The Forgotten One

My review was written in June 1990 after watching the film on Academy video cassette.

Sketchy scripting sinks "The Forgotten One", an initially promising erotic ghost story with a decent cast. Film went the direct-to-video route.

Terry O'Quinn is a most unlikely choice to portray a guy who's irresistible to women but plays it straight. He moves from Kansas City to a lonely house in Colorado to get some privacy while writing. A beautiful ghost (Blair Parker) starts bugging him and things get out of hand when his new girlfriend (Kirsty McNichol) also sees the ghost.

O'Quinn, after his "Stepfather" films, has this role down pat, and McNichol is a welcome sight as his down-to-earth pal. Elizabeth Brooks, who got a sexy showcase a decade earlier in Joe Dante's "The Howling", is wasted as a night club singer.

I picked up this cheap DVD knowing very little about it, other than it being a ghost story starring Terry O'Quinn who also made some other horror fables around this time; "The Stepfather" and "Pin". To my pleasant surprise, this rarely talked about (if not) enterprise actually turned to be a compelling and worthwhile dip. The word sleeper can get thrown around, but "The Forgotten One" is what you call a sleeper! More interesting than most.

Novelist Bob Anderson packs up and moves to a new city buying an old creaky Victorian house, hoping to storm up ideas for his second novel and move on from the unexpected death of his wife. However he learns the house homes a long-dormant entity, which he discovers is the spirit of a murdered 19th century housewife Evelyn. Thinking that discovering the corpse and actually burying it would free the spirit, only seems to entice the spirit and Bob soon becomes obsessed with Evelyn who just won't let him go.

While customary in its set-up, it actually managed to tell a complete, low-key ghost tale of harrowing heartbreak, haunting mystery and a certain amount of moody chills. Director / writer Phillip Badger's competent touch is atmospheric, sensual and suggestive in what is mature, slow-tempo storytelling with polished visuals, well-revealed twists, constant danger and respectably good performances from the likes Terry Quinn, Kristy McNichol and Blair Parker. Quinn gives such a strong performance with his neurotic presence really carrying it, but McNichol is not to be discarded in a very likable turn as the helpful neighbour. Then there's the striking beauty of Parker, who gracefully engages with a tormented, if sincere performance as the forlorn spirit trying to manipulate things to her own liking. Also popping up is Elisabeth Brooks as a steamy nightclub singer. The script is a character drama with its focus on haunted memories, love, and fate with the right balance of dry, witty humour.

Subtle, slow-tempo and stylish low-budget horror chiller with the common theme of eternal love binning it all together.

"How do you kill something that's already dead."

This movie is a genuine sleeper. Not many know about this one, but it's definetely one of my favourites! Terry O'Quinn (from The Stepfather) is great as a writer who rents an old house, and is haunted by a strange presence in it. The movie is very atmospheric and at times hypnotic in it's handling of the ghost-theme, and has some genuine twists in the story and a great ending!

Writer Terry O'Quinn moves into a house haunted by the spirit of a beautiful woman; with help from brash neighbor Kristy McNichol, he gets to the bottom of the mystery. Straight-to-tape item is a stylish low-budget effort aimed at thinking adults. There are erotic undercurrents that are not explored (curious, since the apparition is mostly seen nude), and relationships that seem half-baked, but O'Quinn is excellent here (with no "Stepfather" overtones). It's also a chance to see McNichol do good work before her youthful retirement. Not especially memorable or thrilling, but patient viewers will find some subtle surprises. **1/2 from ****

As a lame-o aging Gen Xer nostalgic for the 1980's and still intent on watching movies via old-timey physical media, I acquired a home video release version of this - apparently, the sole home video version of this - via a 1990 Academy Entertainment Inc vhs tape. Yep ...it's 2025, and I'm still buying vhs tapes.

