The Halloween season never fails to generate a lot of interest in horror movies, whether on film, television or print media.

The problems that I observe with this are as follows:

First, they are produced or written mainly to scare people, rather than enlighten them about the spirit world.

Second, they are not based on objective research but mainly on the wild imagination of the writers and producers.

Third, they seldom depict the true nature of spirits.

Fourth, they keep repeating the same old theme year in and year out.

That is why I very seldom go to see horror or supernatural movies, unless they are well-researched or based on real life.

Some years ago, I was talking with a well-known local movie director about this and told him frankly my views about horror films he has made. He said that he makes films that will ensure success in the box office. I can’t blame him. Why make a film that will not attract a large audience?

But has anyone ever attempted to observe that some very successful so-called horror or supernatural movies are the ones that are well-researched, objective and realistic? Truth, I told him, is often stranger than fiction. One need not invent something horrifying to make a good story and attract a good audience.

He asked me for examples of movies that I consider realistic and well-researched.

I told him one of the most interesting and realistic films I have seen on this subject is “Ghost” starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg.

That is the first movie I have seen which tells the story from the point of view of the ghost rather from that of the living.

And almost every scene in that movie is realistic. It depicts what researchers know about what happens after death. For example, sudden death brings shock to the spirit, and the newly departed is confused why he is still conscious, although his bullet-ridden body lies dead on the pavement.

New environment

He tries to touch or hold on to a person or object but his hand just passes through all of them. Later he realizes he is no longer alive, that he is in the spirit realm as he meets other spirits who guide him through his new environment and state of being.

Even the character of the medium, played by Whoopi Goldberg, is very realistic. She was merely pretending to see spirits until the ghost of Patrick Swayze came along, whose vibrations are compatible with hers, and she began to actually hear and later on even see spirits.

Whoever wrote the script of that movie surely did his or her homework, because the scenes depicted are what really happen to an earthbound spirit until he ascends to the higher spirit realm by following the light.

Another movie I consider to be realistic is “Sixth Sense” starring Bruce Willis as the ghost and the clairvoyant 11-year-old boy played by Joel Osment.

When asked by his mother how often he sees spirits, he replied, “All the time.” There are real people like that who sometimes can’t even distinguish if they are seeing a dead person or the living.

The “Exorcism of Emily Rose” is another very realistic film based on a true story. And the film is very faithful to the story on which it was based. I know this because I’ve read the story of what happened to the real “Emily” as told in the book “Possession and Exorcism” by Swiss parapsychologist Dr. Hans Naegeli-Osjord, whom I met personally both in Manila and Switzerland.

As I was writing this column, I received a call from a popular television program for their Halloween special. The caller wanted to invite me to go to a haunted house in Cavite and explain what’s happening there. Of course, I declined. What else is new?

Note: Attend the next “Basic ESP and Intuition Development” seminar on Oct. 25-26, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Rm. 308 Prince Plaza I, Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Greenbelt, Makati City. For details or reservations, call tel. nos. 8107245 or 0908-3537885.