Lady In White (Blu-ray)
Starring Lukas Haas, Alex Rocco, Len Cariou, Katherine Helmond
Directed Frank LaLoggia
Distributed by Scream Factory
It’s unfortunate when directors – especially hyphenate writer-director-etc. combos – vanish into thin air after producing only a few solid movies, a hibernation usually brought on by a box office bomb. Take a guy like Fred Dekker, for instance. Night of the Creeps (1986)… Monster Squad (1987)… then RoboCop 3 (1993). Bam. Career over. We’ll never know what other treasures Dekker might have produced since. Frank LaLoggia is (sort of) another such guy. First, he delivered the minor cult classic Fear No Evil (1981). After a seven-year gap, he considerably stepped up his game to write and direct Lady in White (1988), a family-friendly ghost story that perfectly captures a mood and spirit. But it bombed. Since then, LaLoggia has directed one direct-to-video title and nothing else. Maybe he’s segued into the more lucrative commercial sector? Regardless, here’s a guy with some genuine talent and the ability to tell a finely crafted story and – poof – he disappears when Lady in White was a non-starter in theaters, failing to recoup its modest budget of around $4 million.
There are three different cuts of the picture included on Scream Factory’s Blu-ray release – Theatrical Cut, Director’s Cut, and Extended Director’s Cut. The DC runs around five minutes longer than the TC (113 minutes vs. 118 minutes), while the EDC runs around eight minutes longer than the DC (at 126 minutes). Scream Factory has included the DC on Disc 1, suggesting this is the preferred cut, so for the purposes of this review know that was the cut being viewed.
After a very brief present-day sequence, involving writer Franklin Scarlatti (an uncredited Frank LaLoggia) returning home to Willowpoint Falls, wherein he visits a specific grave, the film cuts to around Halloween 1962. Franklin is “Frankie” (Lukas Haas), a precocious kid who loves Halloween and monsters and writing and is excited for the upcoming holiday. A few of his jerk classmates don’t share his enthusiasm, though, and they decide to play a prank on Frankie by locking him in the classroom closet. Once he accepts his fate of being locked in there all night, Frankie gets cozy atop the shelf and zones out… until he sees the ghost of a young girl enter, whereupon she is killed by an unseen force and dragged away. He snaps out of his vision just as a shadowy person enters the closet in present day, unaware of Frankie’s presence. As the unseen interloper tries to unscrew a floor vent cover, Frankie makes a sound and the person jumps on him, choking the boy unconscious.
When Frankie regains his composure in the morning he’s with his father, Angelo (Alex Rocco), who found him at the school. There has been a child killer eluding police for over a decade and after Frankie’s attack the cops finger Willy (Henry Harris), the school’s janitor who also happens to (unfortunately in 1962) be black. Frankie is briefed on the child killings by his brother, Geno (Jason Presson), but gets startled when a lineup of the children killed so far reveals Melissa Ann Montgomery (Joelle Jacobi), the red-haired girl he “saw” killed in the closet. Now begins the detective portion of the film, with Frankie going back to the closet to pry open that vent and retrieve what the suspected killer was after, while also learning of the mysterious Lady in White, who is purported the be Melissa’s ghostly mother who roams the cliffs above Widow’s Peak, a notorious 100-foot drop to the rocky ocean coast below. Someone in Willowbrook Falls is the killer, and that person is closer to Frankie than he ever realized.
There is so much this film gets right that it is extremely easy to forgive the few missteps along the way. Frank LaLoggia – if the name didn’t give it away – grew up with an Italian family in Rochester, New York and knew of a local legend regarding a Lady in White. So writing this film likely wasn’t too great of a stretch. As someone who grew up in a mostly-Italian (Sicilian, if we’re getting technical) household in Connecticut, I felt instantly transported to those cool, breezy days of New England Fall. There’s a special magic in the air right around October that, sadly, kids over here in California won’t ever experience. LaLoggia not only captures the atmosphere of Halloween, but the youthful excitement that comes with it. Young Frankie wears a cheap drugstore Dracula mask and rides through town on his bike, cape flapping in the wind. We live vicariously through characters on the screen and watching Frankie really made me long for those ancient memories.
