Ghost combines both horror and love. Truly haunting

Rating: 8/10 (20 March 2014)

This was, years ago, my wife's favorite Patrick Swayze film until he actually died. Now she refuses to watch it. Basically, it's a very moralistic story about an unfinished life cut short and revenge following death, at the hands of the ghost that was murdered. Somewhat inconsistent, especially when he meets up with the "subway ghost" who is a truly disturbing character. Whoopie Goldberg runs away with an "Oscar winning" performance as the reluctant medium. She injects much humor into an otherwise humorousness movie which is quite terrifying at times and quite graphic as well. The "pottery wheel" love scene is famous but also infamous as producer Jerry Zucker mocks it in one of his own "Naked Gun" movies. Great and bad CGI abound, as ILM gets the Heavenly scenes right but bungles the "Devilish takedown" of the two villains: the white-collar embezzler and the drugged-up, stupid murderer. The "soul-sucking" evil spirits just don't seem convincing enough. Today, a movie about computers, stolen identity, and off-shore bank accounts is old hat, but it was fresh in 1990. The film is therefore uneven, but fascinating just the same. It's a one-of-a-kind film that can never be repeated. Not quite "Hitchcockian", but worth your time at least once. Warning: Bloody at times. Not for the squeamish.