13 Ghosts

If your looking for the original "Illusion-O" version look somewhere else cause this is the regular movie.

I don't own this one as a DVD but I caught it on digital cable on demand, and I will say William Castle is a damn good director. I would loved to see this one in the theater. The young kid in the film was great and so was the older sister. If I saw this movie if I was younger, I think I would be doing much more with writing ghost stories than I do right now. Coming from an author who writes ghost stories either as a fictional medium or a true medium, one can really appreciate the master of gimmicks.

I saw the remake of this movie too when I was staying at my now apartment, during a party trying to fall asleep (waiting for medicine to kick in at the time since I had a bad case of bronchitis and the flu at the party in 2005.) Though William Castle's been dead for 30 years now it is amazing what the guy was able to do with the genre.

Some folks may consider this movie over the top, over the hill or just lame but I---who saw 13 Ghosts in real time (1960)---considered it the best of the spooky matinee fare of its day. It had a fantastic built up to the climax of the story. All the actors and actresses were top notch. But the true power of this movie was that it filmed in glorious B/W and in "ILLUSION-O." You can't beat that combination! And those who are critical of this movie ought to take a time out from their self-imposed and sanctimonious attitude and appreciate it; directed and produced by William Castle himself. They don't get any better!

i remember as a child of 9 the first time my friends and i went to see this movie it left a lasting impression. i went home that night and certainly did not want to take my 3d viewer with me. ive always been a lover of horror movies but for some reason that one stuck. then when the new one came out so many years later, i couldnt wait to go see it, and ended up quite disappointed ! if they would of kept the same storyline and left out the r rated features, and left in the fright, it would of been 100 per cent better. i would certainly enjoy another remake sticking to more of the old classic film.

William Castle made his directorial career out of spooks and curses -- both human and supernatural. One of his frothier films was "13 Ghosts," which doesn't come near the caliber of his better films, but is still fun to watch as a sort of supernatural sitcom. It isn't hard to imagine this as a TV series.

The Zorba family has just had their furniture repossessed (again) when Cyrus (Donald Woods) receives a letter from young lawyer Ben Rush (Martin Milner). His reclusive uncle just died, leaving the family a mansion and a pair of goggles for ghost-viewing. Grateful for this, Cyrus moves in with his wife and kids, despite Ben's insistence that something evil is lurking in the house.

And soon the Zorba family is being plagued by the twelve ghosts, from ghostly lions to a temperamental chef. Now they want out, and fast -- but they don't realize that Ben wants them to leave so he can find the money hidden somewhere in the house. Will Ben find the money and get away with it? And who will be the thirteenth ghost haunting the house?

"13 Ghosts" is a pretty straightforward film, with straightforward characters in a straightforward situation. Basically, it's like a long sitcom episode with ghosts -- we have your basic 1960s nuclear family (working dad, housewife, two kids) encountering a problem, and sort of bumbling into a solution.

The movie was made nearly fifty years ago, which means that the ghosts aren't too convincing, especially since Castle used a short-lived visual gimmick called "Illusion-O" (which for some reason is still on the DVDs). But Castle makes up for that with some entertaining scenes like the chef-specter flinging knives around the kitchen, and generates some real eeriness in the seance scene.

The acting is pretty good on most counts, with Milner, Woods, Jo Morrow and Rosemary DeCamp turning in solid enough performances. Margaret Hamilton is outstanding as a taut, secretive medium. But Charles Herbert plays a very annoying (and rather stupid) little boy. Did Castle think it was cute to have him call his dad's office and announce "I've got a secret"?

Though it's among William Castle's lesser works, "13 Ghosts" is a lightweight, amusing "horror" movie, with a nice mix of ghosts and treasurehunting.