History Film / Ghost

[[redirect:Film/Ghost1990]]

[[redirect:Film/{{Ghost 1990}}]]

[[quoteright:210:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Ghost_Movie.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:210:[-Mmm, [[SexyPackaging ghost sex]]-].]]

->'''Sam:''' Molly, you're in danger.\\
'''Oda Mae:''' You can't just blurt it out like that! And quit moving around, because you're startin' to make me dizzy! I'll just tell her in my own way. (Ahem.) Molly...[[GladIThoughtOfIt you in danger, gurl.]]

'''''Ghost''''' is a 1990 movie starring Creator/PatrickSwayze, Creator/DemiMoore, Creator/TonyGoldwyn, and Creator/WhoopiGoldberg in the performance that won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar (which she attributes to Swayze insisting on her being cast in the part).

Executive Sam Wheat and his artist girlfriend Molly are a pair of yuppies living in [=SoHo=] New York. They're in love, though Sam seems to [[CannotSpitItOut have a little difficulty coming right out and saying it]], and can only manage "ditto" when Molly tells him she loves him.

On their way home one night, Sam is mugged and killed. This is where the actual story begins, as the violent murder (plus the fact that Sam had the unfinished business of never truly telling Molly he loves her) causes him to stick around as a ghost. Then Sam discovers there's more to his death than just making him an unfortunate statistic in mugger-prone New York.

In 2010, a ForeignRemake was made in Japan, where Sam's character is now a woman trying to protect her husband. A musical production of ''Ghost'' hit Broadway in 2012.

Not to be confused with the 1997 short film ''Ghosts'', starring Music/MichaelJackson, or the book ''Literature/{{Ghost}}'' by Creator/JohnRingo.
----
!!''Ghost'' provides examples of the following tropes:

