The Graveyard Story (1991) User Reviews

A film of two halves

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 23 June 2016]

THE GRAVEYARD STORY is an odd, long-forgotten little horror/thriller from Canada. It stars the veteran long-time actor John Ireland as an old-timer who discovers the atmospheric grave of a dead girl and becomes obsessed with her story. Soon, he's being seemingly haunted by the little girl's spirit, to which end he employs the services of a private investigator to find out what happened to her.

Really, this is a film of two halves, and the first is definitely the better of the two. Ireland has always been a fine actor, although he's slightly underutilised here. There's a nicely spooky atmosphere which reminded me of the style of US TV movies of the 1970s, and the cinematography seems to use a blue filter to enhance the look and feel.

What a pity, then, that the second half is a betrayal of what's come previously. THE GRAVEYARD STORY turns into a standard kidnap thriller with some very bad acting from the supporting cast, particularly the woeful actors playing the gangsters. There are twists and turns right to the end, but it all becomes so unbelievable that I was laughing at what I saw.

A Canadian film hindered by general issues of boredom.

[triso · 3/10 · 22 March 2004]

This is a typical bad Canadian movie. There are no thrills, no chills and no spills. Despite the dialog and over-extended explanations the characters still have no motivation for their actions. The photography is limper than an episode of Eight is Enough.

Of course, due to its dullness, it was funded by the government who probably paid for at least 50% of the production cost and even more if the film-makers were creative with their accounting.

You should be thankful that this movie will only ever be seen in Canada, used to meet Canadian content requirements.

I'll be generous with 3/10 given no comic relief was attempted.

Who played 'Ron Hunt' character?

[pgunderlock-59384 · 4/10 · 23 March 2022]

I watched this with anticipation. First half was spooky nice. 2nd half was a disappointment, standard thugs stuff. PLUS was looking forward to seeing Adrian Paul performance, having always enjoyed him in Highlander series. I don't know who played the Ron Hunt character... but that wasn't Adrian Paul... unless he had his entire face changed? Can anyone explain this???

Really Bad Acting

[linseylockley · 1/10 · 1 October 2015]

I wanted to like this film. I love ghost stories--my favorite genre. But the acting was like watching Middle School children in a poorly-directed play. The dialogue, also, was horribly written. I couldn't get past the amateur acting to hear the story. Too bad. The premise seemed original enough. Elderly gentleman, lonely, falls in fatherly love with the weeping statue of a little girl which has been placed over her grave. He hires a former detective to discover who the child was. I got no further than this, though. I have better things to do, and am not even sure why I am reviewing this garbage except maybe to help others with their own time management.

Fairly underrated.

[insomniac_rod · 6/10 · 20 August 2006]

I can't understand why this movie is heavily underrated. I know the premise does not represent a breakthrough in the genre but still for an early 90's effort it's a very well done movie.

The movie's stars are John Ireland and the always curvy and talented Courtney Taylor (betterk known for her sexy role in "Prom Night III"). But this time Ms. Taylor does not takes her clothes off.

Anyways, the plot may be interesting enough for those who have doubts before watching it. A lonely, sad old man adopts a dead child. Yes, a dead child. Soon after he gets involved with him he investigates about his death and finds a creepy truth which leads to macabre events.

Please, watch this tale of Horror and love. It isn't a bad movie but it surely isn't among the best. But "Graveyard Story" will keep you entertained and wondering if the dead are as noble as us. Watch this little Canadian Horror flick and give the credit it deserves.

Overall a fine mystery well told!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 8/10 · 21 March 2021]

From the infamous B-Movie disastermind that spawned cult 80s canuxploitation classic, 'Beyond The Seventh Door' comes the demonstratively tamer mystery, 'Graveyard Story', a contemplative, gentle, intermittently creepy yarn about wealthy retired doctor, McGregor (John Ireland) who, upon discovery of the dilapidated, neglected gravestone of, Dolly Cooper (Courtney Taylor) compulsively finds himself repeatedly drawn to the young girl's grave until his mounting curiosity gets the better of him. McGregor hires dogged ex-cop, Ron Hunt (Adrian Paul) to discover this mysterious girl's history, and the appropriately monikered Hunt's consummate sleuthing skills fatefully unearths far more than either of them could have positively imagined!

