IMDb user comments for
Lady in White (1988) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Index

55 comments in total

---

10 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Decent, 27 July 2006

Author: mOVIemAN56

I was able to see Lady in White today on TV. At first I was just mildly interested in what I believed to be a kids movie. Once I realized this film was no children's film, I was sucked right in.

Frankie is a young, smart child of an Italian family in the town of Willowpoint Falls. He has a great imagination and is able to express it on Halloween while in school. Afterwards however, Frankie is locked into the school's coat room for the night by two bullies and witnesses something remarkable. He witnesses the ghost of a little girl being killed by the hands of an unknown man 10 years prior. The ghost begins to follow Frankie and he sort of befriends her as he attempts to discover who killed the little girl and 10 other children in the town.

Lukas Haas is exceptional in the lead role of Frankie. He is sweet, fun-loving, and extremely enjoyable to watch on the screen. Haas does a fine job in his portrayal of the haunted boy and brings out his character quite easily. Alex Rocco also does quite well in his supporting role of Frankie's father. You are able to tell, even without it being talked about, that he is a good, kind man and father. That he is always looking out for his sons with the loss of his wife. Rocco shows his acting ability well.

Originally I thought this film to be a children's film and was quite convinced it was until I saw the coat room sequence. The acting of the little girl as she is killed by the invisible force is shocking and terrifying. I was truly frightened by the scene and knew it was no longer a children's film. My only complaint, which is a large one, is the lack of emphasis on the Lady in White. SHe is barely shown the whole film and it confused me slightly why they named the film after her.

Age does show on this film with the cheesy special effects. However the story is able to overthrow the poor special effects. The acting is solid, the story is well thought out and the characters are quite enjoyable to watch.

3 out of 5 Stars

---

9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
This is a beautiful ghost story, nothing terrible about it!, 11 April 2005

Author: missah4queen from Texas

I saw this movie when I was only seven or so and have loved it ever since. Perhaps it is not has high tech as other movies but it has really wonderful elements. The execution of this film is wonderful. As opposed to the last comment on this movie, I have to disagree. I think an open mind is needed to fully appreciate older films. If you do not feel that something from the eighties and older is worthy of your time this probably is not the movie for you. If you do love a good ghost story, try this one on for size. It isn't a scary movie, relatively mild with very little violence and no blood. It is creative and really heart warming.

---

14 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Patchey Ghost Story, 14 January 2006

Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute, Scotland

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

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Why independent movies are so weird?, 1 August 2008

Author: Efenstor from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia

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.

---

4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Perfect for Hallowe'en, 11 October 2005

Author: skallisjr from Tampa, FL United States

This film combines elements from many other genres, and makes itself unique. It is a ghost story, a murder mystery, a nostalgia film, and a family drama.

The story is centered on Frankie, a successful novelist of horror stories. He returns to his home town in the Northeastern United States, during autumn, and the basic film is a flashback.

Within the film are hints that make it more intriguing. Frankie sells greeting cards, and from them gets a typewriter, presaging his career as an author. His schoolwork reflects this, as he writes a frightening short story to spook his schoolmates -- and his teacher. A couple of his classmates trick him into going into the coat closet as the school is closing, and lock him in.

After trying to get out, he eventually falls asleep, and wakens to the sight of the ghost of a young girl, who is condemned to relive, as it were, her murder. Later, the murderer comes into the closet and nearly strangles Frankie to death.

Frankie has a near-death experience, but is revived. He then experiences a number of unusual events, such as seeing The Lady In White, a ghost of a woman seeking her missing daughter. Much of the story is seen in the context of an Italo-American family, with mild comedic incidents.

Major spoiler: The identity of the murderer is a bit easy to figure out, particularly with him whistling an early Bing Crosby song that Frankie (and the audience) knows is connected to the little girl's ghost.

The film delivers on all its fronts, and is perfect to watch after the Trick-Or-Treaters have finished.

---

5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Very Atmospheric, 23 January 2006

Author: birdsong-4 from United States

Despite a few plot gaps, this is a very charming, atmospheric movie. The view is through the eyes of the main child-character, Frankie Scarlatti, and we see what he sees. This is a wonderful ghost story, not a horror film at all. Lukas Haas' character, Frankie, is vulnerable, yet determined to get at the heart of the mystery. Katherine Helmond is touchingly effective in her role as the grandmother of the murdered girl. My only complaint is that I get no clues from the plot or characterizations about what caused the killer to act. Yet I can suspend belief long enough to go with the childlike curiosity into the mysterious story. This is what I call a "little movie", no splashy special effects or over-the-top story lines, just a simple, sweet movie.

---

6 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Interesting ghost story, 13 July 2000

Author: Sean Choi (sean_choi) from Santa Barbara, Ca

I suppose _Lady in White_ can be viewed as a horror film. It is a supernaturalistic ghost story that relies on mood and suspense to generate its scares, rather than gratuitous and explicit gore. And while some of the special effects seem dated by today's standards, that didn't really detract from my interest in the film. Creative camera work and moody score on a couple of scenes actually gave me chills. I also think that this is a film that fans of good mystery should also find to their liking. Overall, this is a good film from a relatively unknown director, Frank LaLo

---

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Epilogue Needed!, 13 March 2009

Author: WDPrystauk from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was amazed that this film was even made because it was like "A Christmas Story" meets "M" (with the Hardy Boys thrown in). A big mix of parent-cringing darkness and family fun.

