Thursday Movie Picks-New Home

 

I have heard footsteps in my home when no one else was there plus my doggie, Katie, heard them too. Just when I was ready to see who was in my home, the footsteps stopped. Katie went out of my tv room and I found her in the library. Another time, my then husband and I heard someone fall with a metal walker just by the steps yet nothing was there. We asked my mom, who was upstairs in her apartment, if she was alright. She was annoyed with us because we interrupted her watching "Diagnosis Murder". Things have gone missing only to be there later and I know I looked there more than once. There are more unusual things that have happened but that gives you a clue. The people who owned the home before, he died in  the house back in the mid 70s. He always wore regular shoes, never sneakers, and he needed a walker later on. My dear friends' parents were good friends with the people living here so that's how I know anoutvthe people. So, anything ever go bump in the night at your home...aside from sex of course:). Wandering Through The Shelves chose "new home" as the theme and homes are often a major player in movies from Tara to Amity house. Here are my 3 picks...

1. THE UNINVITED-1944

This is an excellent, spooky film starring Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey as a brother and sister who travel to England and see this great old house and decide to buy it. They do, for a song, (sorry,  Ray plays a composer) not realizing why they got it so cheap. They meet the man's granddaughter, played by Gail Russell, who loves the home and feels a strong pull to the home. You find out there are 2 spirits-one good and one...not. It’s very eerie and atmospheric especially with the waves of the ocean. The famous song, "Stella by Starlight" comes from this film. It's really quite good and intelligent which I much prefer over slasher crap.

2. MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOME- 1948

Didn't expect this one eh? Well, if you ever owned a home, you know that it can be your own horror show with all the things that can go wrong...hell, we still have knob and tube wiring! This film stars Cary Grant and Myrns Loy who decide to screw the apartment life and buy a home. To say they bought a lemon is an understatement but they fell in love with the image they had in their heads. Along for the ride is Melvyn Douglas who is a family friend and lawyer who thinks they are nuts. It's hilarious and we can all relate to the nightmares of owning a home. 

3. BEETLEJUICE-1988

Newlyweds,  played by Alec Baldwin and Gena Rowlands, buy a neat old home which they are fixing up but before you can say "paint dry", they die and are now ghosties in the home which they can't leave.  Enter new home owners  played by Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones and a young Winona Ryder who hates her life. She soon finds out about the ghosts but also finds out there is a miserable wretch called Beetlejuice who wants to be free. Well, guess what? Yup, he is freed and wants more than just to roam around. Now the sweet ghosts and the young lass are trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile Catherine is redesigning the beautiful home into something gross and the dad just wants one room he can call his own. This is funny especially the dinner scene with the Belafonte song is done in full tiltthat makes me laugh every  plus you have the great Sylvia Sydney as a clerk for the dead. 

Now, yesterday I asked which 1984 song won the Oscar, which was Nominated and which got nuttin'. Here are the answers...

"I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder won the Oscar. "Ghostbusters" was nominated and the Prince song didn't get any love.

What home horrors have you dealt with? Any hornet nests in between the walls? Mice? Let me know and let me know what film you can think of.