10 Horror Films That Aren't Talked About Enough

The Chowder Society, comprised of four elderly men and life-long friends (played by Fred Astaire, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Melvyn Douglas and John Houseman), is a club formed for the sharing of ghost stories. When Wanderly (Fairbanks) loses one of his sons the day before his wedding, and is himself subsequently killed in unclear circumstances, the other son returns to his home town and presents the remaining members with a supernatural tale of his own: that of a mysterious young woman who seemingly connects the two generations of men.

The film is by no means perfect, but it does deserve far more recognition by today’s horror community than it gets. As is to be expected from the cast list, Ghost Story’s biggest strength is its terrific leading performances. Arguably, Alice Krige gives the best performance with her dual role of the seductive and vengeful Eva Galli / Alma Mobley, absolutely nailing the creep factor. She deserved a far bigger career than she had.

Ghost Story is often considered a lesser alternative to 1980’s The Changeling (also starring Melvyn Douglas), and in truth this is a fair assessment. No, it’s not a perfect film, and it most certainly isn’t as strong as the Peter Straub novel that it is (loosely) adapted from.

While it’d be difficult to argue that it deserves to be regarded as a full-blown horror classic, it’s a shame that it isn’t remembered as a minor one. It's a far more stylish and effective supernatural horror movie than the less ambitious The Amityville Horror, which is considered a classic by modern audiences. Regardless of Ghost Story's many flaws, it offers some solid scares and a rich, haunting atmosphere – at least for the most part.