5 ghostly films that will give you the shivers

Looking for a horror movie that’s not a slasher, but will give you goosebumps? Maybe a ghost-themed flick is what you’re after. There are plenty of “spirited” horror movies out there, but if you want some great choices, The Horror Lounge is here to help!

The best way to watch a film about ghosts is to turn out all the lights, and watch it at night. So grab a bowl of popcorn and a cozy blanket, and get comfy on your couch to watch the films on this list.

The Changeling – George C. Scott stars as composer John Russell in this 1980 Canadian film. After his wife and young daughter are struck by a car in his presence, John retreats to an historical mansion in Seattle. The historical society’s agent Claire agrees to rent it to John, telling him the place has been empty for twelve years.

Almost immediately, John starts to encounter strange happenings in the house; he hears banging noises, finds all the water faucets turned on full blast, and sees the vision of a little drowned boy in the bathtub. He also discovers a strange hidden room in the attic. When he and Claire do some sleuthing, they think the ghost is a little crippled boy who may have been killed by his father in 1906.

The Changeling has everything one could want in a ghost story: a small, creepy wheelchair, a red ball that bounces down the stairs on its own (after being thrown into the ocean), an eerie music box, an intriguing murder mystery, and one of the best seances ever captured on film.

The Changeling is streaming on Shudder and Tubi.

Crimson Peak – Guillermo del Toro wrote and directed this dark, spooky gothic romance, and it’s filled with the disturbing visuals he specializes in. Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, and Jessica Chastain star. Young, naïve Edith Cushing (Wasikowska) is smitten with Thomas Sharpe (Hiddleston), who arrives in New York with his sister Lucille (Chastain). Sharpe is trying to get funding for a digging machine he has invented in an attempt to revive his clay mines, but Edith’s father declines. Shortly afterwards, Cushing is brutally murdered, and Edith marries Sharpe.

The grieving Edith travels with her new husband to his home, Allerdale Hall, which is a huge, crumbling abode literally sinking into the red clay beneath it. It’s immediately apparent that the house is haunted by several eerie red specters, and Edith’s health begins to decline.

Crimson Peak has some shockingly violent moments, and the story keeps your eyes glued to the screen…along with the stunningly beautiful imagery and cinematography. The costumes are equally gorgeous.

Crimson Peak is currently streaming on Netflix.

The Devil’s Backbone – Nobody does ghostly films like Guillermo del Toro, and this is also one of his original works. It also happens to be one of my favorite foreign language horror films. The time period is during the Spanish Civil War, and the setting is an orphanage operated by a doctor named Casares, his friend’s widow Carmen, and the caretaker Jacinto.  As if an orphanage isn’t creepy enough, this one has an inert bomb in its courtyard.

An orphan named Carlos arrives, and he quickly makes friends…but he also starts to see a ghost boy, and soon hears the child’s story. His name was Santi, and the day the bomb was dropped in the courtyard, Santi disappeared.

As Santi continues to visit Carlos, giving him clues as to what is happening at the orphanage, the mystery begins to slowly unravel. Just as in Crimson Peak, the creepy story is punctuated with brutal violence.

The Devil’s Backbone can be found on Tubi.

We saved the very best ghostly film for last

The Sixth Sense – The final film on this short list is one of the most perfect ghost stories ever made. M. Night Shyamalan both wrote and directed it, and even though he has created other good films since, none has equaled it. The Sixth Sense was a true phenomenon when it was released in 1999, before the days when every film was spoiled on social media. Everyone kept that big twist a secret.

The story of young Cole (Haley Joel Osment) pulled at the heartstrings. He was a troubled boy, and we only catch glimpses of his struggles in the beginning; the drops in temperature in the apartment he shares with his exhausted mother Lynn, the cabinets in the kitchen that seemingly fly open randomly, his fear of getting up during the night to use the bathroom.

Then Dr. Malcolm Crowe, who we meet in the opening moments of the movie enters Cole’s world. Malcolm and his wife had arrived home after an award ceremony, only to find that a former patient of his had broken into the house. But now, he wants to help Cole, and he knows he has to win him over first.

Slowly, he starts to discover what is troubling the child, and after all these years, I guess it’s not a spoiler to say he sees dead people. Bruce Willis and Osment are absolute perfection as Malcolm and Cole. Their scenes together are worth savoring, they speak and listen to one another, and their faces show that.

And let’s not forget Toni Collette as Cole’s mother. While we can tell she is overwhelmed, she desperately wants to know what is troubling her son, and the relationship between the two clearly shows the love that is there.

If you have never seen The Sixth Sense, please treat yourself, and enjoy every creepy, lovely moment. It’s what all ghost story movies aspire to be.

The Sixth Sense can be seen on Netflix.