Thrillingly, Patrick Swayze’s quest to reach out from the afterlife was rated 15 – an irresistible, illicit mix of sex, death and priapic potteryRead all the other My favourite film choicesThe best arts and entertainment during self-isolationWhen you’re 12 the main thing you want to be is 13. You’re desperate to be older. Desperate to grow up. This feeling is particularly acute when you have older siblings. (I’m the youngest of three.) You see them doing exciting teenage stuff like going to the pub and watching inappropriate films and you think: “I want a piece of that.” Since any attempt to join them in the pub was rightly met with an invitation to “sod off”, watching inappropriate films it was. In those days (the late 90s), inappropriate films were harder to come by. Among the many tapes we had in the house, one in particular was just the right amount of unsuitable for a small boy – the incomparable Ghost, which was thrillingly rated 15.
A strange mix of horror,
comedy, romance and thriller, Ghost doesn’t fit easily into any genre. At various moments during its two-hour runtime, it is terrifying, ridiculous, sexy, hilarious, cheesy and poignant – an alluring mix for a boy reaching puberty. For the first 20 minutes it could be a Richard Curtis romcom (although it came out in 1990 before any Richard Curtis romcoms). An attractive young couple – Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) – move into a new apartment, say “Ditto” instead of “I love you” and do unspeakable things with pottery. (Imagine The Great Pottery Throw Down, except Keith Brymer Jones has a semi.)