History Film / Ghost1990

* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler:While arguing with Carl]], Willie says that killing Sam was a "favor". He may have a point as if Willie left Sam after robbing him, Sam could have reported the robbery to the cops, which could in turn make the money-laundering scheme fall apart. Not only that, it wouldn't have eliminated Sam's suspicions about the accounts with excess money, and might have made him even ''more'' so. Even though Sam's spirit stayed on Earth which soon ends up with said scheme falling apart anyway, Willie honestly could not have known that, so really from his viewpoint, killing Sam was the best option in order to make sure there are no loose ends.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Oda Mae is a psychic medium charlatan who's not afraid to rip off people for her own benefits but even she's willing to help Sam communicate to Molly about a warning that she's in danger from [[spoiler:Willie and Carl]] and when they manage to secure the latter's laundering money of $4 million in check form, she's willing to use it for herself but Sam's stern warning makes her begrudgingly donating it to the nun's charity.

** Willy and Carl are both DraggedOffToHell for their actions in life.

* AssholeVictim: There is a reason [[spoiler:Carl]] literally gets dragged down to hell after his accidental death (as does his accomplice, Willy).

* 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. Played with a bit, as it seems that Sam ''could'' have gone to the afterlife, and made a conscious decision to stay (you can even hear Molly in the background shout "Don't you leave me, Sam!" as rescuers are attempting first aid). Once he turned away, the light closed up, but reappears when he's ready to move on. Carl and Willy, on the other hand, are dragged off and don't seem to have any choice in the matter.

* BreakTheHaughty: Sam haunts both Willy and [[spoiler:Carl]] to the point they end up running scared immediately up to their {{Karmic Death}}s.

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

* DiedInIgnorance: [[spoiler:After his death, Sam learns that his killer, Willy Lopez, was hired by his best friend, Carl, to mug him.]]

%% * DiscOneFinalBoss: Willy.

* TheDragon: Willy is this to [[spoiler:Carl]].

* EntitledBastard: After being killed by a car running him over and getting his spirit dragged to Hell, Willy cries to Sam "help me!" Says the guy who killed him, which led him to this fate.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Despite his vengeful agony over them costing him his life, Sam is left legitimately horrified by the fates of Willy and [[spoiler:Carl]] after accidentally chaining their death and FateWorseThanDeath, respectively. Sam even has to look away in pain as he anticipates what will happen [[spoiler:to Carl--if anything, he seems like he wants to stop it, but it's too late]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:Carl]] chews out Willy for killing off Sam when he didn't want that, only to rob him.
* EvilDetectingDog: {{Exploited|Trope}} – Molly's cat goes berserk when it senses Sam's ghost. Sam used that to make it lash at Willy's face, alarming Molly and foiling his break-in attempt.

* MurderTheHypotenuse: [[spoiler:Willy thought he was doing this on Carl's behalf by killing Sam instead of sticking to the original plan of stealing his wallet. It'd be of no surprise if Carl had told him at some point of his attraction toward Molly.]]

* ThePigPen: Willy's messy living arrangements in his apartment seem to imply that he is this.

* PoliceAreUseless: When Molly comes to them with her story about Oda Mae warning her about Willy Lopez, the police are skeptical and instead tell her about Oda Mae's con artist past, [[NiceJobBreakingItHero breaking poor Molly's trust in her warning]]. Justified, not just because Willie Lopez may not have a record, but the police have dealt with Oda Mae's cons ''so many times'' that it stands out more.

* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler:While arguing with Carl]], Willy says that killing Sam was a "favor". He may have a point as if Willy left Sam after robbing him, Sam could have reported the robbery to the cops, which could in turn make the money-laundering scheme fall apart. Not only that, it wouldn't have eliminated Sam's suspicions about the accounts with excess money, and might have made him even ''more'' so. Even though Sam's spirit stayed on Earth which soon ends up with said scheme falling apart anyway, Willy honestly could not have known that, so really from his viewpoint, killing Sam was the best option in order to make sure there are no loose ends.

* ReallyGetsAround: Implied when Willy says that a lot of women know where he lives.

* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:While Carl is a crook, his turn to violence is motivated by desperation, not any fundamental desire to hurt anyone. As he explains to Willy, he owes money to drug dealers who will kill him if he doesn't pay up very soon. He didn't intend for Sam to be killed, he simply wanted Sam's wallet so that he could gain access to an account. At the end when he becomes a ghost, just before the demons take him away, he and Sam share a brief moment where they simply look at each other sadly, obviously both thinking "Why did it have to come to this?"]]

** Willy is driven into one when Sam haunts him to protect Oda Mae, to the point that he runs blindly into the street, scared out of his mind and becomes RoadKill.
* VillainousCrush: When Molly comes home while Willy is still in the house, he secretly watches her undress with an almost predatory smile on his face.
** Later that day when Sam follows Willy to his apartment, he finds him lying on the bed admiring a photo of Molly while taking a swig from a bottle of alcohol. Needless to say, Sam doesn't take this well. Not that he could do anything about it though.

* PragmaticVillainy: [[spoiler:While arguing with Carl]], Willy says that killing Sam was a "favor". He may have a point as if Willy left Sam after robbing him, Sam could have reported the robbery to the cops, which could in turn make the money-laundering scheme fall apart. Even though Sam's spirit stayed on Earth which soon ends up with said scheme falling apart anyway, Willy honestly could not have known that, so really from his viewpoint, killing Sam was the best option in order to make sure there are no loose ends.