This is a surprisingly solid ghost film.Don (Craig Wasson) returns to his quaint Vermont hometown after the death of his twin, only to find his father (Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) upset and unwilling to discuss it. Then his father takes a nosedive into a frozen river, and the family doctor (Melvyn Douglas) also dies mysteriously. Don starts sniffing around into his father's past and discovers an old crime, long unpunished, that has come due.
It helps that the cast has about 150 years of experience between them. Fairbanks, Douglas, Fred Astaire, and John Houseman are legends and this could feel like a slight offering from them if it were not for their comportment. This movie belongs to Alice Krige, however. She steals every scene she's in and she is luminous.
There is some 80s cheese with the exposition fairies of Gregory and Fenny Bate (Miguel Fernandes and Lance Holcomb, respectively) but overall, the concept of old, rich men facing judgment for their crimes against women, and leaving the younger generation to be the voice of morality rings pretty current. The creature effects are good and well-utilized but this isn't one that is going to leave you gasping for breath. It's a fun, easy-to-watch New England campfire tale, though.
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