Movie Review: Lady in White (1988)

(1988)
Directed by Frank LaLoggia
Starring Lucas Haas, Alex Rocco, Katherine Helmond, Jason Presson, Len Cariou, Renata Vanni

The very first horror convention that I attended was the Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors, out in California, in April of 1988. One of the guests there was Frank LaLoggia promoting his new film, Lady in White. I remember seeing the trailer there, and it looked like a cool little ghost story. I went to see it in the theater after it came out, and to this day, it still remains as one of my favorite ghost films of all time.

Soundtrack Review: Fear No Evil

Fear No Evil
Released by Percepto Records, 2005
16 Tracks with a Total Running Time of 37 min.
Music by Frank Laloggia and David Spear

With a movie being about the rise of the Anti-Christ, you’d think you’ve have a score that would be more reminiscent of something like The Omen, but what you get here is a beautiful piece of music. Okay, there are a few darker elements going on here, but it is more subtle than blaring in your face.

This was the first film by Frank LaLoggia, who also did the score for this, with David Spear. It really shows LaLoggia’s talent as a musician because he comes up with a truly haunting score, that blends perfectly into the film. With a combination of some electronic music with some beautiful strings, some slow and somber guitar, the score gives a sound much bigger than what you’d expect from a low budget feature. There are a few tracks here and there that have a more sinister tone to them, but he doesn’t go the easy route with them, instead making even those sound more like church music with a darker feel.

 

Lady in White Comes to Blu-ray

If there is one sub-genre of films that I just love it is the classic ghost story. This is where you have a secret behind a ghost/haunting that must be uncovered to release whatever is keeping the tormented soul from moving on. These are not as easy as one thinks, otherwise there would be more out there. Yes, there are a few, such as John Carpenter’s The Fog. But one of my all-time favorites is the 1988 film The Lady in White, by director Frank LaLoggia, which is now coming blu-ray in a  2-disc special edition from Scream Factory.

Alex Rocco – Rest in Peace

I had planned on mentioning this when I first heard but missed out. But wanted to make sure I got it up here at some point. Ten days ago, on July 18th, we lost a great character actor with the passing of Alex Rocco. The man played in a million things, in both movies and television, and was always a treat to see. In the horror genre, you could spot him in films like Blood Mania (1970), Stanley (1972), The Entity (1982), or even Return to Horror High (1987).

Sure, most people know him from the role of Moe Green in The Godfather, taking one in the eye, but I have to say one of my favorites of his roles was that of a the caring and devoted father in The Lady in White (1988). This is one of my favorite ghost story flicks and is pretty much a perfect film and Rocco is great here, as is everyone else. So I know that for me, he will be remembered with each viewing of this film.

Our thoughts go out to his friends and family.