Anyway, had never heard of this flick before. Assumedly because it came and went back in 1989 to little notice or fanfare. But stumbled across the title, looked at the cast, figured why not? Was always a fan of Kristy McNichol and have long felt it was a shame she quit acting when she did. Terry O'Quinn was another actor I've quite liked in a lot of different roles, although probably most for perhaps his best-known one in 1987's The Stepfather.

So, the vhs tape box describes The Forgotten One as "a hauntingly erotic thriller" with a then-contemporaneous New York Times movie review (which makes one assume this perhaps did get a theatrical release, although I couldn't find any other information to confirm this) stating, "in this supernatural drama, a writer seeks to revive his flagging career and overcomes his writer's block by moving into a big old house ...unfortunately for him, he soon discovers that the place is haunted by the restless spirit of a murdered woman who falls in love with the writer and beckons him to join her in the after life." All of which more or less sums up the plot.

I will say there were elements of The Forgotten One that held my interest in the beginning of the film. Mostly regarding the introductory scenes of the ghost residing in novelist Bob (played by Terry O'Quinn) Anderson's basement. It's a slow reveal re: the ghost, shot in low light and presenting the apparition as a shadowy figure. Anderson is a recent widower, grieving the loss of his wife. Bob meets his neighbor, Barbara Stupple (Kristy McNichol) from across the street. Stupple is a reporter for The Denver Post newspaper.

The house used by the production for Bob's residence is also mildly creepy, adding to the discomfort factor. Apparently, the house was over 100 years old, is in a mild state of disrepair and hidden secrets lay undiscovered in a walled-off section of the basement.

Alas, while I got the sense that The Forgotten One was possibly building up to something via a slow burn during the first half of the movie, the flick got bogged down in multiple flashback sequences along with too many dream/"is this a dream or a hallucination?" scenes that had few payoffs ...none, really, that spring to mind in terms of any really effective scares.

At around the halfway point, the ghost sort of materializes into the physical form of a not unattractive, shapely young woman wandering around nude underneath a sheer white nightgown. The ghost seduces Bob. Eventually, they hump in a brief, fairly mannered softcore scene that I would say is more erotic than explicit. "Sort of materializes" in that sometimes the ghost pops up in a touchable human form, other times as an apparition, sometimes able to only be seen by Bob, other times Bob's neighbor/semi-romantic interest Barbara can see the ghost, too. Slightly confusing at times, especially when peppered with the previously mentioned "is this a dream" inserts popping up.

But it's all a bit ...meh. It's definitely The Terry O'Quinn Show in that he is the focal point/principal actor of the movie. McNichol's character isn't given much to do by way of her role as written, thus we get a few scenes where McNichol slightly shines re: acting. Alas, all too few for my liking. Her character appears for a couple of scenes, then vanishes from the script for 15 minutes, then a couple more scenes, then vanishes for 15 to 20 minutes. Elisabeth Brooks, the leather-clad femme fatale from 1981's The Howling, turns up early in the movie portraying a lounge singer in a bar that O'Quinn picks up and takes home. After that ten-minute scene, Brooks is gone from the movie. Actress Blair Parker, who plays the ghost, was a sexy woman who looked great disrobed. However, despite conjuring up a brooding atmosphere and having a concept that was moderately unique in terms of the storyline, The Forgotten One ...it didn't quite make it in that it was neither particularly scary nor particularly erotic. I can't even say it was effective in a "so bad it's good" way because save for a couple scenes where O'Quinn does go slightly over the top in terms of hammy overacting by and large the cast plays it straight. Like, The Forgotten One wasn't ridiculous enough to be memorable. Ultimate conclusion was a bit of an eye-roller. I said I thought it was a shame that McNichol decided in the mid-1990's to quit acting, but if The Forgotten One was indicative of the scripts she was getting/roles she was offered as the 1980's were drawing to a close, in retrospect it is perhaps understandable that The Forgotten One was the last movie McNichol made for a theatrical release. Underwhelming flick overall.