Since it's such a common word, it's not surprising there are many movies with ghost in the name. This list ranks the best movies with ghost in the title, regardless of what genre it is. Do you have a favorite movie with ghost in the name? This isn't a common way to categorize films, but that's part of the fun. There are probably one or two movies with ghost in the title that you instantly think of, but you might be surprised how many others there are as you scroll through this list.
This ranked poll of films with ghost in the title includes movies like Ghost, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Ghost Rider. Don't forget that this list is interactive, meaning you can vote the film names up or down depending on much you liked each movie that has the word ghost in it.
- 1Defying her conventional in-laws, young widow Lucy Muir (Gene Tierney) leaves London with her young daughter and moves away for a quieter life in a secluded seaside cottage. Lucy discovers the ghost of the deceased former owner, sea captain Daniel Gregg (Rex Harrison), is haunting the house, but gathers the courage to stand up to him, and woman and ghost become friends. Faced with dwindling means of support, Lucy agrees to the Captain's challenge to write his colorful life story.
- Released: 1947
- Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- 2After accidentally reciting some magic words, track coach Steve Walker (Dean Jones) summons the ghost of the dreaded pirate Blackbeard (Peter Ustinov). The spirit explains to Steve that he was cursed by his wife to roam the Earth until he performs one good deed. Since Steve is the only one who can hear or see Blackbeard, he has no choice but to aid him in his task. Together, they help Professor Backer (Suzanne Pleshette) stop a gang of crooks from taking over an inn for the elderly.
- Released: 1968
- Directed by: Robert Stevenson
- 3After intrepid working girl Mary Carter (Paulette Goddard) becomes the new owner of a reputedly haunted mansion located on Black Island near the Cuban coast, a stranger (Anthony Quinn) phones to warn her to stay away from the castle. Undaunted, Mary sets sail for Cuba with a stowaway in her trunk -- wise-cracking Larry Lawrence (Bob Hope), a radio announcer who helps Mary get to the bottom of the voodoo magic, zombies and ghosts that supposedly curse the spooky estate.
- Released: 1940
- Directed by: George Marshall
- 4
The Ghost Goes West
Robert Donat, Jean Parker, Eugene PalletteIn this supernatural comedy, Peggy Martin (Jean Parker), the daughter of a wealthy American businessman (Eugene Pallette), persuades her father to buy a haunted Scottish castle from Donald Glourie (Robert Donat). As the castle is dismantled and transported to Florida, its ghost tags along. Donald and Peggy begin to fall in love, but the restless apparition proves to be an unwelcome presence, and they must find a way to appease the kilt-wearing spirit.- Released: 1936
- Directed by: René Clair
- 5The story of neo-cool Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) who, faced with graduation from high school, take a hard look at the world they wryly observe and decide what they really want. When Enid takes an interest in the offbeat Seymour (Steve Buscemi) and Rebecca focuses her attention on their mutual romantic fixation Josh (Brad Renfro), the girls' friendship is forever changed.
- Released: 2001
- Directed by: Terry Zwigoff
- 6When Sir Simon de Canterville (Charles Laughton) flees a joust in fear and retreats to the family castle, his father traps Simon and curses him to haunt the estate until a descendent restores the family honor with an act of bravery. Hundreds of years later, Cuffy Williams (Robert Young), an American soldier stationed at the castle, discovers from young Lady Jessica (Margaret O'Brien) that he is a relative. Cuffy hopes to free Simon from his curse by displaying courage when under duress.
- Released: 1944
- Directed by: Jules Dassin, Norman Z. McLeod
- 7In this Japanese animation, cyborg federal agent Maj. Motoko Kusanagi (Mimi Woods) trails "The Puppet Master" (Abe Lasser), who illegally hacks into the computerized minds of cyborg-human hybrids. Her pursuit of a man who can modify the identity of strangers leaves Motoko pondering her own makeup and what life might be like if she had more human traits. With her partner (Richard George), she corners the hacker, but her curiosity about her identity sends the case in an unforeseen direction.