* AccidentalMurder: [[spoiler:Carl]] never wanted Sam dead -- he just wanted his ''wallet''. Once he dies and becomes a ghost himself, he actually seems pleased to see Sam again, if only briefly.
* AlasPoorVillain: "Sam?" [[spoiler: "Oh, Carl..."]]
* AloneWithThePsycho: Averted. [[spoiler:Carl]] was trying to keep Molly's good opinion of him, and only revealed himself as the psycho as he became desperate.
* AndIMustScream: Subway Ghost is forever angry at the suddenness of his death and refuses to move on.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Sam, and a man on an operating table.
* AsideGlance: After Oda Mae finally agrees to help Sam thanks to his unbearable rendition of "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am", he gives a small grin to the camera.
* BadassLongcoat: The Subway Ghost
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: The movie is all about this -- some souls aren't ready for one place or the other at the time they part with the body, and the main character had some things to resolve on Earth before his soul could be at peace.
* BerserkButton: One need only imply that you think the Subway Ghost committed suicide for this to be pressed for him.
* BigApplesauce: Hodgepodge piecing together of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
* BigDamnHeroes: Sam when Oda Mae and Molly are cornered by the BigBad.
* BittersweetEnding: With a little help from Oda Mae, Sam saves Molly from [[spoiler:Carl, also bringing an end to the money laundering he was behind, and he finally tells her he loves her]]. But after all is said and done, he's ''dead'', [[spoiler:he just watched his best friend get dragged to hell,]] and can never come back.
** However, Sam ''did'' ascend into heaven, and presumably he'll be reunited with Molly someday.
** In the ForeignRemake, just when you think the male lead would die, he is actually experiencing a NearDeathExperience. But his wife promises that they'll reunite again.
* BodySurf: Oda Mae is nonplussed to discover that she is a ''vehicle'' for ghosts, as well.
* BullyingADragon: Even when the BigBad realizes he's being haunted by Sam, including being attacked and knowing he can't do anything to defend himself, he continues to threaten Molly's life aloud to him. This goes as well as expected.
* CannotSpitItOut: Sam has difficulty saying "I Love You" to Molly. When she says "I love you" to him, he answers, "Ditto." [[spoiler: This becomes a plot point; when Oda Mae says "Ditto" as somthing Sam would say, Molly begins to believe her.]]
* CementShoes: [[spoiler:Carl]] pulling his hair over the (newly-drained) bank account while Ghost!Sam looks on impishly. Sam tosses out observations about how the mob is going to bury him "right next to [[StockUnsolvedMysteries Jimmy Hoffa]]."
* ChekhovsGun: Sam's "[[{{Irony}} lucky]]" Indian penny. He later uses his ghost powers to make a penny move while Molly watches.
* ChekhovsGunman: Vincent Schiavelli as the Subway Ghost.
* ChekhovsSkill: Oda Mae's fake [=IDs=].
** Sam encounters a ghost in the subway who somehow breaks a window. Later on, Sam tips over a picture frame. So he comes back to the ghost to teach him how to touch solid objects.
** Molly's [[EvilDetectingDog ghost-sensing cat]].
* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: When Oda Mae initially refuses to help Sam, he starts singing "I'm Henry the VIII, I Am" over and over again for hours to her until she finally can't take it anymore and agrees to help. [[spoiler:Later in the film, we learn that Sam used the same trick to get Molly to agree to their first date.]]
* CoolOldLady: In the ForeignRemake, Oda Mae's character is now a tiny old lady who enjoys frightening children.
* CouldntFindAPen
** Sam writing "BOO" on the steamed bathroom mirror in Willy's apartment. Cheap but effective!
** Later, Sam freaks out the BigBad by typing "SAM" repeatedly on his computer.
* CurbStompBattle: Once Sam learns how to manipulate objects in the real world, Willy [[spoiler:and Carl]] really never stood a chance.
* DeadpanSnarker: Sam, especially once he drains [[spoiler:Carl's]] bank account.
* DeadPersonConversation: Inverted, as Oda Mae's conversations with Sam make everybody think she's crazy, but she's not.
* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler:Carl]] impotently swings a hook at Sam's ghost -- only for it come back at him and smash into a glass pane, killing him.
* DeathIsDramatic: Sure as Hell it is...
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Sam.
* DontThinkFeel: The Subway Ghost's explanation on how he, and later Sam, can move objects without the use of a physical body.
-->'''Subway Ghost:''' You've gotta take all yer emotion, all yer love, all yer pain and push it way down deep in ta the pit of yer stomach and let it explode like a reactor! Pow!
* DraggedOffToHell: Willy, and later [[spoiler:Carl]]. The Hospital Ghost implies this is the fate of other evil people when they die.
* TheDragon: Willy is this to [[spoiler:Carl]].
* DrivenToSuicide: The Subway Ghost's death was apparently taken as a case of this trope, and he reacts ''very'' poorly when he thinks Sam is implying it, insisting bitterly that it wasn't his time and that he was [[MakeItLookLikeAnAccident pushed]].
* EvilDetectingDog: {{Exploited|Trope}} -- Molly's cat goes berserk when it senses Sam's ghost. It lashes at Willy's face, alarming Molly and foiling his break-in attempt.
* FakeOutOpening: The intro of this film makes it seem spookier than it really is. It also comes across as something of a BigLippedAlligatorMoment, since all it does is establish Carl's friendship with Sam and Molly and show that Sam is rich enough to afford breaking into and completely refurbishing an expensive [=SoHo=] loft; aside from providing the surreal imagery for Sam's later strange dream, it never gets referenced again until the climax, when Sam chases the BigBad through other abandoned or under-construction portions of the building.
