (if you’re lucky), it’s a non-stop ghost train with the creaky-voiced Kayako (Takako Fuji) and her wide-eyed meowing son Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) popping up every couple of minutes. Director Takashi Shimizu has returned to the story of the murderous Saeki ghosts over and over again, making, to date, six films about them and their scary house, but this is probably the best of them all. Speaking of Japanese horror, I couldn’t leave out Tokyo’s most haunted. You’ve never seen anything like this before. We’re talking flying lamps, evil fridges, and pianos that bite. A psychedelic Japanese horror starring mostly unknown (and inexperienced) actors, it sees a group of schoolgirls head out to visit an estranged aunt in the countryside, only to find that the aunt isn’t as kindly as you’d hope, and her house is full of horrors. If you’re bored of the standard haunted house repertoire (creaky doors, smashed religious icons, bleeding walls, etc., etc.), you could do worse than check out Hausu. And the set-up is a classic, although it’s not as well-handled here as it is in another, similar film (more on that later!). The twist ending here seems daft, but if you think about it long enough, it becomes disturbing instead. Sure enough, as soon as the investigators start setting up their bizarre ghost-detecting machines, all sorts of paranormal activity kicks off. Belasco was supposedly an evil murderer, and his spirit is said to still walk the halls of his former estate. ![]() The Legend Of Hell House (1973)īased on Richard Matheson’s novel Hell House, The Legend Of Hell House sees a group of psychic investigators moving into the home of Emeric “The Roaring Giant” Belasco. Unfortunately, this time round I wouldn’t recommend picking up the remake, which tries to be terrifying and fails, killing all of the original’s cozy fun in the process. It’s silly, but the dialogue is snappy, and the ghosts are at least original – where else have you seen the spectre of a circus lion and his trainer? The haunted house in this one was left to the Zorba family by their occult-loving uncle, and came fully furnished – with 12 ghosts.Ĭastle loved his gimmicks, and 13 Ghosts is presented in “Illusion-O,” a take on stereoscopic 3D that meant if audiences looked through coloured lenses, they could either amp up the appearance of the ghosts or block them out completely. William Castle’s 13 Ghosts is also relatively light on scares, but it’s so incredibly charming you won’t mind. It wouldn’t be a disaster if you accidentally picked up the 2015 remake, either it’s faithful enough to the original without being slavish about it, and it’s got some decently funny moments thrown in for good measure. If you fancy something spooky that won’t give you nightmares, this might be the one. It sounds terrifying, but since it was produced by Steven Spielberg, it’s actually pretty tame.
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