ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Hitchcoc This is the prototype ghost story. A couple falls in love with an old house, situated on the craggy shore of the ocean in England. They decide to buy the house an get it for a song. Of course, it isn't long before strange visions and smells start to present themselves. Ray Milland begins by resisting belief in the haunted mansion, but it isn't long before he is fully involved. Ruth Hussey goes from being charmed by the place to nearly giving her life to it. There is great suspense her as they begin to unravel what is going on around them. Many films have been made (as well as TV shows) using an old house and the spirits of bygone eras, but this one is superb in its visual attractions and the fine acting.

GL84 Heading out to the countryside, a brother and sister find themselves moving into a mansion along the coastline which they learn about the ghosts inhabiting the area and try to find a way of appeasing the spirits within before they manage to harm their friends.There really isn't a whole lot here. Among the better parts here is the film's rather strong sense of atmosphere here, as there's points at the right moments where the house can be pretty creepy. The design, which is filled with a great arrangement of furniture and an especially well-placed twisting stairway in the middle of the house that manages to create a really effective atmosphere for the film, gets some great amount of suspense with the general design and with a lot of openness in the windows everywhere allowing a lot of light at times this one serves as a solid haunting-ready location. There's also an important factor in the design of the stairwell towards how the conclusion plays out, since it's the film's single best scene, with the ghost appearing to float down in a rather ethereal manner that only works because of how the staircase was a spiraling design rather than a traditional one. There's some solid work in building up the idea of ghost here with the music being played, the howling wind and floating voices that match the stories told about the house which match well with the creeping fog rolling across the cliff- tops, and a really creepy séance in the middle of the film that has an odd creep factor to it really selling this one rather well. The last positive here is that there's also a really great final twenty minutes here that always manages to get some action in the film, which are some of the best parts of the film generating the full extent of her connection to the past and letting some nice haunting scenes come about here with a solid resolution. These are it's main points of interest since this here has a lot of flaws present. One of the biggest issues is that the film takes a near eternity to get going. The beginning is mostly concerned with incredibly boring tripe about the families getting along, their moving in and meeting the neighbors and the utterly bland romance that feels so out-of- place in a film like this. The distrust here doesn't make the film any bit of entertaining due to it being so dull to sit through and takes time away from the ghost angle, which should be the main point with this one. Ignoring it by focusing it on a really lousy subplot about the family members being secretive about the reasons for a romance to be a bad thing isn't compelling viewing, and makes it seem all the more longer when the ghosts finally appear. They're just endless and really drag this one out intermittently. This is the film's most pressing problem, as there's nothing at all interesting going on in the beginning of the film. It's not really scary, and there is very little reason to get into the first half of this as the film simply seems concerned with useless jabbering on about elements that aren't interesting where it all results in a long period in the film before the ghosts actually show up. It's the one thing that really drags the film down.Today's Rating/PG: Mild Violence.

NDbportmanfan The Uninvited takes place near the coast of Cornwall and is about a brother and sister who purchase a house that is in fact haunted. They must uncover the mysterious past of the previous occupants in order to vanquish the spirit.This film might have been terrifying in 1944 as the sub genre of haunted houses was not explored to deeply, so anything remotely scary might have terrified the audience. Now my dislike of this movie might be solely do to the fact by 2016 the haunted house type films have been done to death. I believe the real fault is due to the lack of tension throughout the movie. How is the audience supposed to be terrified if the main characters do not seem to be moved in the slightest? Occasionally their eyes might strike fear but that is about it. Also they talk through every potential fearful encounter that just ruins the moment. Without proper suspense most horror movies become comical which this one did at times.However the story was interesting for the time it was made, well at least for the parts that were comprehensible because at times the characters had to talk quieter but would still speak at a more rapid pace that you may miss an important word or two that could be vital to the plot. Even with this problem all the actors in this film were great. If you are looking for a scary movie to watch some night I don't think this would be a very good pick; however if you see yourself as a horror historian and want to see a film that was a pioneer of its time this is certainly one to watch. I am sure many horror films of the past 70+ years have taken inspiration from this movie.

Spondonman This was a lovely ghost film from Hollywood's Golden Age, with an impeccable lustrous production from Paramount and an excellent array of actors to put the hokum across. And it is hokum – there's nothing wrong with that at all, and usually I prefer it that way; usually it's much better than being considered capital letter Art.An erudite brother and sister are smitten by and decide to buy a windswept quaint house on the Cornish coast which although it was signalled to them in various ways prior to purchase, turned out to have a houseful of secrets. After a degree of ghostly detective work the Past (a mere 17 years previous) gave up a torrid love affair, an illegitimate baby, murder, lesbians, a seance and above all a seemingly malevolent ghost – or two. And by the end the portly Ray Milland was going to shack up with a young Gail Russell, while his sister Ruth Hussey was being sized up by the always avuncular looking Alan Napier. Yes, it's a post-Rebecca woman's picture par excellence, novel written by Dorothy Macardle. In civilised Western society the ladies rightly or wrongly are perceived to always speak from a position of Belief in the Afterlife, the gentlemen always from a position of Scoffing. Although main man Milland initially frivolously vacillates overall this film is in no Doubt: ghosts exist as surely as there has to be a point in living. It's all done very well with a spooky atmosphere you could cut with a knife. And dim or dark rooms or passages, creepy studio sets and a flowery romantic script acted with dignity and straight faces and with some classic crackpot wispy dialogue that might make the ladies nod their heads sagely and the gentlemen guffaw loudly. In that sense it's probably more comparable to Now Voyager than to The Innocents. It has a rushed ending that doesn't invite scrutiny, but it certainly doesn't outstay its invitation.I still love this wonderful film even though I can be even more frivolous - but hopefully more consistent - than Ray Milland! Except, I too believe in ghosts