* FinalSpeech: Subverted. Sam gets a poignant goodbye to Molly... after he's already dead, and has been dead for some time.
* FindingJudas: Subverted. [[spoiler:Carl]] was plotting behind the scenes, but it wasn't for the greater good, and he really was the villain. He was perfectly willing to seduce Molly or kill her to forward his plans.
-->'''Sam:''' [[spoiler:''WHY?! YOU WERE MY FRIEND!'']] I HAD A LIFE, YOU BASTARD! ''I had a life...''
* ForeignRemake: Would you believe a [[http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2010/12/14/ghost-the-japanesekorean-remake/ Japanese-Korean version]]? With a GenderFlip, yet?
* {{Foreshadowing}}
** [[spoiler:Carl's brand new, bright red Testarossa. How'd he afford that?]]
** Carl's reflection is shown in a mirror.
** [[spoiler:[[EstablishingCharacterMoment When he walked into Sam & Molly's new apartment, he said they should flip it and double their money. It shows just how greedy Carl really was.]]]]
** When Sam and the Hospital Ghost watch a spirit ascend to Heaven, the Ghost calls him lucky and mentions, "Could have been the other ones. You never know." [[spoiler:Later, we get to see the "other ones" and exactly what they do to the unfortunates they've been sent to collect.]]
** Molly tells the movers to put the angel statue in the bedroom. Sam "wakes up" to find the statue beside him.
*** [[Series/DoctorWho Hey, it could have gone so much worse]].
* FourIsDeath: ''Four'' million dollars was the cause of this tragedy...
* FrightDeathtrap
* GhostlyGoals: Protect his girlfriend.
* GoIntoTheLight: The way Sam {{ascend|ToAHigherPlaneOfExistence}}s.
* HandsOnApproach: The SignatureScene with the pottery machine.
* TheHeroDies: Sam himself at the beginning.
* HighPressureBlood: The spatter coming out of [[spoiler:Carl when he gets run through by the window pane]] is pretty gruesome, considering the injury.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler: Carl]] swings a construction hook at Sam out of desperation, but without Sam even manipulating it (he literally stands there and watches swing by harmlessly), it comes back and smashes into a window pane as he's trying to scramble away, causing it to turn into a giant shard of glass to impale him.
* IUhYouToo: "Ditto." [[spoiler:Inverted at the end: when Sam finally manages to say "I love you" to Molly, thereby ensuring his [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence Ascension to a Higher Plane of Existence]], it's she who replies with "ditto".]]
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler:Carl]], courtesy of a shattered window pane.
* InvoluntaryCharityDonation: Whoopi Goldberg's character, the psychic Oda Mae Brown, does a variation of this to the villain -- with Sam's help, she's able to steal the money from a special account, turn it into a check, and donate it to a nuns' charity.
* JacobMarleyApparel: Sam spends the entire movie in the burgundy polo and jeans he was wearing when he was murdered.
* JapanTakesOverTheWorld: Sam, in preparation for a big client, is practicing saying basic phrases in Japanese.
* {{Jerkass}}: The Subway Ghost.
* JumpScare: With the title card of all things.
* KarmicDeath: Willy and [[spoiler:Carl]], who surely did have it coming.
* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Oda Mae leaves both Sam and Molly to their own devices after Sam mentions "there's somebody else involved". She probably doesn't want to be added to that list, especially since Willy lives in her neighborhood.
* LargeHam: Vincent Schiavelli as the Subway Ghost.
-->''LIKE '''TRAINS?!''' [[GetOut GET OFF MY TRAIN! GET OFF! GET OFF!!]]''
* LivingShadow: The demons that carry off [[spoiler:Carl and]] Willy.
* LookBothWays: While fleeing from Sam's ghost, Willy gets sandwiched between two speeding cars.
* LoudOfWar
** Sam terrorizes Oda Mae with Herman's Hermits until she agrees to help him.
-->'''Sam:''' '''''♪ OHHH I'M 'ENERY THE EIGHTH, I AM! 'ENERY THE EIGHTH, I AM, I AM... ♪'''''\\
[[BrokenRecord Second verse, same as the first...]]
** And according to Molly, [[invoked]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments this is also how he got her to agree to go out with him]]!
* TheMafia: It's hinted that [[spoiler:Carl]] is laundering drug money for a mob boss.
* MagicalNegro: Oda Mae, who for a good part of the movie does NOT want to become one. She inherited her ability from her mother, who got it from her grandmother. They say she'll get it too, but she never believed them.
* MeaningfulEcho: "Ditto."
* MeetCute: The Japanese remake opens up with showing how the lead couple first met.
* MickeyMousing: When the BigBad sees his money drained on the computer, the score jingles with the error message popping up on the screen.
* MidlifeCrisisCar: Carl's new sports car.
* MoodWhiplash[=/=]GenreShift: Other than the surreal opening, the movie starts out as a regular drama with some romance. Once Sam is killed and starts investigating his murder, things get even more dramatic and elements of horror appear... but then he meets Oda Mae Brown and the movie switches to a comedy. Most scenes with her remain funny (if at times in a GallowsHumor way) even as they are interspersed with Sam's continued investigation, his attempts to protect Molly, and [[spoiler:Carl]] [[RomancingTheWidow putting the moves on Molly]] to cover his tracks, get the password, and eventually eliminate her as a witness. Finally, after the horror returns and an action climax, the movie ends with a TearJerker. Whew.
* MrExposition: The first ghost Sam meets, a world-weary old guy in the hospital. "Lucky bastard", he dryly says when a patient ascends to Heaven. He almost shudders when he talks of "[[OurDemonsAreDifferent other ones]]" that sometimes appear.
* NearDeathClairvoyance: Though the near death experience just ended up as death.
