Marley first appears in a jump scare involving Scrooge’s front door, knocking the miser off his feet. Robert Zemeckis’ 3D computer-animated feature doesn’t hold back when it comes to its ghosts.
#A CHRISTMAS CAROL 1984 MOVIE#
That this is a Disney movie only makes this take on Marley even scarier no one will be prepared for the nightmare fuel going into this movie. Lew’s heavily decomposed figure is ghastly, and it’s highlighted by the mouse that scurries out from a hole in his noggin and the cobwebs that drape across his rotted body. That includes John Forsythe’s Lew Hayward, a twist on Jacob Marley that trades money boxes for golf bags. Richard Donner’s modernized and loose adaptation put Billy Murray in the Scrooge role (as Frank Cross), and offered up a quirky comedy-fantasy version that sets it apart from the rest. That includes Frank Finley’s ( Lifeforce ) take on Marley. Scott’s performance is the most substantial reason to watch this version, but for the horror fan, it’s also one of the darkest and spookiest versions of the story. Scott ( The Changeling, The Exorcist III) stars as Scrooge in this made-for-TV movie, so the horror bonafides are already in place with this adaptation. Here are some of the absolute creepiest takes on Marley… No matter the take on the familiar tale, be it through the lens of Disney or an adult comedy, Jacob Marley is one scary dude. In the countless adaptations of Dickens’ story, the terror of Marley tends to translate well to screen. Forget the forbidding spirit of Christmas Yet to Come it’s Marley that elicits chills.
Marley’s ghastly sight serves up the dual purpose of offering the first ghoulish jolt of the story and an ominous warning of where Scrooge could wind up if he doesn’t change his ways. Bound by chains and heavy money boxes forged by greed during life, Marley is cursed to wander the Earth for eternity. He lived his life similar to Scrooge, which doomed him to purgatory in the afterlife. Marley presents a familiar face twisted and transformed by death. Marley’s arrival offers up the biggest scare of the story Scrooge is alone in his darkened chambers late in the evening, the perfect moment of quiet vulnerability that allows for maximum impact when it comes to supernatural surprise guests. The figure is meant to be a foreboding warning of imminent doom, a final push to scare Scrooge straight.īut as ominous as this spirit is, the most terrifying ghost of the story and its many adaptations is Jacob Marley. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a silent, hooded phantom not unlike a Grim Reaper. The Ghost of Christmas Past is described as an angelic spirit of burning bright light, and Christmas Present resembles jolly Father Christmas. The idea is to scare some sense back into Scrooge, to course correct his life both with the otherworldly guides and insights into melancholic moments from his past. The spectral visitations are heralded by a warning from the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley. In the story, the miserly, frugal Ebenezer Scrooge is visited on Christmas Eve by the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future to remind him of the importance of kindness and the joy of the holiday. Regardless, one famous yuletide spooky tale did manage to cross the pond to become a holiday staple Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol. When the Puritans came over, they left this tradition behind. Telling ghost stories during winter was a folk custom that dated back centuries, but the 19th century, in particular, saw the holiday undeniably associated with ghosts. Though it’s now a mostly forgotten tradition, Christmas was once a time for telling ghost stories around the fire.
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