I watched it so you don’t have to!

Ghost Fever (1985)

Stars:

Sherman Hemsley (The Jeffersons, Amen, The Hughleys)

Luis Avalos (E/R, Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper)

Jennifer Rhodes: (Nightingales, 3rd Rock from the Sun)

Director: Alan Smithee (credited*) Actually Lee Madden

Writer: Oscar Brodney

Plot:
Two African American cops are sent to a run down Southern plantation to evict the residents so a freeway can be built in its place. The catch? The “residents” are all Civil War ghost. The hijinx ensue.

Summary:

After playing the iconic George Jefferson on “The Jefferson”, Sherman Hemsley tried his hand at the big screen in what turned out to be a huge flop. Hemsley mostly funded this movie himself which, literally, left him in financial ruin.

As much as I wanted to like this movie, Brodney’s writing made this feel like a left-over ’80s era slap-stick comedy, without the comedy.

*Director Lee Madden was so unhappy with the way the film turned out that he credited himself as “Alan Smithee” , the Directors Guild of America’s approved pseudonym for directors who do not want their name attached to a film.

If you actually made it through the movie, which I doubt you did, Hemsley also sang the theme song. And just for proof-