Come the Halloween season, I crave a spooky movie. Not a scary-as-all-get-out movie, you know, the sort so evil one fears they've surely opened the gates of hell simply by watching it. And not the violent, gory, bloody yuck fests, either. And definitely not the poorly written, poorly acted scream fests featuring babbling blondes running from madmen in masks.

No, I like a good old-fashioned, suspense-filled ghost story. One with just the right amount of startles and chills yet one that allows me to afterward walk — not run! — up the two flights of stairs to my bedroom without having to turn on every light along the way or jump onto my bed in fear of what may be underneath it.

Such quality creepy films are hard to find. So each Halloween season for several years I've...