A good scary movie makes us afraid of its ghosts.

A great one sees ghosts for what they arespecters of the past.

That past can be horrific, filled with darkness we can never quite outrun.

It evolves into a movie about two lost souls who find what theyve been looking for in each other.

So its no surprise that some of the best ghost movies come from Japanese filmmakers.

The downside is that there are often peaks and valleys in quality.

The film is alsostunninglybeautiful, with tremendous use of color.

Two women, mother and daughter-in-law, are raped and murdered by a troop of traveling samurai.

Eventually, a military hero is sent to deal with the deadly spirits.

He’s a samurai who soon learns that the two ghosts are those of his wife and mother.

The whole experience is like a music video fever dreamnot scary, really, but unforgettable.

In this case, its a giant and inherently creepy Victorian mansion that, for some reason(!

), nobody has lived in for over a decade.

neighbor Jud Crandall, and endlessly mimicked Maine accent).

and is possessed of a real power to leave us creeped the hell out.

If only he’d listened.

The ’90s-era sequels aren’t essential, but the 2021 Nia DaCosta reboot-cum-sequel is the best of them all.

The mysteries build to a brutal but satisfying climax.

His more recentCrimson Peakis a very different kind of ghost story, but equally effective.

It goes about as well as you’d expect.

The crew start to take on aspects of those who died in the asylum … or do they?

Are they all possessed?

The movie is ultimately a psychological mind-bender that rewards close viewing.

Ghost stories often turn on their endings, and this one builds to something worthwhile.

Director Ti West based the films location on the real-lifealsosupposedly hauntedYankee Pedlar.

Was it a ghostly curse?

Did the Pedlars spirits take umbrage at being the subject of a horror movie?

Or did attempts to goose the business by converting it into a Best Western go south?

(Probably that last one.)

That one is perfectly serviceable, but not terribly memorable.

Beloved for his outrageous stunts, he builds an all-night livestream around locking himself in a purportedly haunted house.