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I probably saw this movie in the late 80s or early 90s. It may have been a children's movie, but since neither my parents nor school had the best track record in picking appropriate movies, it may have been an adults' movie with a PG rating. I just remember that it terrified me.

It was a live action colour movie about a family moving into what turns out to be a haunted house. Two scenes I remember vividly. First is a large bloodstain which the new owners order a maid to clean up. It's easily removed, causing scoffing from the new owners, but it soon reappears. Second is the bit that scared me. One of the new family, probably the mother, is sitting at a dressing table and looking in a mirror. Suddenly her reflection changes to show her looking hideously old and decayed, but a few moments later it changed back.

It's possible this is an adaptation of The Canterville Ghost, but the only version of that I've seen since then was animated.

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    There have been many adaptations of The Canterville Ghost, but the bit with the reappearing bloodstain has also been used in many other horror stories; I'm afraid that doesn't narrow it down much. Not to mention a mirror image that changes.
    – Mr Lister
    Commented Feb 12, 2018 at 12:45
  • I'm now confident that it was The Canterville Ghost. Now to figure out which version.
    – ssav
    Commented Feb 12, 2018 at 17:40
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    see also scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/176083/… (about the book on which the movie is based)
    – Otis
    Commented Feb 17, 2018 at 3:22

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I've identified this as the 1986 adaptation of The Canterville Ghost, starring John Gielgud.

Harry Canterville (Wass), who has spent most of his life in Cleveland, Ohio, returns with his new wife Lucy (Marcovicci) and his daughter from a previous marriage, Jennifer (Milano), to take up his inheritance of Canterville Castle in a small village in England. They find that the castle is haunted by the ghost of a disgraced ancestor, Sir Simon de Canterville (Gielgud). Despite the eccentric relatives who will not enter the castle and the gloomy predictions of Mr. and Mrs. Umney, Harry and Lucy do not believe that there actually is a ghost. They think that they are merely being hoaxed through wires. Harry is determined to stay for at least three months, after which he can take full possession. He also decides to then sell the castle to a property developer, who wants to turn the castle into a hotel.

The full movie is on YouTube. The mirror scare scene happens at 34:30 and the bloodstain scrubbing scene is at 31:45.

Another childhood nightmare exorcised.

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