Then there’s the bit where he wakes up in bed and you think everything’s fine, but, instead of Molly next to him, it’s the crumbling face of the angel statue.
The ensuing scene in which Sam comes to terms with being dead was so scary I had to fast forward through it every time. Sam, and all his hopes, dreams and potential, are gone in an instant when he’s killed in an apparent mugging while walking back from the theatre with Molly. Laughing at death makes you feel alive, which is usually fine – unless you happen to be the main protagonist in a film called Ghost. It’s a moment that neatly exemplifies the arrogant exuberance of youth: when you’re young, death is seemingly so remote that it isn’t scary, it’s thrilling. Footage of a plane crash plays ominously on the TV and there’s a scene in which Sam, full of youth and promise, leaps out of a precarious top-floor window to retrieve the statue of an angel that’s being hoisted into their apartment. Looking back on the film now, however, there are signs from the beginning that Sam and Molly’s world isn’t as charmed as it appears. (Imagine The Great Pottery Throw Down, except Keith Brymer Jones has a semi.) 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. For the first 20 minutes it could be a Richard Curtis romcom (although it came out in 1990 before any Richard Curtis romcoms). 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. 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.Ī strange mix of horror, comedy, romance and thriller, Ghost doesn’t fit easily into any genre. In those days (the late 90s), inappropriate films were harder to come by. (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. This feeling is particularly acute when you have older siblings. W hen you’re 12 the main thing you want to be is 13.
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