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The Chowder Society is an exclusive club of four old geezers (portrayed by Fred Astaire, John Houseman, Melvyn Douglas and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.) who gather on cold winter nights to sip brandy and tell ghost stories. A close and terrifying secret also bounds the four together into a solemn pact of secrecy.
Ghost Story, a 1981 adaptation of Peter Straub's best-selling novel, is chiefly two things: first, a horror vehicle with the novelty of having a fourpiece of veteran actors in the principle roles; and second, an atmospheric tale of haunting which enables make-up effects artist Dick Smith to concoct some truly horrifying images.
As the four members of the Chowder Society are introduced, the story suddenly shifts to New York, where David Wanderley (Craig Wasson), the son of Fairbanks' character, is forced through the plate glass of his high-rise apartment and falls many stories to his death. David's younger brother Don (also played by Craig Wasson) is notified by the elder Wanderley, and he returns home to console his father.
But shortly after Don arrives in the snowy little New England township, his dad also meets up with a fatal accident on an ice-covered bridge. Now Don wants some answers as to what's going on, and he knows that there's more to this Chowder Society than just a group of old goats exchanging scary tales. Don wants in. And the price of admission is supposed to be the telling of a tale? Fine....Don's got one. A short while back, Don had become involved with an enigmatic woman (Alice Krieg) who called herself Alma Mobley. It was a kinetic and sexually-charged relationship that nonetheless lacked in truth and commitment. Don's obsession eventually got him in trouble with his bosses at the University, and when Alma finally left him and pounced upon his older brother David, the result was David's death. Just who was this woman who seemed to have a connection with the family, and by extension, with the Chowder Society?
There's an answer, of course, and when the three surviving members let Don in on their terrible secret, it becomes apparent that all are in danger from the wrath of a vengeful ghost, now fifty years dead. Director John Irwin uses the icy landscape to admirably spine-tingling effect, and Lawrence D. Cohen's script keeps the lid on the goods until the time is right. And the seasoned performers, as well as then-newcomers Wasson and Krieg, turn in great performances. This is one Ghost Story that deserves to be re-told again and again.
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