List of ghost films

This is a long list of ghost films—films about ghosts, or films that prominently feature ghosts. As well as the horror genre, ghost films may belong to comedy or romance genres. Depictions have been as diverse as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Beetlejuice, and Freddy Krueger, as well as the traditional ghostly spirits.

With the advent of motion pictures and television, screen depictions of ghosts became common, and spanned a variety of genres; the works of Shakespeare, Dickens and Wilde have all been made into cinematic versions. Novel-length tales have been difficult to adapt to cinema, although that of The Haunting of Hill House to The Haunting in 1963 is an exception.

Children’s benevolent ghost stories became popular, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, created in the 1930s and appearing in comics, animated cartoons, and eventually a 1995 feature film. Noël Coward's play Blithe Spirit, later made into a film, places a more humorous slant on the phenomenon of haunting of individuals and specific locations.

Sentimental depictions were more popular in early cinema than horror, and include the 1947 film The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, which was later adapted to television with a successful 1968-70 TV series. Genuine psychological horror films from this period include 1944's The Uninvited, 1945's Dead of Night.

The 1970s saw screen depictions of ghosts diverge into distinct genres of the romantic and horror. A common theme in the romantic genre from this period is the ghost as a benign guide or messenger, often with unfinished business, such as 1989's Field of Dreams, the 1990 film Ghost, and the 1993 comedy Heart and Souls. In the horror genre, 1980's The Fog, and the A Nightmare on Elm Street series of films from the 1980s and 1990s are notable examples of the trend for the merging of ghost stories with scenes of physical violence.

Popularised in such films as the 1984 comedy Ghostbusters, ghost hunting became a hobby for many who formed ghost hunting societies to explore reportedly haunted places. The ghost hunting theme has been featured in reality television series, such as Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, Most Haunted, and A Haunting. It is also represented in children's television by such programs as The Ghost Hunter and Ghost Trackers. Ghost hunting also gave rise to multiple guidebooks to haunted locations, and ghost hunting “how-to” manuals.

The 1990s saw a return to classic “gothic” ghosts, whose dangers were more psychological than physical. Examples of films from this period include 1999’s The Sixth Sense, and 2001’s The Others.

Asian cinema has been adept at producing horror films about ghosts, such as the 1998 Japanese film Ringu (remade in America as The Ring in 2002), and the Pang brothers' 2002 film The Eye.

(American productions, unless otherwise specified)

