Actually, there is a real life reason for why ghosts usually don't just write things. From what I gather from real life paranormal research, manipulating objects expends energy and ghosts can usually only move objects around in short bursts. It is very difficult for them to communicate with the living, so there you go.
"All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you." -Gandalf

I hope to achieve a nice discussion about ghost/horror movies, to see if other fans are bothered by the same things as me, or to hear people give explanations or other opinions why they disagree with me.

Chet19 What does one hope to achieve by leaving the same comment in every thread concerning films with a particular flaw, as perceived by one? Seems like a might waste of time.

It's pretty normal for the genre. If the ghost can come out and say it, then there isn't much of a movie.
For me, if it's a ghost kills you, why not come back as a ghost and attack it. It can't do anything to you since you're on equal footing with it, and I'd say that kind of rage is a pretty good motivator to come back like they did.

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dude if ghost do that most people will faint and run away ..
and it is pretty hard to believe that kind of thing these days
imagine if you encounter a ghost who tell his/her murder directly as soon as he/she meet you , wouldn't that scare you too?
these ghost you called "idiotic"
they are actually smart you know .. they used clues to make the living ones believe instead of scaring them away by telling them directly ..
and please study about ghost and supernatural things
do you remember that there is only a few people who can hear and see ghost? if the one that hear what the ghost say .. and inform it to police ..
guess what the reaction is??~
they laughed!
because ..not everyone believe in ghost , if your friend or someone near you suddenly said that there is a body hidden on his/her house , would you believe it?
i bet you don't
see? simple as that .. if the ghost said directly no one would believe it
and by the way ghost can't touch or write anything -__-
ugh you are the one being an idiot here ..
oh and please this is just a freaking movie!
calm your ass

Ghosts don't always realize they're dead? Do they realize they don't exist?

too bad the word wasn't 'BASEMENT' instead of DIG
I also figured at some point after there was no more grass left, it might have occurred to him to go back to his sister in law and try again for more info.

So Samantha's ghost is smart enough to recommend her sister as a babysitter, tell Kevin Bacon to "DIG," talk to little Jake about being dead and if it hurts, and she can tell Kevin not to be afraidetc etc etc. She is smart enough to do all that, but NOT smart enough to say or write "Hey, I am buried in the basement wall. Please help." Why do these idiotic ghosts leave cryptic clues when they can obviously converse in full conversations? This is a flaw in so so many movies, and it's what ruined Stir of Echoes.
My impression is that the ghosts don't always realize that they're dead. They want help, but may not remember all the details of their death.
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My concern in this type of movie is always, why don't they punch the ghost in the face.

Why couldn't that murdered girl's teachers at school have taught her and her classmates how to communicate with the living so that they'll know what to do just in case if they're ever murdered?

The Ghost was trying to tell the kid but the kid wouldn't listen to what she had to say. Least that's what I'm gathering at the moment as I'm watching the film at the moment, not seen it all yet. There's one scene where the ghost changes the channel of the TV the kids watching to get his attention, and the kid says "I don't want to talk right now" So it's not as if she didn't try telling the kid, because she did.

I've just always assumed that in movies like this, a spirit's perception of our world, and their ability to affect it, are "hampered" in some way (maybe due to the trauma of having been murdered), that makes them almost like a person who is under the influence of strong drugs. Their perception is completely screwed up and skewed, and so they can only "scream for help", instead of saying "Excuse me, but I'm buried inside of the south wall of the basement of the home you live in". Their messages are sent out in a panicky blur instead of a well thought-out, orderly fashion. Kind of like asking an extremely falling-down drunk person for directions to where they live. You might get something out of them, but it probably won't make much sense.
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Maybe there are "ghost rules", LOL like they can't outright say where they are or what happened to them- all they can do is leave cryptic clues so that someone might solve the mystery. This is as far as movies go anyways, as otherwise the movie would be over in about 2 minutes
edit: now that I have rewatched it, the ghost is not stupid, it is just that Bacon's character doesn't have a good "flashlight" (remember the talk with the black guy Neil from the funeral?). His seeing of the ghostly world only comes and goes (rather than constant, the way his son sees- see how he can carry on conversations with ghosts and so on?). So he is only getting bits and pieces of what the ghost is trying to tell him (although why the ghost didn't just tell the kid what to tell the dad I don't knowI guess the ghost was kind of dumb in that wayof course the ghost herself was a bit retarded in real life so there you go).
It won't give up, it wants me dead-God damn this noise inside my head

Then there wouldn't be a movie in the first place.

true.

Never occurred to me to think that way about ghost movies. I usually just watch the movie how it was written. I guess if movies that started off or ended like the way you want them to (i.e. have the ghost come out and say where their bones are buried, who killed them, etc.) I'm guessing it wouldn't make much of a movie. It would also suck knowing who the killer was right off the bat; Leaves no mystery.
_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

HaHa
I think i agree with the OP.

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I agreeI was saying the same thing about this movie when I watched it last night.
Another example was in What Lies Beneath the ghost can manipulate the computer to write the words "help me" over and over and over but if it can do thatit could leave more detailed notes that explain everything more clearly and get their problem solved.