Ghost (1990)

As ghost movies go, this one’s not all that scary—though it does contain plenty of suspenseful scenes. Rather, much of the pathos stems from the paranormal romance between Molly (Demi Moore), a potter, and Sam, (Patrick Swayze), her banker lover who is murdered and becomes a ghost after he uncovers some illegal financial activity.

With the help of medium Oda Mae Brown (Whoopie Goldberg), the ghostly Sam reestablishes contact with Molly, who at first doesn’t believe he exists. Sam then provides Oda Mae with the security codes to a bank account owned by the movie’s villain, Carl (Tony Goldwyn) and coaches her through a harrowing but successful attempt to withdraw all the money.

Together, Sam, Molly, and Oda Mae thwart Carl’s desperate and increasingly violent attempts to recover his ill-gotten gains. In the climactic fight scene at the end of the movie, Carl is killed and his soul is dragged off to hell by demons.

Sam, his unfinished business on earth completed, then says an emotional goodbye to Molly and walks off into the bright light of the afterlife.

Ghost was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It won for Best Original Screenplay, and Goldberg won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.