The Daily Dig: Lady in White (1988)

Heavy on atmosphere, this endearing late eighties gem will give you all the nostalgia feels you can handle.

The story of a town’s deep secrets haunting a young boy in nineteen sixties America. Let’s dig into 1988’s LADY IN WHITE, directed by Frank LaLoggia!

As I See It

Auteur Frank LaLoggia only made two films, and that’s a damn shame. Counting the direct-to-video Mother from 1995 starring Diane Ladd would bring the total to a whopping three. Again, it’s a crime that we didn’t get more from this obviously gifted filmmaker.

It is an impressive feat to pull off a film about a child killer — and one with such heavy racial issues — without feeling at all political or being a complete bummer. Though, there is no dearth of emotionally taxing moments.

Most likely, it is the insider info, as LaLoggia was raised in Rochester, New York, which is the basis of the Lady in White mythology.

Brilliantly lit and set in an idyllic seaside town that is reminiscent of New England, the Halloween atmosphere isn’t overbearing (which I wouldn’t mind if it was). But the haunted house is great, and so is the paper mache Dracula mask, which is a wonderful throwback.

This is the type of film I want to rewatch because I was so busy looking at the cinematography that I’m sure that I missed something.

Famous Faces

Alex Rocco (Al) is none other than the doomed Moe Green from Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, based on the Mario Puzzo book.

Lukas Haas holds the distinction of just always being there through my own film-watching career. To name a few, Mars Attacks, The Revenant, Inception, and Zoolander (as himself).

The late and great Katherine Helmond (Amanda) is most famous as Mona on the TV series Who’s the Boss? Starring Tony Danza. But a guilty pleasure film for me is Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn’s Overboard, in which she played Hawn’s mother. She was also in Terry Gilliam’s dystopian masterpiece Brazil.

Jared Rushton (Donald) played the young neighbor Ron in Disney’s Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Tom Hanks’ best friend Billy in Big, and was also in Overboard as one of Kurt Russell’s many children.

Of Gratuitous Nature

Hearing a racial slur from a child is especially hard to swallow. Maybe it was accurate to the time period in which this film was set, but how were we not striving to be better about the actual humans performing? It’s the same shit for sex scenes. How do you not think about the humans you’re “asking” to perform this?

Heartthrob

The tone, ambiance, atmosphere, whatever you want to call it, is amazing. It makes no sense that this could be just the second film of its maker. Writer, director, composer; is there any hat LaLoggia didn’t wear?

Ripe for a Remake

I would not like to see this remade. I think it has the perfect feel. I would love to see LaLoggia get back behind the camera and put his fingers to paper.

Spawns

No progeny to report.

Where to Watch

Shout Factory released a Blu-Ray in 2016, which is now sold out. You can stream it on Shudder, Tubi, AMC +, and Hoopla.