The Ghosts of Buxley Hall

I only watched this movie to get it out of my recommended list on Disney Plus. This movie is long and boring with the same schtick over and over again. There really isn't even a plot. It's not scary, it's not funny, and it's not a drama. It just sits there like a pile of crap.

My God. As a grown man who's seen plenty of scary films, I didn't think a movie could affect me like The Ghosts of Buxley Hall. My wife and I were not prepared for this film in any way. Yes, we expected to be scared, but we were not expecting to question our own sanity. From the moment the Civil War soldiers come down off the paintings to put a stop to the unthinkable concept of girls being admitted to their beloved Buxley Hall school for boys, the psychological siege on the viewer does not let up. But the moment you fully comprehend that you are watching a true masterpiece of horror is the scene where the hapless janitor witnesses a floating hair dryer (handled by the old timey lady ghost who had never seen a hair dryer before...nor had she heard the sounds of modern disco). It's a scene that stays with you for weeks.

No matter how big a horror fan you are, think twice about watching The Ghosts of Buxley Hall. And please, do NOT watch it alone. If you are under 30 years old, do not watch it al ALL. You're not ready for this yet.

I give this movie 10 stars for bringing to light a true horror story -- women's lib!

Welcome to the 1980s, when Disney joined the liberation movement by having a storyline that showcases girls move into a boys' school -- how horrifyingly radical!

No longer are girls nice and sweet; now they chew bubblegum obnoxiously, and their power is not to be underestimated, as Posie's shirt points out -- more horrific radicalness!

While the ghosts provide more fun than fear, to me the scariest moment of all is the final line of the movie as it represents a verbalistic dagger to the foregone ways of womanhood -- consider yourself warned!

Oh, the horror and agony that is modern Disney!

I caught this one SEVERAL years ago on the Disney Channel. I remember originally seeing it on the Wonderful World of Disney in 1980(I think WWOD was on CBS at the time;but I was only 4). Buxley Hall Military Academy for Boys is steeped in tradition, founded by Gen. Eulace Buxley in the 1800's and now run by his relative. The problem is enrollment is way down, it owes money and the bank wants to foreclose. The only way to save Buxley is to make it co-ed with a girl's school. Of course Col. Joe Buxley hates the idea and doesn't warm up to the house mother or the noisy girls. In comes Jeremy Ross who lost his parents. Jeremy's uncle would like to enroll him and if Jeremy likes it, the uncle will pay off the school's debt. The problem is Jeremy's leech of an aunt and her gigolo husband are fighting Jeremy's uncle for custody(which includes the boy's sizable inheritance). If they can secretly make his life miserable at school, he'll beg to leave and they can offer him a more "stable" home than his single uncle can. But that's not going to happen soon because Jeremy finds a friend in young Posie(who despises the military school's stiff rules). Jeremy is also protected by the GHOSTS of Gen. Buxley, his wife Bettina and Sgt. Chester Sweet. Together the ghosts plot to save Buxley from demolition and Jeremy from his relatives.

Overall a fun, kid friendly movie with plenty of the common, goofy sight gags involving ghosts. Character actor Guy Raymond plays Ben Grissom the drunken caretaker who often see's ghostly activity but no one behind it. Coincidentally Raymond played Ed Peavey in the TV Show "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir" and had many of the same reactions. You can catch Monte Markam in a post "The New Perry Mason" role and Victor French in a pre "Little House on the Prarie"/"Highway to Heaven" role. Also memorable, character actor Vito Scotti playing another accented character(at least he plays an Italian) and actress Ruta Lee in an over the top comical performance. Another coincidence, Rad Daly who played Jeremy and Tricia Cast who played Posie, appeared together a year earlier in the TV version of the "Bad News Bears." Rad played Josh Matthews the snobbish baseball player of the elite team always razzing the bears and Cast played Amanda Whirlitzer.

When a military academy goes co-ed due to financial difficulties, the ghost of the school's founder doesn't approve. Also, a new cadet at the school is targeted by a scheming aunt after his inheritance. This enjoyable family film originally aired as part of Disney's Wonderful World TV series. If it had been made ten years earlier, it almost certainly would have been released theatrically. Dick O'Neill, Victor French, and Louise Latham are fun as the ghosts. Monte Markham and Renne Jarrett are the respective heads of the boy and girl sides of the school. Ruta Lee and Vito Scotti are the wicked aunt and her husband. All of the adult actors are good but the kids are pretty forgettable, which is unusual for a Disney movie. It's a pleasant way to pass the time but nothing particularly special. Thanks to TCM for showing it otherwise I'd probably never have seen it.