Ghost Story (1974)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Stephen Weeks

Writers:

Philip Norman (screenplay)
Philip Norman (story)

Release Date:

19 March 1974 (UK)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Plot:

Several old college friends converge at a mansion, ostensibly for a pleasant reunion. Larry Dann, the most easygoing of the bunch...

Plot Keywords:

Mansion | College | Reunion | Time Warp | Murder

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Anthony Bate	...	Dr. Borden
Larry Dann	...	Talbot
Marianne Faithfull	...	Sophy Kwykwer
Sally Grace	...	Girl
Penelope Keith	...	Rennie
Leigh Lawson	...	Robert
Vivian Mackerall	...	Duller
Murray Melvin	...	Mc Fayden
Barbara Shelley	...	Matron

Also Known As:

Asylum (UK) (working title)
Ghost Story (USA)
Madhouse Mansion (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA

Filming Locations:

Tamil Nadu, India

Company:

Stephen Weeks Company

Trivia:

The final film of Barbara Shelley.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Terror on Tape (1983)

Stephen Weeks' Madhouse Mansion

In 1930's England, three university chums are reunited at an old

mansion for a weekend of hunting. One of the men, Talbot (the

odd one), begins having trouble with an old doll he finds in his

room. It seems to have a mind of its own. The house is

appropriately creepy, having been abandoned years before by its

previous occupants.

As the weekend progresses, Talbot suddenly finds himself as a

spectator to some spectres. He watches scenes unfold from many

years before that occurred in the house, yet when this happens,

none of the ghosts see him. In these scenes, Marianne Faithfull is

a young woman committed to the local insane asylum because

her brother feels some urges that would better be spent on a

non-blood relation. Talbot finds the doll belonged to Faithfull.

Committed against her will, Faithfull escapes and has her revenge

on her brother at the same time Talbot and his companion try to

leave the manor.

Stephen Weeks, responsible for Sean Connery's worst film,

"Sword of the Valiant," is completely unfocused in this very boring

ghost story. The fish eye lens is used ad nauseum, and Weeks

forgets to make the film scary. The insane asylum scenes, while

brief, provide the only chills.

The writers can never make up their minds as to what and who is

doing the haunting. Is the doll haunted? Is Talbot insane? The

ghost cast is huge, are all of them ghosts or is this the memory of

a few? If the house is haunted, how can Talbot psychically leap to

the asylum, which is some distance away? Why does Talbot

space out for minutes at a time, and his companions do not

notice? Why doesn't Talbot tell the other two what he sees?

Instead, we get some very dry, very boring scenes that consist

mostly of the men deciding what to eat for breakfast.

Faithfull is okay, but she is not given much of a character to play.

The rest of the very British cast does their best in what should have

been an old-fashioned ghost story, but just turns old.

Aside from the too few chills, I cannot recommend "Madhouse

Mansion."

This is unrated and contains physical violence, some gun

violence, some gore, and brief female nudity.