Movies

If you're expecting a typical slasher, you'll be disappointed. Frank LaLoggia's "Lady in White" is a more subtle horror flick, with limited violence and no sex or nudity. It depicts a boy who witnesses an apparition of a murder and then tries to find out what happened. The movie makes a lot of use of shadows to elicit its horror, and the answer to the mystery slowly but surely evolves. Moreover, it's also interesting to see a horror movie seen from the eyes of a child, as opposed to horny teenagers. Of course, there's no shortage of comic relief, especially from the boy's grandparents. This movie isn't any kind of masterpiece, but I still enjoyed it.Starring Lukas Haas (the Amish boy in "Witness"), Len Cariou, Alex Rocco (Moe Greene in "The Godfather") and Katherine Helmond.

I just don't know what it is but this movie is like an "Old Friend" to my older sister and I. We always watch it together and now my 6 1/2 yr old watches it with us. I think because it's "scary,but not too scary" and YES we always end up singing that song for day's after we watch it.When ever we ask people "have you seen this movie" they are alway glad we told them about it..it's one of those movies you either never heard of, or never thought to watch and once you do your glad you did.I love the Halloween theme and the "Little Sleepy Town" feeling you get in this movie. Grandma & Grandpa are by far my favorite's in this film, There is such a "Loving Closeness" between them.It's just a good "anytime" movie.

The problem I see with LADY IN WHITE is that it tries too hard to tackle several unrelated themes withing a horror movie framework. The prologue with the adult main character returning to his old hometown and the ensuing exposition about his brother and father made me think of STAND BY ME, which LADY IN WHITE is definitely not. Also, the subplot involving the African-American janitor's wrongful arrest and the subsequent events that lead to tragedy inject a race relations/civil rights theme that really is superfulous to the main plot. What's going on here? Is the filmmaker trying to make a horror film, or a coming of age film, or a social commentary on prejudice? The film could have been complex enough without all these other elements, and the heavy-handed way in which he uses them in film makes for a very muddled, busy state of affairs.