Name	Year	Country
A Chinese Ghost Story		Hong Kong
A Nightmare on Elm Street	1984
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge	1985
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors	1987
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master	1988
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child	1989
Art of the Devil	2004
Believe	1999
Beyond Tomorrow	1940
Book of Blood	2009
Bunshinsaba	2004	South Korea
Calvento Files: The Movie	1997	Philippines
Carnival of Souls	1962
Christmas Carol: The Movie	2001	United Kingdom
Chandramukhi	2005	India tamil
Cinco	2010	Philippines - Star Cinema Film
Conjurer	2008
Coraline	2009
Corpse Bride	2005
Dark Water	2002	Japan
Dark Water	2005
Darkness Falls	2003
Dead Silence	2007
Death of a Ghost Hunter	2007
Dek hor	2006	Thailand
Eeram	2009	India - Tamil Film
Enter the Void	2010	France
FeardotCom	2002	United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Luxembourg
Feng Shui	2004	Philippines
Freddy vs. Jason	2003
Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare	1994
Ghost	1990
Ghost Dad	1990
Ghost Ship	2002
Ghost Story	1981
Ghost Town	2008
Ghost in the Machine	1993
Ghost Rider	2007
Ghostbusters II	1989
Ghostbusters	1984
Ghosts of Mars	2001
Gothika	2003
Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive	1992
Haunted	1995	United Kingdom
Heart and Souls	1993
High Spirits	1988	United States, United Kingdom
House	1986
House II: The Second Story	1987
House on Haunted Hill	1959
House on Haunted Hill	1999
Ju-on: The Grudge	2003	Japan
Just Like Heaven	2005
Kairo	2001	Japan
Kwaidan	1964	Japan
Lady in White	1988
Lake Mungo	2008	Australia
Lani Loa - The Passage	1998
Magandang Hating Gabi	1997	Philippines
Nang Nak	1999	Thailand
Nasaan ka man	2005	Philippines
Nomads	1986	English
Paranormal Activity	2009
Paranormal Activity 2	2010
Paranormal Activity 3	2011
Patayin Sa Sindak si Barbara	1974	Philippines
Pulse	2001	Japan
Pulse	2006	United States
Poltergeist	1982
Poltergeist III	1988
Poltergeist II	1986
Rinne	2006	Japan	The Red Shoes	2005	South Korea
Riding the Bullet	2004	United States, Germany, Canada
Ringu 2	1999	Japan
Ringu	1998	Japan
Route 666	2001	English
Saint Ange	2004	France
Scary Movie 2	2001
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed	2004	United States, Canada
Shining, The	1980	UK, USA
Segunda Mano	2011	Philippines
Shock	2004	India - Tamil Film
Shutter	2004	Thailand
Shutter	2008	United States
Silent Hill	2006	Canada, France, Japan, United States
Someone Behind You	2007	South Korea
Soul Survivors	2001
Stay Alive	2006
Stir of Echoes 2: The Homecoming	2007
Stir of Echoes	1999
Street Trash	1999
Sukob	2006	Philippines
Susie Q	1996
T2	2009	Philippines
Tales of Terror	1962
The Changeling	1980	Canada
The Devil's Backbone	2001	Spain
The Devil's Rain	1975
The Echo	2008
The Entity	1981
The Exorcism of Emily Rose	2005
The Eye	2002	Singapore
The Eye 10	2005	Singapore
The Eye 2	2004	Singapore
The Fog	2005
The Fog	1980
The Frighteners	1996	United States, New Zealand
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir	1947
The Ghost Walks	1934
The Ghosts of Berkeley Square	1947	United Kingdom
The Ghosts of Edendale	2004
The Gift	2000
The Gourmet	1984	United Kingdom
The Gravedancers	2006
The Grudge	2004	United States, Japan, Germany
The Grudge 2	2006	United States, Japan, Germany
The Grudge 3	2009	United States, Japan
The Haunting	1963	United States, United Kingdom
The Haunting	1999
The Haunting in Connecticut	2009
The Innocents	1961	United Kingdom
The Invisible Ghost	1941
The Legend of Hell House	1973	United Kingdom
The Maid	2005-2006	Singapore
The Orphanage	2007	Spain
The Other Side of the Tracks	2008
The Others	2001	United States, Spain, France, Italy
The Ring	2002
The Screaming Skull	1958
The Shining	1980
The Sixth Man	1997
The Sixth Sense	1999
The Spirit is Willing	1967
The Terror	1963
The Uninvited	1944
The Watcher in the Woods	1980	United States, United Kingdom
The Woman in Black	1989	United Kingdom
The Woman in Black	2012
The Wraith	1986
Thir13en Ghosts	2001
Three: Going Home		Hong Kong
Topper	1937
Topper Returns	1941
Topper Takes a Trip	1938
Tormented	1960
Tormented	2009	United Kingdom
Trick or Treat	1986
Truly, Madly, Deeply	1990	United Kingdom
Two Thousand Maniacs!	1964
Villa Estrella	2009	Philippines
Wag Kang Lilingon	2006	Philippines
Wes Craven's New Nightmare	1994
What Lies Beneath	2000
Where Got Ghost?	2009	Singapore
White Noise	2005	Canada, United Kingdom, United States
White Noise 2	2007	United States, Canada
Witchboard	1986
Witchboard 2: The Devil's Doorway	1993
Yavarum Nalam (13B)	2009	India - Tamil Film
100 Feet	2008	United States
The Ruins	2008
Shutter I	2008
Drag Me to Hell	2009
The Haunting in Connecticut	2009

See also

• List of giant monster films
• List of zombie films
• List of ghost video games
• List of ghosts

References

Cited text

• Newman, Kim, ed, BFI Companion to Horror, Cassell: London, 1996.