Ghost Dad (1990)

I wanted to but couldn't!

hyped garbage

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The acting in this movie is really good.

Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a recently widowed father of three who has nearly bankrupted the family in attempts to save his lingering wife. Elliot is working on a business deal to get the family out of debt when he climbs into the taxicab of a maniacal Satanist.So, IMDb has this at 4.3 and allegedly it was on many critics' "worst of" lists, with Roger Ebert really taking a dislike. Well, Mr. Ebert, I am sorry but you were wrong this time. This film is not only funny, but has become a cultural benchmark.Yeah, it is far from perfect. The elder daughter is annoying... very annoying. But that Dana Ashbrook! And Jim Henson as a devil-worshiping cab driver? Priceless.

I don't read reviews before I see a movie, as I don't wish to cloud my own response and my own judgments with what other critics may think or not think. So I was totally surprised to find that this film received such unenthusiastic reviews. To my mind, Bill Cosby gave an absolutely magnificent performance in the very difficult main role in which it was imperative the actor succeed in making the unbelievable totally believable (which Cosby did, not matter how bizarre the obstacles he was confronted with). I thought the movie an almost perfect spoof of such films as Danny Kaye's "Wonder Man" (1945), brilliantly updating the events to a contemporary setting and changing its comic thrust to big business rather than organized crime. Director Sidney Poitier not only coaxed perfect performances from his large cast of interesting players, including Raynor Scheine as the cab driver – a real weirdo if ever there was one – and Ian Bannen as the paranormal expert, plus Kimberly Russell as Cosby's wife, but he was able to marshal a huge team of experts in Hollywood wizardry to help him produce an amusingly relevant and super-fascinating movie that is not only a joy to watch and fun to listen to, but reasonably believable once you accept and get caught up in its initial premise.

I watched it as a child with my brother. It was corny but hell it was fun! I loved Bill Cosby in this role and the premise of the whole movie was, while a bit of a stretch, quite fun in itself. Here you have a hard-working dad and his children..what happens of the dad suddenly "leaves his body", while nit exactly being dead? A comedy ensues as all of them struggle to adjust to the dad's new predicament, doing all sort of weird stuff. There is also the memorable taxi driver from hell. I was never quite able to forget him. This was a good family movie and both me and my brother had a lot of fun. It was silly, it was goofy, it was cheesy, but it was warm and lively and entertaining. A lot more credit should be given to this movie. For me, it will always remind me of the days when me and my brother watched things together. Good times. You might be put off by the goofiness and corniness of it but for me it is an 8/10. Good 'ole Bill Cosby.

This is a fun family movie, but the plot isn't solid. This movie left me with a lot of questions. What was up with the cab driver and who does he think he is? Why did Stuart threaten his best friend's father? That's pretty bold of him to do that. Why at one point, could Elliot talk weird in one part and talk normal in another? Also when the company comes over to visit, it's day time, and some minutes later, when Stuart calls, Elliot went to his house and the sun was already down long ago. That reminds me, if Stuart threatened me like that, he would have his bratty self have the police called on. And, not all was resolved in the end. Elliot lost his job, Danny lost a friend of his, and Diane lost a potential boyfriend. Still, nevertheless, Elliot's extremist and eccentric behavior was definitely funny. Though plagued by errors, this makes for a good family film and is better than Home Alone 4.