While this modestly budgeted feature has a TV movie of the week aesthetic, this melancholy tale unfolds with laudable efficiency, as director, Bozidar has competently authored a darkly twist-laden narrative that successfully maintains interest until the satisfyingly shuddersome conclusion! Performances are uniformly solid throughout with an especially earnest, heartfelt turn from veteran, John Ireland, and the amiable, Adrian Paul makes for an eminently capable, hard-nosed sleuth, and one who takes a singular pride in the getting the job done right! Overall, this is a decent melodrama, capably told, with no extraneous stylistic bells and whistles, just a stolid, reasonably wholesome, family friendly thriller, ideal fare to cosy up to on an especially inclement eve! 'Graveyard Story' is certainly a worthwhile watch for softly spooky mystery/thriller fans who actively prefer immersive story telling over gratuitous, forensic gore.

Gorgeous Fall ambiance frames nearly every scene of this Canadian film.

[ldpasco · 6/10 · 20 September 2007]

Like the 1990 film 'Twin Peaks', beautiful burnt oranges and reds are the dominating colors of this supernatural tinged TV(?) film. A nice spooky aura elevates a rather pedestrian story of a man (THE INCREDIBLE John Ireland) and his unusual interest in the welfare of a dead girl. Upon 'adopting' this unearthly child (from a graveyard by the sea!!) the story starts to drift into standard detective fare. Other than Mr. Ireland, the supporting actors in this film are a bit wooden, quite likable but wooden and the story works well only if you have a strong cup o' Joe at hand. In a nutshell, not a bad film in the least just could've been a tad tighter in its storytelling. Also the film benefits from a great, atmospheric opening sequence which is bathed in ghostly blue hues AND the sturdy looking, quiet Canadian township (are there townships in Canada?) where this was committed to celluloid. On a final note: there is the chance that most people won't get to see this so I feel lucky that I procured 'Graveyard Story' way back in the early 1990s when Goodtimes put it on VHS and have on occasion enjoyed the ability to double feature this with 1981's 'Ghost Story' (two films at separate ends of the spectrum BUT equal on the atmosphere!). For obscure film buffs only..UPDATE: 'Graveyard Story' is on DVD as a single film or in a 3 pack called 'Thriller Vol. 3: Triple Movie Treat' (also in the set are the films 'Murder-In-Law' (with Joe Estevez) & 'Eye Of The Stranger' (with Martin Landau & Stella Stevens) for those interested.

Started As A Ghost Story Then It Became Something Entirely Different

[ladymidath · 6/10 · 14 February 2023]

I like Canadian horror movies, there are some excellent supernatural ones like Wrong Turn and The Risen. This one started out really great, I thought i was going to be watching a ghost story but it ended up becoming more of a kidnap thriller. Now that isn't a bad thing, but it's like watching two different movies spliced together. The first part is really good with the excellent John Ireland as the old man who finds the grave of a young girl and decides to hire a private detective, Adrian Paul to find out what happened.

It's when the movie starts to change directions and really starts to become dull. It's a shame they had to turn it into a kidnapping story, it would have been better if they had kept the supernatural element instead. I don't mind if in a story the ghost isn't really a ghost, like Housebound, but it just doesn't work here. It's a case of promising the audience ice cream, then giving us cake. It is still good, just not what we were expecting. It's not a bad film, just gets a little clunky towards the end.

A must see mystery/Horror that still stands the test of time.

[jp_melville-58170 · 7/10 · 12 July 2019]

I thought this movie was another one in the early 90's about a ghostly vision that led to a mystery but it wasn't the one that I was thinking of despite that this turned out to be so entertaining for me at least the story while I don't want to reveal too much to put it in a nutshell a man has a vision of a young girl that has been dead for years and wants to get to the bottom of who she is so he hires a PI and from there the story takes off with lots of twists and turns and interesting characters along the way all leading up to a big plot twist put this along with the scenery and great locations this was filmed and it is a classic in my opinion very well done and has that awesome 80's feel even though it is 91.

Not bad if you see it as a mystery movie not a horror

[marigenbeltran · 6/10 · 4 November 2018]

I was expecting a horror movie with a ghosts but was somewhat disappointed but then I was curious to find what happened to Dolly, ignoring the stupidity of some characters.