Lady in White laces its classic supernatural story with a fascinating murder mystery as Frank LaLoggia embraces an M.R. James-inspired world of horror. In this story, the paranormal world is far less scary than the human world surrounding it.
Many films stand out in my earliest horror memories, from the haunting terror and intrigue of The Shining to the nightmare of Phantasm. However, one film stands out with a more profound memory: Lady in White. It was my first real introduction to social horror, reflecting the real terrors of the world around us. I clearly remember my youthful anticipation as I sat down to watch Frank Laloggia’s film, but as the VHS whirred, I quickly realised that Lady in White was so much more than a simple ghost story.
Frankie (Lukas Haas) comes from a loving Italian-American family; he is intelligent, curious, and full of imagination, and his love of writing shines through at school. But as the final day of school before Halloween draws near, Frankie becomes the victim of a nasty schoolyard prank when he is locked in the school cloakroom. Alone and scared as the school shuts down for the night, Frankie falls asleep on top of a storage unit. When he wakes, the ghostly figure of a young girl stands before him. As Frankie watches in fear, the girl talks to a hidden figure, first with joyful laughter and then with terror as his hands wrap around her neck. She cries, struggles, and kicks, but each action cannot stop the life from leaving her body.
Unsure of what has just happened, Frankie sits silently in shock until a man enters the cloakroom dressed head to toe in black. This is no ghost; it’s a real, flesh-and-blood figure. Frankie tries to remain silent as the man searches a small heating grate on the floor, but as a rat scuttles over Frankie’s foot, the man is alerted to his presence, and Frankie finds his life threatened as the man’s big hands wrap around his slender throat. As Frankie drifts toward death, he is rescued by an unseen, ghostly force before waking from his ordeal to find his father and the local police at his side. But can the young boy solve the mystery of the ghostly girl’s murder? And who was the man who nearly ended his life? Even more perplexing, what is the link to the local legend of the ghostly Lady in White?
Lady in White laces its classic supernatural story with a fascinating murder mystery as LaLoggia embraces an M.R. James-inspired world of horror. Here, the paranormal world is far less scary than the human one surrounding it. Set in the small town of Willow Point Falls in 1962, themes of racial oppression surround the murder mystery at the heart of Lady in White. We see the black caretaker of the school quickly arrested for attempted murder with no evidence; his arrest is a smokescreen, as the police openly admit he is easy pickings. LaLoggia’s exploration of race in Lady in White reflects not only the horror of racism in 1960s America but also the differing experiences of minority groups, some of whom chose America as a home and others who had no choice, as they were forced onto slave ships.
Coupled with its discussions on race, much of the social horror comes from the child murders at the heart of the story and the ghostly girl’s violent death – a death she is forced to relive in spirit form every night at 10 pm. Since the release of Lady in White, this image has been seared into many childhood memories. But, once again, it’s not the supernatural terror that stands out but the horror of a murderer who runs free, as Frankie realises that not all adults are trustworthy. Many hide deep, dark desires and secrets behind a gentle, loving smile. Lady in White pays homage to the beauty of the classic Victorian ghost story while embracing ideas that would later appear in films ranging from The Sixth Sense to The Devil’s Backbone to The Orphanage.
Lady in White was a labour of love for LaLoggia, its journey to the screen taking two years to complete. However, since its release, Lady in White has disappeared into the mists of time, with patchy availability at best. But Lady in White will always hold a special place in the hearts of those who entered LaLoggia’s world; after all, it showed us that horror is a human creation, not a supernatural one. Maybe ghosts arrive to warn us about the human horrors of our world, not to scare us.
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