This is also a family horror film, insomuch as Poltergeist (1982) is a family horror film. Only this one has no face ripping or creepy clowns and is overall far less intense. But without the “aid” of blood and carnage, LaLoggia instead fills the picture with mystical ether and an unfolding ghost story that accelerates tension as more information is revealed. As Frankie is working to uncover the mystery of the enigmatic Lady in White, the identity of the town’s child murderer is being solved by Geno, unbeknownst to Frankie. All of this, of course, culminates in the final act which is full of shock and suspense.
Where the film gets off track a bit – though this seems eerily relevant still in 2016 – is tackling racism. There is a strong undercurrent of racism bubbling throughout the film. Willy is arrested basically for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the cops are happy to finger him because “he’s black”, figuring the townsfolk will have no problem accepting a black man committed these crimes and that’s that. And they’re right. This is 1962. Fewer people cared about a fair trial than simply getting another black guy off their streets. LaLoggia also prominently features a new report regarding the first black college student into the film. It’s clear he has some passion or statement to make about race relations but here, in what is ostensibly a ghost story, these elements just feel incongruous.
Scream Factory’s press release and rear cover do not boast of any new transfer being done, still the 1.85:1 1080p image doesn’t look bad at all considering no restoration work took place. There is a very intentional look going on here, as LaLoggia shot the film to have a gauze-y appearance likely to match the idea of all this being flashback to those fun, fuzzy days of youth. Colors appear slightly muted, while skin tones occasionally look a little warm. Definition is moderate throughout though some scenes taking place in broad daylight look very crisp. Film grain is variable and spikes during moments where optical effects or matte paintings come into play. Night scenes get a little chunky, with the film grain and minor compression, but it’s hardly much to fuss over. A new transfer might have helped shine this up a bit more but overall I don’t think anyone will be dissatisfied.
Huge. That’s how I would describe the soundfield for this English DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround sound track (there’s also a 2.0 stereo option). The film opens with a plane landing and the descent absolutely thundered in my viewing room. Every subtle effect, every loud burst, every line of dialogue – all sound big and bold and in your face like few films from this era. Every element of the sound design is nicely prioritized and very robust. Frank LaLoggia’s score – because why wouldn’t he be doing everything on this set? – is a true highlight, capturing that “’80s family horror movie” feel of a classic by Goldsmith or Williams. Subtitles are available in English SDH.
Jack-of-all-trades Frank LaLoggia provides an audio commentary track for his director’s cut of the film, as well as providing an introduction to the film.
“Behind-the-Scenes Footage with Introduction by Frank LaLoggia” – This is camcorder footage of the film being shot along with candid moments between takes. Optional commentary with LaLoggia is also available.
A whole bunch of deleted scenes are included, with introduction and optional commentary by LaLoggia. These are extended scenes, alternate, and cut scenes.
“Extended Behind-the-Scenes – Production & Post-Production Footage” – This runs for over an hour and features even more of the footage seen earlier with handheld bits captured from many moments during the making of the movie.
“Promotional Short Film” is basically a condensed version of the feature with different actors, running for around seven minutes.
The theatrical trailer, a handful of alternate trailers, three TV Spots, a handful of radio spots, a “Behind-the-Scenes Photo Montage”, and an “Extended Photo Gallery” are also included.
Special Features:
DISC ONE: Director’s Cut (117 minutes)
- EXTENDED Behind the Scenes Footage – production and post production
- Introduction by Frank LaLoggia
- Audio Commentary with Frank LaLoggia
- Behind the Scenes Footage with introduction by Frank LaLoggia
- Deleted Scenes with introduction by Frank LaLoggia
- Promotional Short Film
- Theatrical Trailer
- Alternate Trailer
- TV Spots
- Radio Spots
- Behind the Scenes Photo Montage
- Extended Photo Gallery
DISC TWO: Extended Director’s Cut (127 minutes) and Original Theatrical Cut (113 minutes)
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Lady in White
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Special Features
Categorized:Reviews
