Name That Trauma:: Lighthouse Ghost on a Dead Wife, a Cabin, & an Attacking Puma

I can't be certain what year the movie was made, but I and my entire 7th grade class saw it in 1982. Our teacher seemed to think she'd reserved a Disney movie or some other kids' film. I have searched and searched to find the name, production company, country of origin, anything, because I would love to revisit this weird short film with no dialogue. Here's what we saw, as well as I can remember:

We see an old man bringing home his beautiful new wife, who looks about 30 yrs younger than he is, into a one-room cabin in the woods. The entire thing is set inside this cabin. They clearly have her expressing innocence with the eyes and the shyness, and then we see them living life. She's cooking for him, etc, he looks happy, there seems to be much emphasis on her beauty. She dies- I can't remember why/how. He's devastated but lays her on the table and brushes her hair, puts her prettiest dress on her, etc, readying her for burial. But there's a puma outside and he can't go outside. He's trapped in the house with his dead wife. The puma then seems to be stalking him, trying to get in, yowling outside, and eventually, the cougar breaks through a window, into the house, knocking over the lamp, and the man grabs his gun, but can't see where the puma is. Then in the darkness, there's a huge ruckus, the man's breathing all freaked out, the puma screaming, and then silence. The man's breathing is still (understandably) freaked out. His shaking hand finds and manages to light a candle. His dead wife is still on the table but the cougar is gone except for the bloody paw sticking out of the dead wife's mouth. He gasps, which puts out the light again. The movie ends.

This is where the class, a mix of silence and uneasy laughter, just sat there, and my teacher said, "Maybe you all don't need to tell your parents about that." And said she'd be reporting the movie to get it out of the school catalog.

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gonzo72
gonzo72
11 months ago

This is probably an adaptation of The Boarded Window by Ambrose Bierce, and I saw it in school as well. There was a version made in 1971 and another in 1973.

The former is on Tubi- https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/617199/s01-e24-boarded-window

But more likely the version you may have seen is on YouTube-


Last edited 11 months ago by gonzo72
bdwilcox
bdwilcox
11 months ago

Sooo…much…magenta…

Chuckles72
Chuckles72
11 months ago

Hmmm. I read this story ages ago – made quite the impression. Had no idea that it was made into a strange short film.

good catch Gonzo!