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Ghost (reissue)

7/10

Stars: Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn

Director: Jerry Zucker

It's tough to imagine the then-virile, very much alive Swayze as a ghost. But that's what his character, Sam Wheat, becomes when shot by a mugger while walking home with lover Molly (Moore).

The now-spectral Sam can't figure out at first why he's been left to roam the earth, but it doesn't take him long to work out that he's there for a purpose, and that's to protect Molly from those who had his killing rigged to look like a casual shoot-and-run affair.

This isn't too easy (as Molly can't hear or see him and he can't move objects), until he latches on to a psychic Goldberg and takes lessons in telekinesis from a subway ghost (the appropriately ghoulish Vincent Schiavelli).

This could have made a first-rate offbeat romantic thriller (and even more money); for the reason it's only effective in patches, look no further than the inflated runtime, far too much of which is spent in pseuderotic moonings, such as the famous claymaking scene where Sam seduces Molly.

Even so, you should enjoy the suspense plot (though the villain isn't hard to spot) and the special effects, and relish Goldberg's lively, Oscar-winning supporting performance.

David Quinlan

USA 1990. UK Distributor: Park Circus (originally Paramount). Technicolor.
127 minutes. Not widescreen. UK certificate: 12A.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 0, Swearing 1.

Review date: 11 Feb 2020