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Mamoru Oshii
- 8Ginny Otis (Neve Campbell) is a teenage girl who moves to England with her family to inhabit creaky old Canterville Hall. She lobbies for her father to send her back home, and is even more adamant when she encounters a ghost and an inexplicable bloodstain. But when Ginny befriends the ghost, Sir Simon de Canterville (Patrick Stewart), and meets the attractive Duke of Cheshire (Daniel Betts), she decides she wants to stay and help Sir Simon escape his centuries-long curse.
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Syd MacCartney
- 9Looking to score a break as a newspaper reporter and impress beautiful Alma Parker (Joan Staley), milquetoast typesetter Luther Heggs (Don Knotts) pitches a story about his small town's haunted house. When his editor (Dick Sargent) insists Luther spend a night alone in the spooky mansion, where a grisly murder-suicide had taken place decades earlier, the timid reporter learns that the house contains a supernatural resident who doesn't like visitors.
- Released: 1966
- Directed by: Alan Rafkin
- 10Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is a banker, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) is an artist, and the two are madly in love. However, when Sam is murdered by friend and corrupt business partner Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn) over a shady business deal, he is left to roam the earth as a powerless spirit. When he learns of Carl's betrayal, Sam must seek the help of psychic Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg) to set things right and protect Molly from Carl and his goons.
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Jerry Zucker
- 11Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) is a contract killer, a master of his trade who can whirl a gun at warp speed and moves through this world like a phantom -- stealthy and evanescent. In the spirit of the samurai, he has pledged his loyalty to a small time mobster named Louie (John Tormey) who saved his life many years before.
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: Jim Jarmusch
- 12Now hiding out in Eastern Europe, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is still struggling with the curse of the Ghost Rider -- the devil's bounty hunter. Johnny meets a priest named Moreau (Idris Elba), who asks Johnny to find a boy named Danny (Fergus Riordan) and bring him back. But there's a catch -- Satan (Ciarán Hinds) is looking for the boy too, and has a personal stake in the matter. But if Johnny can find Danny first and save the boy's soul, there's a chance Johnny can save his own soul as well.
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
- 13Hold That Ghost is a 1941 comedy horror film starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello and featuring Joan Davis, Evelyn Ankers, and Richard Carlson. On August 1, 1941, Abbott and Costello performed a live version of the film for radio audiences on Louella Parsons' Hollywood Premiere.
- Released: 1941
- Directed by: Arthur Lubin
- 14Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, known simply as Innocence in Japan, is a 2004 anime/computer-animated sci-fi sequel to the 1995 film Ghost in the Shell. Released in Japan on March 6, 2004, and in the US on September 17, 2004, Innocence had a production budget of approximately $20 million. To raise the sum, Production I.G studio's president, Mitsuhisa Ishikawa, asked Studio Ghibli's president, Toshio Suzuki, to co-produce. It is the only Disney/Studio Ghibli film to be animated production by Production I.G. With a story loosely connected to the manga by Shirow Masamune, the film was written and directed by Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii. The film was honored best sci-fi film at the 2004 Nihon SF Taisho Awards and was in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. The soundtrack for the film was released under the name Innocence O.S.T. and a related novel called Innocence: After the Long Goodbye was released on February 29, 2004. This film makes many allusions and references to other famous works, such as The Future Eve. The foreign DVD release of the film faced many issues ranging from licensing to audio.
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Mamoru Oshii
- 15In Ghost Ship, salvage captain Sean Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) and his crew, including the determined Epps (Julianna Margulies), stumble upon a mysterious vessel, the Antonia Graza. It's been lost at sea for over 40 years. Intrigue quickly turns to horror as they uncover the ship's ghastly past - a tale of greed, murder, and betrayal. The deeper they delve into its ghostly corridors, the more the ship's dark history threatens their survival. This haunting maritime horror film masterfully weaves suspense with an eerie atmosphere, drawing viewers into a chilling nautical nightmare that lingers long after the final scene.
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Steve Beck
- 16In Ghost Rider, we follow the tale of a stunt motorcyclist, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage). He sells his soul to Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) to save his father. Years later, Mephistopheles calls in the debt, forcing Blaze to become the Ghost Rider, his fiery skeletal bounty hunter. With Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson, Blaze's love interest, and Wes Bentley as Blackheart, the antagonist demon, Ghost Rider is an action-packed supernatural thriller. It won the BMI Film Music Award for its score by Christopher Young. This movie intertwines elements of horror with comic book lore.
