The Face of the Future Part 2

The Skeletal Spotlight shines this time on:
"The Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come" from "Scrooged"
(Click on images to see larger.)

Did you ever get the weird feeling that your TV is watching you?

In the 1988 film "Scrooged," Bill Murray stars as a modern-day lost soul in dire need of redemption. This is the second film to show the Ghost of Christmas Future as the skull-faced specter, but with a twist; the ghost has a TV screen in the hood that shows different images.

Taking a stiff drink to get a grip, the bony hand of the future is about to get a grip on him.

Eash Spirit is given a different interpretation than the usual; The Spirit of Christmas Past is an elfin cab-driver; the Spirit of Christmas Present a giddy, violence-prone fairy; however, the Ghost of Christmas Yet-To-Come is the closest to the original, only with more emphasis on the horror.

When cornered in the elevator by the oversized Ghost, a peek inside it's robe reveals the trapped souls of previous victims, an idea borrowed from the Nightmare on Elm Street series. More the specter of Death here than any other version, it only needs a scythe to complete the image.

At one point the shifting images in the Ghost's face screen reflect the main character's own visage in a decayed and horrific state. All this convinces our man Frank Cross to change his ways, although one gets the idea that he repents only to save his life, instead of having a truly humbling and heart-changing experience. This movie is pretty low on my list of favorite versions of the story, but it's worth a watch for a holiday laugh, like "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

In any event, we can all learn from Scrooge's lessons, and hopefully "to open our shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below us as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

For a special treat, read the entire Marvel
comic adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" here!

Have a wonderful Christmas!
And, as Tiny Tim observed, "God Bless Us, Every one!"