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:

Ghost | Halloween | Attempted Child Strangling | Murder | Locked In Closet

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:

On the DVD commentary, director Frank LaLoggia says that he got the idea for using the song "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" (which is a significant plot element in the movie) from hearing it in the Eddie Cantor movie Roman Scandals (1933). Actually, this song does not appear in the Cantor film; it was written for the musical Sitting Pretty (1933). Both "Roman Scandals" and "Sitting Pretty" were released in 1933.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: The distance between Frankie's bike and the porch changes in the opening shots of him getting ready to leave for school the first time. This is an illusion caused by the use of telephoto lenses that compress depth (distance from the camera) but not breadth (distance left to right across the scene the camera is viewing). At 05:46 where the bike appears more than 20 feet from the porch, the distance is running across the camera's view, but 06:20 where the bike appears only a few feet from the porch, the distance is running directly away from the camera.

Quotes:

Melissa Anne Montgomery: Help me find her!

Movie Connections:

References Sitting Pretty (1933)

Soundtrack:

LET'S LIMBO SOME MORE

Why independent movies are so weird?

What makes a good mystery? First of all, weirdness. I've seen a lot of ghost-movies but only a few come close to the beautiful weirdness of this independent movie. Over 4000 people gave their pennies to make this movie come true and it was really worth it. Just like Taboada's "Hasta el viento tiene miedo", LaLoggia's "Lady in White" is an absolutely astonishing movie in every part of it, starting from the visual style to the plot. Of course, like in every movie made on low budget it has pretty bad special effects, sometimes so bad that you want the movie to be remade, but in fact, this is the kind of movie that's totally impossible to be remade without ruining its incomprehensible glamor. Once finished watching, someone would think that it's the plot that makes this movie so unique, but for a movie-lover it's not too hard to remember at least a couple of other flicks with similar plots but miles weaker than "Lady in White", so it's obvious that everything: acting, direction, music, design, photography; so well fit together so they create a potion of pure imagination incredibly interknit with an almost touchable reality. It's the best movie that can be called a screen version of a Christmas story told by the fire by your grand. More than worth watching.

Unfortunately this movie has not been released on DVD in Russia (just as "Hasta el viento..." and many other amazing fantasy movies), so I can share my admiration with only a few people.