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
- 17
The Ghost Comes Home
Ann Rutherford, Frank Morgan, Reginald OwenThe Ghost Comes Home is a 1940 comedy drama romance film based on the play by Georg Kaiser, written by Richard Maibaum, Harry Ruskin, Leonard Lee and Herman J. Mankiewicz, and directed by Wilhelm Thiele.- Released: 1940
- Directed by: Wilhelm Thiele
- 18Blamed for a terrorist attack on the Kremlin, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the entire IMF agency are disavowed by the U.S. government, while the president initiates the Ghost Protocol. Forced to go "off the grid" -- left without resources or backup -- Hunt must somehow clear the agency's name and prevent another attack. Complicating matters even more, Ethan must undertake the impossible mission with a group of fellow IMF fugitives whose actual motives are suspect.
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Brad Bird
- 19After a near-death experience during a routine colonoscopy, people-hating dentist Bertrum Pincus is shocked to discover that he is suddenly able to talk to the dead. Constantly cornered by unhappy spirits who want him to help resolve their earthly problems, the misanthropic Pincus is driven to distraction. Eventually talked into helping the dearly departed Frank Herlihy, Pincus attempts to talk to Frank's widow, Gwen.
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: David Koepp
- 20Hiram Stokely (Boris Karloff), a recently deceased man, discovers that he has only one day to enact a good deed in order to avoid eternal damnation. Hiram's scheming lawyer, Reginald Ripper (Basil Rathbone), is determined to get his fortune, and is willing to bump off potential heirs such as Chuck Phillips (Tommy Kirk) and Lili Morton (Deborah Walley) to achieve his goal. As Chuck, Lili and others have a lively pool party, Hiram recruits the ghost of his dead lover to help set things straight.
- Released: 1966
- Directed by: Don Weis
- 21Ghost Cat, also released as Mrs. Ashboro's Cat or The Cat That Came Back, is a 2003 Animal Planet television film. It was directed by Don McBrearty and written by Larry Ketron. The film is based on the novel by Beverly Butler. The film is rated PG for "mild thematic elements and some peril".
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Don McBrearty
- 22
The Ghost Train
Arthur Askey, Richard Murdoch, Kathleen HarrisonAfter his hat flies out the window of a speeding train, passenger and music-hall performer Tommy Gander (Arthur Askey) yanks the emergency brake, causing the train to stop. All the passengers are stuck in rural Cornwall, England that night, unable to get a connecting train for hours. The stationmaster, Saul Hodgkin (Herbert Lomas), wants them gone for mysterious reasons, so he tells them a scary story about a ghost train that passes through every night, hoping that will do the trick.- Released: 1941
- Directed by: Walter Forde
- 23When a successful ghostwriter, the Ghost (Pierce Brosnan), agrees to finish the memoirs of Adam Long (Ewan McGregor), England's former prime minister, his publisher assures him it's the chance of a lifetime. Instead, he begins to uncover evidence that suggests his late predecessor knew a dark secret about Lang and may have been murdered to prevent it from coming to light.
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Roman Polanski
- 24The Mummy's Ghost is the 1944 Universal Pictures sequel to The Mummy's Tomb. Lon Chaney, Jr. again takes on the role of Kharis the mummy.
- Released: 1944
- Directed by: Reginald Le Borg
- 25Sir Robert Beaumont (Tom Wilkinson) is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson (Val Kilmer) to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman (Henry Cele), seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington (Michael Douglas), who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.
- Released: 1996
- Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
- 26The Ghost of Frankenstein, is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney Jr. as the Monster, taking over from Boris Karloff, who played the role in the first three films of the series, and Béla Lugosi in his second appearance as the demented Ygor. The supporting cast features Lionel Atwill, Cedric Hardwicke, Ralph Bellamy and Evelyn Ankers.
- Released: 1942
- Directed by: Erle C. Kenton
- 27After Terry (Karen Allen) tells a computer store clerk where she lives, the information falls into the hands of the clerk's co-worker Karl (Ted Marcoux), the serial murderer known as the "Address Book Killer." When Karl is injured in a car crash, his doctors place him in an MRI machine. As Karl dies, the computer powering the machine extracts his soul. The murderous computer system then locates Terry and tries to kill her by turning technological devices into deadly weapons.