* NotSoPhonyPsychic: Oda Mae comes from a family of mediums, though she didn't believe in spirits and scammed her customers with fake seances. That is until she meets Sam and realizes she really ''can'' [[ISeeDeadPeople hear dead people]]. [[LaserGuidedKarma Word spreads and she is soon swamped by ghosts trying to contact their living relatives]], even though Sam didn't actually tell any of them about it.
-->'''Oda Mae:''' Orlando, Orlando, is there an Orlando here?
* TheObiWan: The Hospital Ghost, sort of. He tells Sam a bit about being a ghost. Right after they see a spirit ascend into Heaven, Sam turns to find he disappeared, likely to meet up with his now-deceased wife. Sam didn't even know his name.
* OhCrap: Sam's reaction when Molly tells the BigBad she saw Oda Mae at the bank using the "Rita Miller" alias, then in the climax when he realizes the swinging hook is about to have deadly consequences for the BigBad.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: The poltergeist effect of throwing things around is described as coming from the emotions, but the ghosts still kick and hit and shove things to make them move as if they were alive.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: Sam nearly blows it trying to prove it's him by [[BodySurf relaying]] "I love you" until he changes it to [[SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay "ditto"]]
* PinkMeansFeminine: "Rita Miller's" fancy getup.
* PlagueOfGoodFortune: Once Sam leaks word of her communing with real ghosts, Oda Mae has more business than she knows what to do with.
* {{Poltergeist}}: Apparently this is a skill that can be learned.
* ThePowerOfLove: It's what keeps Sam there to look after Molly and what allows Molly her chance to hear him and say goodbye when he [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence goes into the light]].
* RealDreamsAreWeirder[=/=]PsychicDreamsForEveryone: Although it happens after he's died, Sam's bizarre dream about waking up in bed with the angel statue instead of with Molly seems like an example of a nonsensical everyday dream. It isn't till later that Sam realizes it's {{Foreshadowing}} that Molly, his angel, is in grave danger (with a glimpse of the statue getting broken).
* ReluctantGift: After conning the villains' money out of the bank, Sam convinces Oda Mae that she can't keep it and urges her to give the check to a nearby Salvation Army booth. Which she does... although still clutching the check for a while and crying as the puzzled nun is pulling on it. Finally, Oda Mae relents, allowing the nun to read the amount... and faint.
* RepurposedPopSong: "Unchained Melody", by the Righteous Brothers, originally about a prisoner hoping his girl will wait for him (hence "unchained"), becomes the love theme for this film. It also put the song back on the charts.
* ResurrectedRomance
* RomancingTheWidow: Inverted -- [[spoiler:Carl took a shortcut by bumping off her hubby first.]]
* SeenItAll: The Hospital Ghost. As he sits with Sam, they see some doctors trying to save a patient.
-->"I've seen it all the time. He's not gonna make it. ''(cue light from Heaven)'' You see? Here they come. Lucky bastard too."
* SenseiForScoundrels: The Subway Ghost is a madman who fell in front of a train, possibly intentionally. He begrudgingly agrees to teach Sam how to manipulate solid objects. Once the lesson is concluded, the ghost succumbs to his delusions and vanishes into the tunnels again.
* SexByProxy: Sam uses Oda Mae's body for a Makeout by Proxy with Molly.
* SinisterSubway: "Like '''[[BigWordShout TRAINS?!!]]'''"
* SirSwearsALot: The Subway Ghost.
* SpiritAdvisor: Several ghosts throw out little titbits of pertinent information for Sam, but notably the Subway Ghost, who teaches him how to move objects. Slightly different in that the character being advised is himself a ghost...
* StringyHairedGhostGirl: In the gender-flipped foreign remake, the protagonist seems to be somewhat influenced by the Japanese Onryo spirit.
* TeachHimAnger: The Subway Ghost laughs his ass off when Sam fails to move a soda can. This causes Sam to get furious enough to kick it like David Beckham, which earns him a friendly congratulations.
* TemptingFate: Sam jumps into Oda Mae's body to share a last dance with his fiancée, which had already been [[ChekhovsGun shown to weaken ghosts]]. Naturally, ''that's'' when a psychotic [[spoiler:Carl]] [[FromBadToWorse chooses to attack]].
* TookALevelInBadass: Sam himself, thanks to instruction from the Subway Ghost.
* {{Troll}}: After draining the laundered money, Sam taunts the villain and start messing with objects in the office just to fuck with him.
-->'''Sam''': Yoo-hoo! *pushes chair across the room*
* TrustPassword: "Ditto."
* TwoRoadsBeforeYou: Sam sees a light emanating from the sky after he dies. But he turns away from it to be with Molly, and it seals shut.
* VillainousBreakdown: Starting when [[spoiler:Carl realizes he can't access the stolen money]] and lasting somewhere around the entire third act. Culminating at the end, where he winds up getting a [[spoiler:KarmicDeath]] as a result of trying to [[TooDumbToLive win a physical fight against a ghost.]]
* VisualInnuendo: Featuring [[OverlyNarrowSuperlative the world's only PG-13 rated clay-pottery-throwing scene]]. (Until of course, the AffectionateParody as seen in ''Film/WrongfullyAccused'', and the one in ''[[Film/TheNakedGun Naked Gun 2½]]''.)
* WhamLine: When Sam follows [[spoiler:Carl]] to Willy's house and finds they are in cahoots:
--> '''Willy:''' [[spoiler:Carl,]] what the hell are you doing here?
* WhodunnitToMe: The TropeCodifier. At the start, Sam is resigned to being a dry crime statistic until Willie turns up again in the apartment. The goal was not to kill Sam but to hack into his work computer, a task left unfinished. Sam starts to catch on while tailing Carl to Willie's place, ironically out of concern for his friend's safety.
* WigDressAccent: Oda Mae adopts a broad southern stereotype with the bank.
----

