Lady in White: The Director's Cut

Introduction

Lady in White is a little like a horror version of Stand By Me - deeply personal and semi-autobiographical but with a supernatural twist that stops it from being a direct account of a childhood incident.

Frank LaLoggia based the Italian-American family on his own family, Frankie on himself and Gino on his younger brother and their relationship but the rest is pure fabrication.

On Halloween 1962, Frankie is tricked into getting his hat from the cloakroom in the now-closed school and is locked in by two classmates. Finding his hat on the top shelf, he conceals himself when he sees the ghostly apparition of a young girl come through the door and go through the motions of being murdered. The door opens and an obscured figure enters to begin rummaging through a drain in the floor. When a rat alerts him to Frankie's presence, the man grabs him and begins strangling him but Frankie is saved when his father arrives.

Haunted by the young girl's ghost and an out-of-body experience, Frankie is desperate to find out why the girl's spirit can't rest and what it has to do with the legendary Lady in White.

Video

According to the introduction by Frank LaLoggia, this is the first time the film has been available in anamorphic widescreen and there's been some polishing up so the picture quality is very good. The rather primitive blue screen work is far from convincing and some of the optical shots are laughable rather than scary.

Audio

Both the Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo tracks are very good, with only some words and exchanges a little indistinct, but the soundtrack is generally clear with an excellent score by LaLoggia.

Extra Features

LaLoggia introduces the film briefly and provides a reasonable commentary with plenty of information about the shoot, the effects and working with child actors. He also talks over X minutes of deleted scenes and introduces a Making Of, made in the days before DVD and shot on VHS so it is entirely behind-the-scenes footage. There is also the theatrical trailer.

Conclusion

Lady in White isn't a conventional horror story, more a coming-of-age tale with a supernatural theme and some decent jumps thrown in. It's the sort of film you could show to children below the BBFC certificate age and give them an entertaining couple of hours and several sleepless nights. Lukas Haas shows why he was regarded as an excellent child actor with an accomplished performance beyond his years and Alex Rocco (best known for playing Moe Greene in The Godfather) shuns his tough-guy reputation to give a nuanced portrayal of Frankie's widowed father.

This isn't the finest film you'll ever see and it's tough to look past the rather ropey special effects, but the story is strong, the characters well-written and Frank LaLoggia shows himself to be a fine filmmaker. If you fond memories of this then you'll no doubt welcome this extended version with an improved transfer and if you haven't seen it, it's one worth checking out.