13 Ghosts

Okay,like many reviewers have stated,no 3D glasses are given with the product,sort of a letdown(since the DVD packaging said it included a pair of glasses!),but if you can find a pair of 3D glasses sitting around the house,they should do the trick,saying that it's still a nice widerscreen transfer of the film in BOTH Illusion O and w/out Illusio O.The DVD does have some nice supplimentals,just not the darn glasses,guess like William Castle himself,this DVD must have had a small budget,tried to contact Columbia Home Video,but they did not contact me back,oh well,still a great cheesy little horror flick!!! The Tingler(Also from Columbia Home Video) is also good fun too!!! Still very recommended!!!

The DVD includes 2 versions of the film, one in straight black-and-white, and one in "Illusion-O", where the film is still in black-and-white, except for several short sequences where the ghosts appear, which are presented in what is essentially red/blue 3-D.

First runs of the DVD contained carboard "Illusion-O" viewing glasses, which are nothing more than standard red/blue 3-D glasses (but with cool vintage ghost graphics around the border). Apparently later pressing of the disc do not contain the cardboard viewers, but still have the "Illusion-O" version of the film on the disc.

Is the "Illusion-O" effect really that great, and does the lack of viewers negate the overall value of the DVD? The answer to both is: NO! In classic William Castle tradition, the "Illusion-O" effect is more sizzle than steak.

Basically, when the ghosts appear, the film goes to a red/blue color palette. Allegedly, looking through one of the colored filters on your viewer (can't remember if its red or blue) will "hide" the ghosts from frightened viewers, while viewing through the alternate side causes them to stand out in contrast, making them visible.

The fact is, you can clearly see the ghosts with or without the viewers, (no matter what side you view through). Perhaps this effect was pulled off better in theaters, but I doubt it. It was simply classic Castle ballyhoo.

If you are really bent on recreating the "Illusion-O" gimmick but lack the official ghost-viewers, just get a standard pair of red/blue 3-D glasses and the effect is the same (remember to look through only one lense at a time).

Or do as I do and simply view this lovable campy old flick in beautifully restored standard black and white and enjoy the film on its own merits.

William Castle. Can you possibly think of him with that signature cigar, that teeth-bare smile and that impish twinkle in his eyes without smiling back?

Stephan Sondheim proclaimed "You've Gotta Have a Gimmick" and he may have learned that from William Castle.

Thirteen Ghosts is all good fun. A family inherits a haunted house that may have a hidden treasure within. The previous owner invented some glasses that allow the wearer to see the ghosts. Are the ghosts trying to scare the family into refuting their newly acquired property, or are they trying to help the family thwart an unscrupulous intruder?

Good ghosts or bad ghosts?

Who cares? The plot really is inconsequential. What's important is that we get these really cool glasses with the DVD that allow US, THE AUDIENCE, to see the ghosts! Well, they don't really allow us to see anything that we couldn't already see. In fact, the glasses really don't do anything. In fact, my DVD didn't even include promised glasses, which I had planned to cherish forever. Or at least cherish for the duration of the movie.

So the glasses really don't do much more than the plot. We do, however, get to see Margaret Hamilton reveling in her (second) role of a which. Or is she? Her final wink to the camera seems to indicate that she's having fun; if not with her character, then with us. After the legacy of "The Wizard of Oz", we can't help but wallow with her a bit the way a happy hog might wallow in its favorite mud.

And finally, William Castle reverently gives us a tongue-in-cheek warning if we still don't believe in ghosts by the film's end. He advises that we try the glasses on when we get home. At night. When you're alone. "If you DARE!!!" It's again just good clean fun. Or if you prefer, bad clean fun. Boo.

We are reduced to the mindset we had when we believed in Santa Claus. To me, it's fun to revisit that romantic part of my brain from time to time.

William Castle is a comedian who laughs at his own jokes louder than anyone else does. But his laugher is infectious and we end up being thoroughly entertained by his schmaltzy antics. I would have given five stars if the glasses came with the DVD, as had been promised. This film is recommended.

-Viddy

Willwam Castle was filling the theaters with his "Gimick" movies in the 60's. With Illusion-O, you were given special glasses/filter...if you were "brave enough" to stand seeing the Ghosts you would put on the glasses when a sign on the screen tells you ....Thats how they got to see the ghosts. Thats what made this movie so special for me.
Was I brave enough to stand seeing the ghosts or did I dare, to put on the glasses? This special effect had never been done before, and was never repeated again. It made the movie Special, new, different, and exciting. Mr castle did alot of audince interactive movies. Thats what made them so much fun! This is still a wounderful movie but now, just ordinary. Alot of old 3D movies are making a come back to DVD.
I hope some studio will return illusion-O back into this movie. It deserves it. I heard that JUST ONE, illusion-o filter now comes with the DVD......It was a great mind trick and it worked perfect. Hearing my self and a hundred other kids screaming at this Saturday Movie Special is an unforgetable memorey.

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