JP Nunez
Ghost movies are a staple of horror cinema. They’ve been around for decades, and from the looks of it, they’re not going away anytime soon. In the past few years, amazing films like The Black Phone, Deadstream, and Talk to Me have proven that audiences are as hungry as ever for this time-honored brand of terror, so filmmakers are going to continue churning them out for the foreseeable future. But for a lot of fans, new releases aren’t enough.
They want to watch everything they can get their hands on, and if you count yourself among them, you’re in luck. I love ghost movies too, and I’ve spent a lot of time (maybe too much time!) searching for the best frights this subgenre has to offer. I’ve sought out decades-old masterpieces, upcoming films, and everything in between, and now I want to share some of my findings with you. I’ve compiled a list of five classic movies every ghost aficionado needs to check out, so let’s dive right in and fatten up your to-watch list.
The Uninvited
Just like we did in my article about classic zombie films, we’re going to start this list right at the beginning. The Uninvited was the first horror movie to depict real ghosts rather than Scooby Doo-esque hoaxers, and unsurprisingly, it follows one of the oldest genre templates around. It’s about a brother-sister pair who buy a house together at an amazing price, and soon after they move in, they find out why they got such a good deal.
It’s a story we’ve seen a million times before, but The Uninvited does it better than most. The film boasts several eerily atmospheric scares that hold up surprisingly well for an 80-year-old spookfest, and the cast brings their characters to life with believability and charm that will keep your eyes glued to the screen.
But above all else, what really makes this one of the best ghost movies of all time is its engaging story. The film takes several unexpected twists and turns as it slowly reveals the truth about the spirits haunting this house, so once the narrative gets going, it’ll keep you guessing until the very end.
That combination of creepy horror, likable characters, and a gripping story is pretty tough to beat, so if you’re a fan of ghosts, you need to watch The Uninvited. It kicked off the subgenre with a bang, and it’s still a must-watch all these decades later.
The Innocents
Next up, we have The Innocents, the first (and best) big-screen adaptation of Henry James’s 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw. It’s about a woman named Miss Giddens who takes a job caring for Miles and Flora, two orphaned children who live on a large country estate, and not long after the woman begins her work, she comes to believe that the kids are being targeted by a pair of sinister ghosts.
On paper, that story might sound rather generic, but let me assure you, The Innocents is in a class of its own. It’s not clear if these spirits are real or just in Miss Giddens’s head, and to be frank, it doesn’t matter. Giddens’s mental breakdown is just as harrowing as the evil specters she claims to see, so this film is a masterclass in both supernatural and psychological horror.
It’s a cinematic tightrope act that’s almost impossible to pull off, but The Innocents totally nails it, thanks largely to two of the best child performances audiences have ever seen. Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin play Miles and Flora with the perfect blend of childlike innocence and sly malevolence, so you genuinely won’t know what to make of them.
Are they really being taken over by evil spirits? Or, as the title suggests, are they the innocent victims of Miss Giddens’s paranoid delusions? It could go either way, but one thing is sure: The Innocents deserves to be on any list of all-time great ghost movies.
The Haunting
If you prefer ghost movies that keep their spirits hidden from view, you’re going to love this next film. The Haunting is based on Shirley Jackson’s seminal novel The Haunting of Hill House, and just like the book, it’s about a small group of people who spend time in a reportedly haunted mansion called Hill House. They’re there to study the paranormal activity that allegedly takes place at the house, and as you can probably guess, they get a bit more than they bargained for.
These characters experience various sorts of inexplicable phenomena, but oddly enough, neither they nor the viewers ever see any ghosts. We just hear creepy noises and see the invisible spooks’ handiwork. It’s a risky filmmaking choice that could’ve backfired horribly, but thankfully, the gamble totally pays off.
Director Robert Wise takes full advantage of the horror maxim that what you don’t know is way more terrifying than what you do know, so these scares will get under your skin in a way more in-your-face frights can only dream of. On top of that, since the movie doesn’t rely too much on outdated special effects, the horrors of Hill House haven’t lost a step in the 60-plus years since the film’s release.
The Haunting is just as effective today as it was back in 1963, so it’s quite possibly the scariest movie on this list. It’s a brilliant adaptation of arguably the greatest haunted house novel ever written, and it’s absolutely essential viewing for any fan of the genre.
Kill, Baby, Kill
Italian horror maestro Mario Bava may be known primarily for his pioneering gialli like The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Blood and Black Lace, but he was far from a one-trick pony. To take just a couple of examples, Bava kicked off his directorial career with one of the most unconventional vampire films of all time, and a few years later, he made one of the best ghost movies in cinematic history.
Kill, Baby, Kill follows a young doctor who travels to a Carpathian village to perform an autopsy on a woman who died under mysterious circumstances, during his time there, he learns that the residents believe the town is haunted by the spirit of a young girl. Of course, the man thinks this is just superstitious nonsense, but as the film goes on, he learns that there’s more to the world than what science can explain.
As most hardcore genre aficionados know, Mario Bava’s movies tend to favor style over substance, and Kill, Baby, Kill is no exception. The story here isn’t anything special, but Bava executes that story with the masterful hand that made him such a legend in the horror world. Nearly every frame of this film is dripping with gothic visuals and atmosphere, so it’s utterly captivating from beginning to end. It might even be the most visually sumptuous entry in Mario Bava’s legendary filmography, so if you’re at all a fan of this brand of terror, you need to check out Kill, Baby, Kill.
The Changeling
Last but definitely not least, we have The Changeling. This 1980 chiller follows a musician who moves into a new home following the tragic death of his wife and daughter, and soon after he arrives, he begins to experience odd, inexplicable phenomena. These occurrences prompt the man to look into the history of his house, and what he uncovers is just as disturbing as the spirit haunting the place.
The Changeling is a riveting mystery in the vein of The Uninvited, but if you ask me, it’s even better. The plot is more emotional and the horror is more effective, but the film’s real secret weapon is George C. Scott’s amazing lead performance. Scott imbues his character with a tragic gravitas that flawlessly complements the ghost’s heart-rending past, so he cements this as a perfect storm of story, scares, and humanity.
It’s one of the absolute best ghost movies ever made and other than The Innocents, it’s probably the best film on this list. Every genre fan needs to see it at least once, so if you haven’t checked it out yet, I urge you to give it a watch as soon as you can. You’ll be happy you did.
The Haunting was the first “horror” movie I saw as a child and I’ve never forgotten it. I’ve watched it many times since and it never fails to scare me. I just love thàt it doesn’t rely on all the sight effects that are used nowadays. It’s true a classic.