Friday 15 April 2016

M - Dr Malcolm Crowe & Anne and Melissa-Anne Montgomery - Fictional Phantoms #AtoZChallenge 2016


We are half way through the month and it is time for the letter M. Today I welcome you to join me as I talk about three ghosts, only two of them are related, so they are in the same section. Their connection is that they are all ghosts that originally scare small boys, but in the end help them.

Dr Malcolm Crowe (The Sixth Sense)

My first ghost is from the awesome film The Sixth Sense. Now I know everyone knows the twist in this film now, but when I saw it in the cinema, I didn't get it until the end. For me, that's saying something: I can usually spot the twist before the titles have finished (okay, maybe not that fast :)).

Dr Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist from Philadelphia who wants to help Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a nine year old who seems to have severe psychological problems. Cole's symptoms appear to be similar to a young man Crowe tried to help before, and failed.

Cole sees ghosts, only Crowe doesn't believe him at first. Only later, as he learns more does he finally come to believe and it is only after that, when he has helped Cole confront his demons that he realises what is going on.

Cole told him that ghosts sometimes don't know they're dead, but Crowe never realised he was one of them. The gun shot wound he thought he survived was fatal.

Anne and Melissa Anne Montgomery (The Lady in White)

Karen Powell as Anne Montgomery
The Lady in White is a local legend in Willowpoint Falls, where the ghost of a distraught woman roams the cliffs at night, searching for something she cannot find.

Frankie Scarlatti (Lukas Haas) is nine in 1962 when some school mates lock him in the cloak room, leaving him there for Halloween night. He sees the ghost of a girl singing "Did you ever see a dream walking" before she is killed by an unseen attacker.

Frankie is then attacked by someone who comes into the cloak room looking for something, but is revived by his father.
Joelle Jacobi as Melissa Anne Montgomery
Frankie learns the girl is Melissa Anne Montgomery, the very first murder victim or a child serial killer that has yet to be caught. Melissa Anne asks for Frankie's help to find her mother.

Later, when Frankie finds out who the murderer is, he goes to the house on the cliffs where the Lady in White is said to haunt and the killer tries to throw him over. However, the Lady in White, who is Anne Montgomery, Melissa's distraught mother, saves him and is then reunited with her daughter.

Both ghosts are such tragic figures, doomed to repeat their deaths night after night until Frankie helps them both, and in doing do, unveils a murderer.

If you had seen a ghost when you were nine, what would you have done (or what did you do if you had an encounter at that age)?

~*~
My Other Blogs
I am sharing blogging duties with my sister, Sophie, on two other blogs for the AtoZ as well :

And Sophie also has her own blog in the AtoZ too:

~*~
Other People's Blogs
Don't forget to check out the other participant in this years AtoZChallenge. Click on the image to visit the main site and see the full list.

27 comments:

  1. I've heard of the Lady in White, but I don't think I've seen that movie. At nine, I'd have run screaming to my parents if I thought I'd see a ghost. The proof is in my J post. Happy AtoZ!
    Revisit the Tender Years with me during the #AtoZChallenge at Life & Faith in Caneyhead!

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    1. I think I would have had the same reaction :) None of this stoic stuff for me.

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  2. I enjoyed both of these movies. At the age of nine I would have asked for help! LOL

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    1. Me too, me too - probably loudly ;)

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    2. I actually slept in the haunted upstairs of my grandmothers house. I heard things, but never saw anything. I refused to look beyond the small door into the space where all the noise came from. Hid under the blankets. I was relieved when the house was full and the adults slept upstairs and the children slept on the couch in the living room. Her house was haunted by a woman who waited at the front door for her husband to come home from the war. He never did. She died in the house, the upstairs bedroom. But many reported that they saw her standing in the door with candle in hand, at all hours of the night.

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  3. I think I would have screamed "bloody murder" if I saw a ghost then and even now at 58 years old :)

    I did like Sixth Sense. I got the twist about 3/4 into the movie :)

    betty

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    1. LOL - I have to agree :)
      I saw it in the cinema when it just came out and had not been spoiled at all and it's one of the few movies where I did not see the twist coming :)

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  4. Ghost stories with happy endings. Or at least with bittersweet endings.

    Susan Says

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    1. Yep - I do enjoy a vaguely happy ending to ghost stories from time to time. There is a lot to be said for simply scaring the beejeezus out of people, but happy endings are cool too.

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  5. I remember seeing The Sixth Sense in the theater and thinking, wow what a twist! at the end of the movie.

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    1. Me too :) I usually see twists coming and work out who the murderer is etc in movies, but not this one. It had only just come out at the time I saw it, so I didn't even know there was a twist, which helped.

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  6. I've alctually heard very mixed opinions about The Sixth Sense. Soem people love it, some other think is bit of a cheat.
    I haven't seen it, so I can't say ;-)

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - Jazz Age Jazz

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    1. The Sixth Sense is brilliant - most of M. Night Shyamalan other films are not, IMHO :), but that one is awesome.

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  7. Oh, the second one I know. I've seen the sixth sense. I couldn't go to sleep afterwards, but it was weekend, so I didn't care...

    ClaoWue
    from
    Potpourri

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  8. When I was nine? I would have screamed. I was terrified of ghosts at that age. Also, skeletons... Funny how I became an archaeologist. :D
    I remember when Sixth Sense came out, and everyone was all about the "There is a twist in the end!!!"

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    The Multicolored Diary
    MopDog

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  9. I love both of these films. I haven't seen The Lady in White in years. I wonder if my daughter is old enough to handle this one? Great picks.

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  10. I love both of these films. I haven't seen The Lady in White in years. I wonder if my daughter is old enough to handle this one? Great picks.

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  11. I LOVED The Sixth Sense. That little boy was such a terrific actor.

    #AtoZchallenge
    Meet My Imaginary Friends

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  12. Ah, the Sixth Sense! I actually saw it before the ending spoiler was well-known to everybody! ;)

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  13. Sixth Sense totally fooled me, and, like you, I can usually pick up those surprises early on.

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  14. The Sixth Sense was a little spoiled for me in that I went in knowing there was a twist, so I was looking for it. So much better when you don't see it coming.


    @mirymom1 from
    Balancing Act

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  15. I so loved The Sixth Sense! I didn't get the twist until the end either and I thought it was brilliant. I can't believe that I didn't see it before then so I think they did a great job.
    I'm not familiar with the mother-daughter ghosts but they sound desperate for their cases to be solved. I'm glad they were!

    Michele at Angels Bark

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  16. I enjoyed watching The Sixth Sense. The twist at the end was fascinating.

    https://ficklemillennial.wordpress.com

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  17. Having a ghost psychologist would be quite convenient for people. He's certainly one of the most helpful ghosts on your list. :)

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  18. I had forgotten all about the film Lady in White. Now I remember that I enjoyed that one. How clever of you to come up with two films featuring children.
    @deb_atwood from
    Pen In Her Hand

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  19. I was scared of a spot in the hallway of my old house. It always creeped me out not matter if it was day or night. Even as a teenager it still gave me the heebie-jeebies. But when picture moved on its own on the wall I was all Cool! There were five other frames on same wall and about fifteen on adjacent one. Only that one pendulumed for five minutes straight.

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  20. When I saw Sixth Sense, I didn't see the twist before it happened, and enjoyed the movie. Still like watching it for the subtle clues that Malcolm Crowe misses - as do all but a few sharp viewers (like my ex).

    https://rolandclarke.com/2016/04/16/n-for-nefarious-atozchallenge/

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