Hollywood Ghost Stories (1986) User Reviews

John Carradine a relaxed and genial host for Hollywood hauntings

[kevinolzak · 6/10 · 1 August 2020]

1986's "Hollywood Ghost Stories" was a simultaneous release on cable's Cinemax channel and also home video, not much different than other paranormal documentaries of the time but distinguished by its Hollywood roots and the presence as Host of an actor who had himself been haunting Tinseltown for seven decades, the venerable, 80 year old John Carradine, who also that year hosted a syndicated movie package of Public Domain titles called HAUNTED HOLLYWOOD. Comfortably seated in a chair, the actor is a pleasant on screen delight (just over 8 minutes to be exact) introducing filmmakers in front of and behind the camera, all elaborating on their own experiences, padded out to full feature length with much stock footage from familiar pictures. There are clips from "The Terror" (Boris Karloff), "Topper Returns," "Night of the Living Dead," "Andy Warhol's Dracula," "Poltergeist," "The Legend of Hell House," "The Omen," "I Married a Witch," "Our Town," "It's a Wonderful Life," "The Phantom of the Opera" (Lon Chaney), "Beast of Morocco," and John Carradine's own "The Nesting," plus an Abbott and Costello TV episode and four Bela Lugosi films, "You'll Find Out," "White Zombie," "The Gorilla," and "Ghosts on the Loose." Real life hauntings are shared by author/producer William Peter Blatty ("The Exorcist"), actresses Elke Sommer and Susan Strasberg, writers Frank DeFelitta ("Audrey Rose," "The Entity") and Robert Bloch, while Elliott Geisinger discusses at length "The Amityville Horror," the one debunked story that still created an urban legend. Archive footage of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle speaking directly to the audience precedes later highlights on the mysterious deaths of Harry Houdini, Rudolph Valentino, and George Reeves. None of it really adds up to much but proved somewhat influential on later docudramas of a similar vein, presented in a rather lighthearted vein and still capable of entertainment.

Good attempt at presenting some of the fact-based stories...

[dwpollar · 5/10 · 1 August 2001]

1st watched 7/31/2001 - 5 out of 10(Dir-James Forsher): Good attempt at presenting some of the fact-based stories that surrounded the making of many of hollywood's paranormal movies like the Exorcist, and the Amityville Horror. This documentary presented both sides of the story(skeptics and believers) and kind of let you decide what caused these incidents. In some ways, this was both the films appeal and undoing because we as the viewers weren't really sure which direction it was going. I couldn't tell whether they were trying to merely present the entertainment behind the incidents or making a plea for the paranormal and psychic. If documentaries are to have a lasting impact, I think they must have a clear direction otherwise they are simply dry television-style reporting. This movie at times appeared like the later and other times like the former. A very silly video-style song at the end was the final straw despite John Carradine's well done narrative through this topic I can't truly recommend the movie.

John Carradine

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 10 March 2021]

Director James Forsher made the kind of junk I hunted down in the VCR era*, stuff like Ticket to Hollywood and this, a movie that has John Carradine two years before he would become a ghost himself, introducing a mix of celebrities telling stories about being haunted - Elke Sommer, Susan Strasberg, Frank De Felitta (talking about The Stately Ghosts of England, no less) - mixed with clips of movies like The Terror, a long segment from the still at the time public domain It's A Wonderful Life, Night of the Living Dead, Topper Returns, Andy Warhol's Dracula, Poltergeist, The Legend of Hell House, The Nesting, Harlequin, White Zombie, Ghosts on the Loose and more.

If you love the kind of William Castle carny ridiculousness that once sold movies, William Peter Blatty is on hand to discuss all the hauntings he saw on the set of The Exorcist. But the best thing here is seeing actual footage of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle discussing Spiritualism.

You may not be as obsessed with Hollywood as me, but you may enjoy this. I know I watched back-to-back watched it with another Forsher doc, Hollywood Uncensored, which has even more celebrities discussing sleaze instead of spooky things. Either way, I'm in.

*This played on Cinemax too.

Still the best

[BruceCorneil · 8/10 · 21 February 2003]

Enjoyable and entertaining doco about alleged supernatural hi jinx around Tinsel Town.

Generally well put together and most definitely tongue in cheek although historically interesting. Gives both true believers and the skeptics a chance to express their respective points of view.

Regarding the comedy song routine at the end,I didn't have a problem with that. In fact, I thought it was rather fun. I understand exactly what the producers were doing. It was just a way of saying "Don't take EVERYTHING that you've just seen too seriously".

Similar documentaries to do with the same subject followed after this one but "Hollywood Ghost Stories" is still the best.

Decent Documentary

[Michael_Elliott · 24 March 2010]

Hollywood Ghost Stories (1986)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

John Carradine hosts and narrates this mildly entertaining documentary about various hauntings around Hollywood. We get various stories being told including William Peter Blatty talking about a couple strange things that happened during the making of THE EXORCIST. We also have Elke Sommer talking about her haunting house that eventually caught fire like a psychic had told her would happen years earlier. We also get a few other mildly interesting stories as well as countless clips from various horror movies including Dracula, POLTERGEIST, THE EXORCIST, THE TERROR, YOU'LL FIND OUT and others. We also get to hear stories about supposed hunting's of George Reeves, Houdini and Rudolph Valentino. This is a pretty mixed bag because on one hand there are way too many clips from the movies. Sure, some of the movies deal with hauntings but this is a documentary about real hauntings so showing clips from Abbott and Costello and Bowery Boys movies really weren't needed. Another problem is that some of the stories being told are rather boring and this is especially true during the segment on THE EXORCIST. There were some weird things that happened during this film but the story told here by Blatty is pretty flat. Some of the hauntings by the real stars were extremely interesting and it's too bad more of these weren't discussed. We get those who believe and those who are skeptical about such things so at least the documentary tries to show both sides and give them equal time.