Episode 85: FM/FW Mini: Halloween Special

So it was written, produced, directed and scored by Frank Lelogia, hashtag overachiever.

The idea came to him from a local legend about a ghost who haunted a New York park in search of her lost daughter.

And this is one of many such legends around the world where a lady dressed in white has suffered a tragic and untimely death or is in search of a lost love of some kind.

now i first saw this film about maybe 20 years ago and it stayed with me partly due to us gothically spooky scenes and complete lack of spatter but also due to its warm depiction of small town life and family reminiscent to me of it's a wonderful life it starts with renowned writer frank scarlatti returning home to willow point falls where he finds himself remembering how he began writing horror stories The rest of the film becomes a flashback to the Halloween-Christmas period in 1962 and were taken to gloriously autumnal New England.

Frankie is an innocent and trusting nine-year-old, played by wide-eyed Lucas Haas, the little boy from 1985's film Witness.

Some classmates lock Frankie overnight in his school cloakroom.

And then in the dead of night, he meets the ghost of young Melissa, Joelle Jacobi.

He witnesses a reenactment of her murder where she is attacked by invisible hands while Frankie watches helplessly.

Soon after, her real-life murderer returns in search of some evidence and tries to kill Frankie.

But Frankie can't see who it is due to poor lighting and the fact that he's wearing his Halloween Dracula mask.

In a near-death experience, he re-meets Melissa, who asks him to help her find her lost mother.

Just in time, Frankie is rescued by his dad Angelo, Alex Rocco, and later learns that his attacker is a serial killer of children, and that Melissa was his first victim some ten years ago.

When Willie the school janitor, Henry Harris, is found drunk on the premises, he's promptly arrested as the killer.

And Willie's story as a black man put on trial on little evidence in small-town America is reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, which was made in 1962.

The film switches between ghostly, gothic horror and a whodunit, as Frankie edges closer to solving the mystery of the serial killer.

Along the way, there are strong performances from Jason Presson as Frankie's older brother, Gino, as well as Angelo Bertolini and Hollywood veteran Renata Varney as the grandparents.

Len Cario as his father's best friend, and he is the guy who originated the stage role of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd.

And Kathleen Hellman as a ghostly figure in white, who you may remember from such TV series as Soap and Who's the Boss? Or as the protagonist's mother in Terry Gilliam's Brazil that we reviewed way back in our third ever episode.

To say more risks spoiling the story.

Rewatching 20 years later, its execution now feels a little clunky, not least in some of the child performances, although this is certainly not true of the two brothers.

And the 1980 special effects have certainly dated.

But there's a good story at the heart of this, and I enjoyed the rewatch.

There are some masterful scenes, such as a highly effective use of silence when the killer first enters the cloakroom, and the disturbing scene with Frankie while he's practicing his archery at a bullseye.

But a note of warning.

Despite the warm family feel of this film and lack of spatter, I'd be careful about watching it with younger children.