This could have been phenomenal, but a couple of weird and stupid things happened. Most importantly, at times we'd go from daylight to darkness on a whim. Scenes would continue as if they were outrageously and illogically stretched over time. When Franky is trying to escape at the end this starts before twilight then suddenly it's 10pm. Ridiculous.

Spoiler follows:

What's worse, was the film needed an epilogue after the drawn out climax. It would have been great to see the husband who's wife shot the janitor, go and visit the surviving wife to apologize - as well as the rest of the town. And the movie should have finished where it began - at the cemetery with the adult Franky. Since we never returned to that, then it shouldn't have been part of the beginning.

---

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Locked away., 19 July 2008

Author: tamimarie228 from Iowa

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Frankie and his so called "friends" are having a Halloween party at school but his friends end up locking him in the cloak room for the weekend. Some friends they are. So Frankie is sitting there freezing when he sees a ghost and it leads to solving a series of murders over the past ten years. Frankie gets out of the cloak room of course and then he has to figure out who did what.

It was a pretty good mystery. The special effects were pretty corny but the story is well thought out. There is also a little dark humor in it too that involves the grandfather. The older brother is a big jerk but not really a major character until he becomes the hero at the end. Sort of. It's not too scary but it's a pretty good family mystery movie.

---

1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful :-
Atmospheric Ghost Story With Distracting Special Effects., 20 August 2007

Author: youshotandywarhol from Oregon

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Lady in White" is about a young boy named Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas), who lives in a rural small town. It's 1962, and the small community of Willowpoint Falls is about to celebrate the Halloween season. Unfortunately, for Frankie, he ends up spending his Halloween night locked away in the school's coat closet, in a prank by some bullying peers. But what he witnesses that night changes his life forever - he sees the apparition of a young girl be savagely murdered. The killer of the young girl himself arrives in the coat closet to retrieve a piece of evidence, and stumbles upon Frankie and nearly kills him. After the horrific incident, Frankie becomes immersed in a mystery involving the young murdered girl, her relation to a ghostly woman known as the 'Lady in white', and the serial killer who has claimed the lives of countless other children for the past ten years.

I watched this movie when I was about nine or ten years old, and it truly frightened me. I remember particularly being haunted by the apparition of the girl's murder in the coat closet, and the home of the Lady in white on the rocky sea cliffs. I ended up buying this on DVD when I saw it sitting on the shelf at a local store, and it was cheap so I decided to give it another watch, not having seen it for many years. Sadly, much of what frightened me in this movie then was lost due to my age, among other things. I didn't find the film nearly as frightening, and this time around I realized how horrible some of the special effects in this film were. I'm not sure what they were capable of in 1988, but I was really surprised at how cheap a lot of these scenes looked. Anyway, I suppose I can't judge the film too much based on this, but the effects were a bit distracting.

The script is pretty interesting, and I thought the entire premise of the film is really great. The story is an attempt at something original, and I can honestly say that it isn't your typical ghost story. It's different in the fact that it doesn't focus on one solid incident - it encompasses many different things, and I liked that about it. A couple of good plot twists enter midway through the film, and the mysterious 'Lady in white' is introduced. There are a few plot holes here and there, too, which were a little disappointing, but I'm not going to nit pick those. Style-wise, this movie is truly stunning. The cinematography is outstanding and abstract, and the director's vision really shines through in the sets, colors, etc. There are some truly chilling scenes and a couple of really frightening moments that were still spooky enough to get a reaction out of me all these years later, so I give it credit there as well.

The atmosphere in this movie is amazing, with the fall leaves, 1960s setting, small town-feel, and the seasonal elements (Halloween, Christmas) which also really add to it. It seems to attain a surreal quality about it, and the surrealism and imagery used in the film set it apart from most other stories of its type. Sometimes it feels like a bit of a Tim Burton film, mainly with its unique sets and unusual cinematography - but I liked that about it. The acting is also quite good, particularly from young Lukas Haas who carries the film. Katherine Helmond plays the spooky title role quite well, and Len Cariou and Alex Rocco also turn in solid performances. The film's conclusion on the seaside cliffs was a tad predictable and I was again distracted by the special effects, but alas, I was happy with the way it tied together.

Overall, "Lady in White" is a fairly unusual movie. It's a bit of a light ghost story that has a decent premise and some truly frightening moments, along with a great style, vision, and atmosphere. I feel that the production went overboard and got a little special-effects crazy, and the quality of them really distracted me. However, it's still a nice ghost story with enough positive points, and a perfect little piece of nostalgia - but sadly, in some instances it isn't what I remembered it to be. I'd recommend watching it though for the unique style and the strong atmosphere (the plot is pretty solid also) - it's a decent ghost story, but it it isn't perfect. 6/10.

---

---

Page 1 of 6:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Amazon.com summary	Ratings
Awards	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history