Ghost Story (1981)

Old secrets have a way of returning, especially the ones we've spent a lifetime trying to bury. John Irvin's chiller "Ghost Story," adapted by Lawrence D. Cohen from Peter Straub's bestselling novel, brings together four legendary actors, Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and John Houseman, as the Chowder Society, a group of elderly friends in a snowbound New England town who meet regularly to swap scary stories. Lately, though, all four have been plagued by the same terrifying nightmares. When the son of one member (Fairbanks) dies in a mysterious fall from his New York apartment, the young man's twin brother, Don (Craig Wasson, who plays both roles), comes home and warns the old men that both brothers had become involved with the same beautiful, mysterious woman, Alma (Alice Krige), and that she may not be what she seems. Soon the friends are forced to confront a terrible secret from their youth: in the late 1920s, a night of fun with an alluring young woman ended in a tragic accident, followed by a desperate cover-up. Now a chilling presence is stalking them one by one. Krige is haunting in a pivotal dual role, Dick Smith's makeup effects deliver some genuine shocks and Patricia Neal co-stars as Astaire's wife. It was the final film for Astaire, Douglas and Fairbanks.