TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

Thirteen Ghosts [2002]


RRP: £9.99
Our Price: £3.41 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

A by-the-numbers haunted house movie, albeit one with some neat twists, a couple of good performances and impressive design work, Thirteen Ghosts is a remake of the 1960 original by exploitation superstar William Castle. When ghost-hunter Cyrus (F Murray Abraham) dies his quietly decent widower nephew Arthur (Tony Shaloub) inherits his house. With almost infinite predictability, he, his teenage daughter (Shannon Elizabeth) and young son, as well as a rival ghost-hunter and Cyrus' untrustworthy tame psychic (Mathew Lillard), are trapped in the house, which is a glass labyrinth of sliding panels and shifting staircases. As the woman ghost-hunter Kalina helpfully explains, the house is "a machine designed by the devil and powered by the dead"--specifically by 12 ghosts, most of them murderously malevolent.

Shaloub and Lillard manage to make us care about this farrago and Abraham lends his few scenes his usual malignant authority, but the real star is the inventively designed house itself and the outrageous horror-comic makeup of the ghosts. This is a knowingly trashy film enjoyable on its own level.

On the DVD: Thirteen Ghosts comes with a short textual explanation of who Castle was and why he should get this sort of homage, a self-congratulatory making-of documentary and filmographies for cast and crew, as well as odd short featurettes explaining the imagined back-story for each of the ghosts. The disc has Dolby sound and is presented in a 1.85:1 widescreen ratio.--Roz Kaveney


Thirteen Ghosts = Thirteen Sleepless Nights
Review date: 2008-08-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

Thirteen Ghosts is a remake of a 1960's film of the same title created by the brilliant William Castle. The film follows a man and his children who become trapped in a ghost ridden house that they've inherited from Cyrus (the man's eccentric uncle.) Trapped along with them are a psychic, a lawyer, and a ghost hunter.

Thirteen Ghosts is a bit different from your standard horror, and it goes without saying that I doubt that this it's the kind of film that everyone will find scary. But for me at least it worked. As this is probably one of the greatest ghost films I've ever seen. The bathroom scene especially, which has been done really well comes to mind. Not to mention when the lawyer 'splits.' The plot is solid and progresses well, keeping you both scared and wanting to watch more at the same time. The film is full of suspense and tension and there are more than a few very good twists throughout. The ghosts themselves are nothing less than awesome. It's obvious that a lot of time and thought has been put in their creation. A few people have mentioned how we're not really giving a back story to the ghosts in the film itself. But there is a fantastic special feature on the DVD which goes into all the depth and detail you could possibly want. It would have been nice if the information was included in the film, but I doubt that the sheer amount of story surrounding the ghosts could have been successfully integrated. The house itself is brilliant in design. Labyrinth like and packed with sliding glass doors, shifting walls and endless passages, it really looks fantastic. The special effects are perfect and really enhance the film. I'm glad that they were not over the top. Thanks to the realism of the ghosts themselves, as well as the brilliant acting (by most) and script, I actually found Thirteen Ghosts very scary, and gory. I know that there are a lot of people who didn't like Thirteen Ghosts. I honestly can't imagine why. But remakes in general tend to be difficult because people will often compare them to the original.

But the only thing I can really fault is I thought that the ending was rather weak. It was a good enough ending, but I can't help think that it could have been done better. However Thirteen Ghosts is a seriously brilliant horror, and a film that I really enjoyed. If any film deserves five stars it's this one. It is up there with Poltergeist and The Sixth Sense which is saying something. So it's well worth a watch. Maybe I was being a bit unrealistic when I said that Thirteen Ghosts equals thirteen sleepless nights, but nevertheless this film is pretty much guaranteed to give you nightmares, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


Similar Products

Reviews


Thirteen Ghosts - Unlucky for some.
Review date: 2008-06-09 Rating: 2 out of 10

I totally agree with all the other negative reviews with regard to the one. Nothing remotely frightening about it - there's more shocks in an episode of Tom and Jerry (and the ghosts are about as scary). The real star of the movie is actually the set. The house is quite cleverly designed and, due to this, I thought this would be an interesting film. Unfortunately, I was wrong. One star (for the set), I'm afraid.

Thirteen Ghosts
Review date: 2008-04-13 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film is REALLY good and VERY scary. I mean REALLY scary. If you are a big fan of gory movie, this is it. Definitely got my money worth.

Sleeping with the lights on
Review date: 2008-04-10 Rating: 8 out of 10

I remember seeing this in the cinema when it came out first time. I went home, switched on all the lights and cowered for a night.

The film was really really good. It was actually scary and stayed with me afterwards, playing on my mind in a way that the Japanese "Ring" and "Poltergiest" had done before. The Black Zodiac was a really good touch, but I would have liked more back story to the ghosts actually included in the actual film, although this is apparently included in the dvd.

Scooby-dooby-dooooooo!
Review date: 2008-03-26 Rating: 2 out of 10

Ultra trashy, cheapo horror film which borrows from Cube (which proved that no budget wasn't necessarily a bad thing) and The Shining. It's got rentaface Matthew Lillard in it. He was shaggy in the two scooby-doo films. This is about as scary as scooby-doo. Story basically goes; evil Satan worshipper gives evil Satan house to nice family with a view to completing dastardly satanic plan. He fails and you will have too if you bother watching this.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Matthew Lillard
Alec Roberts
Shannon Elizabeth
Tony Shalhoub
Embeth Davidtz

Creators:
Tony Shalhoub (Primary Contributor)
Shannon Elizabeth (Primary Contributor)
Dan Cracchiolo (Producer)
Gilbert Adler (Producer)
Joel Silver (Producer)
Richard Mirisch (Producer)
Benjamin Carr (Writer)
Richard D'Ovidio (Writer)
Robb White (Writer)

Director(s):

Recording label: Universal Pictures UK
Manufacturer: Universal Pictures UK
EAN: 5050582371697
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2006-09-05
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 87 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2001-10-26
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired)
Language: Dutch (Subtitled)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: Hindi (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional