Lady in White (1988)

Director:

Frank LaLoggia

Writer:

Frank LaLoggia (written by)

Release Date:

22 April 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The year is 1962. The place is Willowpoint Falls. Nobody talks about what happened in the school cloakroom 10 years ago. Now, in the dead of night, Frankie Scarlatti is going to find out why.

Plot:

Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago...

Plot Keywords:

Halloween | Ghost | Psychological Thriller | Child's Point Of View | Investigation

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Lukas Haas	...	Frankie Scarlatti
Len Cariou	...	Phil Terragarossa
Alex Rocco	...	Angelo 'Al' Scarlatti
Katherine Helmond	...	Amanda
Jason Presson	...	Geno Scarlatti
Renata Vanni	...	Mama Assunta
Angelo Bertolini	...	Papa Charlie
Joelle Jacobi	...	Melissa Anne Montgomery
Jared Rushton	...	Donald
Gregory Levinson	...	Louie
Lucy Lee Flippin	...	Grace La Della
Tom Bower	...	Sheriff Saunders
Jack Andreozzi	...	Tony
Sydney Lassick	...	Mr. Lowry
Rita Zohar	...	Mrs. Agnes Cilak

Also Known As:

The Mystery of the Lady in White (Australia) (poster title)

Runtime:

112 min | USA:118 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating) | Finland:K-16 | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Berkshires, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

New Sky Communications Inc.

Trivia:

Rochester, New York, native Frank LaLoggia based the film on a popular and long-standing local urban legend known as "The White Lady." Legend has it that the White Lady had a daughter who disappeared at the hands of a predatory young suitor, and so the White Lady roams the lake front to this very day, searching for her missing daughter. The supposed residence of the White Lady is actually the base of a demolished hotel that was built in the 1800s. Known as the White Lady's Castle, it has become a popular tourist attraction and party site for teenagers.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Frankie is praying in front of a picture of Jesus, towards the right there is what looks like a toy dinosaur. But in the following shot the dinosaur has disappeared. This is an apparent goof resulting from the compression of distance by the telephoto lens used to achieve a closeup at 49:17 where it appears that the picture of Jesus and the statuette of Godzilla are side-by-side when the statuette is actually some distance behind the picture as can be seen at 49:26 where the statuette is behind the picture at the left edge of the wide screen frame.

Quotes:

Frankie Scarlatti: [about Melissa the ghost who Geno sees for the first time] She's looking for her mother.
Geno Scarlatti: Got her number? Lets call her.

Movie Connections:

References Sitting Pretty (1933)

Soundtrack:

(HOW MUCH IS THAT) DOGGIE IN THE WINDOW

Patchey Ghost Story

On FILM 88 legendary British film critic Barry Norman reviewed two " horror " movies. One was HELLBOUND:HELLRAISER 2 and the other was LADY IN WHITE . Barry hated HELLBOUND which is unsurprising since he is notoriouslyintolerant of gore and violence but he did praise THE LADY IN WHITE but after finally seeing it I have to admit it's a very patchy movie

Much of the problem lies in the film trying to say a little too much . It's set in Willowpoint Falls in 1962 and of course the civil rights campaign is just getting in to flow which means there's a subplot that isn't actually needed . If it'd been set in 1988 you'd have a much more streamlined story . Considering the title of the movie the title character doesn't make an appearance until well into the second half of the running time and up till then GIRL IN PINK would have been a more appropriate title

In fact nothing much at all happens until a subplot featuring a ring comes to the fore and when it does the story becomes compelling and exciting and a little bit disturbing . Unfortunately this doesn't happen until something like 15 minutes before the credits start rolling which gives you an idea of how much potential is wasted and that's a great shame