- Released: 1993
- Directed by: Rachel Talalay
28The Headless Ghost is an 1959 British comedy horror film directed by Peter Graham Scott.- Released: 1959
- Directed by: Peter Graham Scott
- 29
Ghost Ship
Hazel Court, Dermot Walsh, Hugh BurdenGhost Ship is a 1952 British thriller film directed by Vernon Sewell and written by Vernon Sewell and Philip Thornton. Despite the same titles, the 2002 film of the same title is not considered a remake of this film. This was one of four attempts by Vernon Sewell to adapt and film an obscure Pierre Mills and Celia de Vilyars Grand Guignol stage play 'L'Angoisse'.- Released: 1952
- Directed by: Vernon Sewell
- 30
The Ghost Ship
Richard Dix, Edith Barrett, Russell WadeThe Ghost Ship is an American black-and-white psychological thriller film, with elements of mystery and horror, directed by Mark Robson, starring Richard Dix and featuring Russell Wade, Edith Barrett, Ben Bard and Edmund Glover, along with Skelton Knaggs. It was produced by Val Lewton for RKO Radio Pictures as part of a series of low-budget horror films. The film can be seen as a "low-key psychological thriller", a "suspense drama", and a "waterlogged melodrama". The film is about a young merchant marine officer who begins to suspect that his ship's captain is mentally unbalanced and endangering the lives of the ship's crew. The ship's crew, however, believes the vessel to be haunted and cursed and several mysterious deaths occur. Upon its theatrical release on Christmas Eve, 1943, the film was a box office success but received a mixed critical reception. However, in February 1944, Lewton was sued for plagiarism by playwrights Samuel R. Golding and Norbert Faulkner, who claimed that the script was based on a play that was submitted to Lewton for a possible film. Because of the suit, The Ghost Ship was withdrawn from theatrical release and not shown for nearly 50 years.- Released: 1943
- Directed by: Mark Robson
- 31
The Gray Ghost
Harry Carter, Priscilla DeanThe Gray Ghost is a 1917 American crime-drama film serial directed by Stuart Paton. It is presumed to be lost.- Released: 1917
- Directed by: Stuart Paton
- 32
Gildersleeve's Ghost
Harold Peary, Lillian Randolph, Frank ReicherGildersleeve's Ghost is a 1944 comedy fantasy sci-fi horror film written by Robert E. Kent and directed by Gordon Douglas.- Released: 1944
- Directed by: Gordon Douglas
- 33
Love Ghost
Ryuhei Matsuda, Risa Goto- Released: 2000
- Directed by: Kazuyuki Shibuya
- 34Ghost (aka Ghost: Mouichido Dakishimetai) is a 2010 Japanese film directed by Taro Otani and a remake of the 1990 American film of the same name. After a newly wed is killed she speaks to her husband through a medium.
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Yeo Myung Jun, Cho Eun Gyeong
- 35Ghost is a 2012 Indian horror film written and directed by Puja Jatinder Bedi, starring Shiney Ahuja and Sayali Bhagat in the lead roles and features Russian actress Julia Bliss who makes her Bollywood debut. Ghost was released on Friday 13 January 2012 and was critically panned, although the performance of Sayali Bhagat was well praised. The film performed moderately well at the Indian box office. The story follows Bhagat as a doctor and Ahuja as a detective who together investigate strange happenings inside a hospital. The film was given an A certificate because of its extremely violent content and due to this, the film also landed into several controversies and criticisms, resulting in some scenes being edited and trimmed by the Indian censor board.
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Puja Jatinder Bedi
- 36
Ghost of Love
Romy Schneider, Marcello Mastroianni, Wolfgang PreissFantasma d'amore is a 1981 Italian drama film directed by Dino Risi.- Released: 1981
- Directed by: Dino Risi
- 37
The Vampire's Ghost
Grant Withers, Emmett Vogan, Peggy Stewart- Released: 1945
- Directed by: Lesley Selander
- 38A young debt collector has a series of adventures with his dog and a fellow traveler named Shine.
- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Andrew Chan
- 39
Ghost Town
"With this absorbing three-part epic documentary, Zhao Dayong joins the ranks of the essential Chinese independent filmmakers, led by Jia Zhangke and Wang Bing. Zhiziluo is a remote village in China’s mountainous southwest, lined with empty shells of buildings and watched over by a Chairman Mao statue. In this dilapidated ghost town, the young filmmaker Zhao documents remarkable signs of life: father and son pastors, parsing the Bible and the teachings of long-departed missionaries; lovers whose relationships are reduced to a matter of economics; a 12-year-old boy, left behind by his parents and living a near-feral existence. Throughout, Zhao composes brilliant, haunting images that use the harsh beauty of the landscape as a counterpoint to a study of different forms of abandonment, and different modes of survival." Quoting the synopsis on the 2009 New York Film Festival site.- Released: 2008
- Directed by: Zhao Dayong
- 40
The Ghost of Yotsuya
Shigeru Amachi, Katsuko Wakasugi, Ryûzaburô NakamuraTokaido Yotsuya kaidan is a 1959 Japanese horror film, directed by Nobuo Nakagawa and based on the 19th century Japanese Kabuki play by Nanboku Tsuruya titled Yotsuya Kaidan.- Released: 1959
- Directed by: Nobuo Nakagawa
- 41
- Released: 2015
- Directed by: Chad Calek
- 42Hum Tum Aur Ghost is an Bollywood supernatural comedy-drama film directed by Kabeer Kaushik and produced by Arshad Warsi, starring Arshad Warsi and Dia Mirza in the lead roles. This unofficial remake of Ghost Town was Filmed in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, the film was released on 26 March 2010. The film was also inspired from the Hollywood film, The Sixth Sense.
- Released: 2010
- Directed by: Kabeer Kaushik
- 43
Ghost Mine
Charles King, Frank Hagney, Al St. JohnGhost Mine is a 1941 western film written by Joseph O'Donnell and directed by Sam Newfield.- Released: 1941
- Directed by: Sam Newfield
- 44
Ghost Town Law
Buck Jones, Raymond Hatton, Tim McCoyGhost Town Law is a 1942 western film written by Adele S. Buffington and directed by Howard Bretherton.- Released: 1942
- Directed by: Howard Bretherton
- 45During World War II, American soldiers bluff the enemy using inflatable tanks and elaborate light shows.
- Released: 2013
- Directed by: Rick Beyer
- 46The Canterville Ghost is a 1985 American fantasy-comedy film. It is one of many treatments based on the novella of Oscar Wilde, The Canterville Ghost.
- Released: 2003
- Directed by: William F. Claxton
- 47The dead rise from the water to terrorize a woman (Tatum Adair) who is mourning the loss of her parents.
- Released: 2004
- Directed by: Jay Woelfel
- 48
Hampshire: A Ghost Story
Michael Mitchell, Greg Ellery, Cassandra Taylor- Released: 2009
- Directed by: Christopher Kelley
- 49
- Released: 2007
- Directed by: Dean Teaster, Jeff Kennedy
- 50
Ghost Delivery
Ananda Everingham, Carla Porter, Joey BazooGhost Delivery is a 2003 thriller, fantasy, supernatural film directed by Moei Thaisong.- Released: 2003
- Directed by: Tiwa Moeithaisong
- 51
Seeding of a Ghost
Phillip Ko, Norman Chu, Jaime ChikSeeding of a Ghost is a 1983 Hong Kong film directed by Chuan Yang.- Released: 1983
- Directed by: Chuan Yang
- 52
Little Ghost
Sally Kirkland, Kristina Wayborn, Jim FitzpatrickLittle Ghost is a 1997 family film written by James W. McLaughlin and Timothy Michaels and directed by Linda Shayne.- Released: 1997
- Directed by: Linda Shayne
- 53
The Ghost
Barbara Steele, Peter Baldwin, Umberto RahoThe Ghost is a 1963 Italian horror film directed by Riccardo Freda, using the pseudonym "Robert Hampton". The film stars Barbara Steele and Peter Baldwin. Other titles for the film include The Spectre and Lo Spettro del Dr. Hichcock..- Released: 1963
- Directed by: Riccardo Freda