On their way home one night, Sam is mugged and killed. Here the real story begins, as the violent murder plus the fact that Sam had the unfinished business of never truly telling Molly he loves her causes him to stick around as a ghost. Then Sam discovers there's more to his death than just making him an unfortunate statistic in mugger-prone New York.

* TheObiWan: The Hospital Ghost, sort of. He tells Sam he'll be a ghost for a long while. He then disappears to meet up with his deceased wife, right after he and Sam see a dead person ascend into Heaven.

* ChekhovsGun: Sam's "[[{{Irony}} lucky]]" Indian penny. He later uses his ghost powers to make it move while Molly watches.

* AlasPoorVillain: "Sam?" "Oh, Carl..."

* CurbstompBattle: Once Sam learns how to manipulate objects in the real world, Willy [[spoiler:and Carl]] really never stood a chance.

'''Oda Mae:''' (You can't just blurt it out like that! And quit moving around, because you're startin' to make me dizzy! I'll just tell her in my own way. Ahem.) Molly...[[GladIThoughtOfIt you in danger, gurl.]]

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Oda Mae leaves both Sam and Molly to their own devices after Sam mentions "there's somebody else involved". She probably doesn't want to be added to that list, especially since Willie lives in her neighborhood.

* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Oda Mae leaves both Sam and Molly to their own devices after Sam mentions "there's somebody else involved". She probably doesn't want to be added to that list.

* OhCrap: Sam's reaction when Molly tells the BigBad she saw Oda Mae at the bank using the "Rita Miller" alias.

* DrivenToSuicide: Heavily implied to be how the Subway Ghost died. Though he rambled on that it wasn't his time.

** When Sam and the Hospital Ghost watch a spirit ascend to Heaven, the Ghost is glad to see that the person is not "one of the other guys" ([[spoiler:the bad people who get dragged to hell]]).

* BeverageSpill: [[spoiler:Carl]] fakes one of these while [[AloneWithThePsycho visiting Molly]] so that he has the excuse to [[ShirtlessScene take off his shirt]] and romance her. Molly doesn't catch on, but Sam sees it and is suitably disgusted.

** [[spoiler:[[EstablishingCharacterMoment When he walked into Sam & Molly's new apartment, he said they should flip it and double their money. It [[http://blog.buttermouth.com/2007/06/top-25-places-to-watch-free-movies-and.html shows]] just how greedy Carl really was.]]]]

* JacobMarleyApparel: Sam spends the entire movie in the burgundy polo and jeans he was wearing when he was murdered.

** [[spoiler:[[EstablishingCharacterMoment When he walked into Sam & Molly's new apartment, he said they should flip it and double their money. It shows just how greedy Carl really was.]]]]