"If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of lea...
"If history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience?" - George Bernard Shaw
Member since:15.12.2003
Reviews:40
Members who trust:6
When this film came out at the cinema, I did not want to see it as the trailer made the film look very scary. I quite like horror films but for some reason the trailer just seemed too much for me. Anyway, when it came out to rent my friends decided that we should all stay in and watch it one evening. By the time the film had finished, I was so glad that I had given in and watched it (it was about five against one).
At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to the Kriticos family, made up of Arthur, his daughter Kathy (must be in her late teens), his son Bobby (much younger, about 9 or 10 I'd guess) and their nanny Maggie. It is soon discovered that Arthur's wife, Jean, was killed in a fire that also completely destroyed their old house. I cannot remember if it is made clear how long before the start of the film this incident was, but I would estimate at between 6 months to a year previous. The family are now living in a cramped apartment and finding it quite hard to get by. Just before the
family are about to head out for work/school, there is a knock at the door and it is here they meet lawyer Benjamin Moss who tell them that their uncle Cyrus has recently died and has left his house to them. They are delighted at the prospect of moving to a much larger house and when they go to visit it that evening they are met with an enormous glass building. It is the most bizarre house that I personally have ever seen and they were probably thinking along the same lines. After spending about an hour in the house at least, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems. A man turns up claiming that he needs to check the fuses (or somthing similar) in the basement but he soon is discovered to be Dennis Rafkin, a man with some psychic abilities and who also tracked down ghosts with Cyrus Kriticos. At first no-one believes him when he claims that there are 12 ghosts being held captive in the basement but soon it becomes clear he was telling the truth after they are released into the house. You may be wondering why the name of the film is "Thirteen Ghosts", but that's something I don't want to go into in case I ruin the story for anyone who hasn't seen this.
This film was very scary the first time I saw it and I must say that I liked the ghosts because they were not see through and were perfectly able to grab hold of things and people. These ghosts also have stories of their own which are looked at in depth on the special features on the DVD. This film was very jumpy (owing a lot to the fact that you can't see the ghosts without special glasses) and I really enjoyed it. They had taken away the whole idea of the old and run down haunted house in the middle of nowhere and replaced it was a modern, see through house although still in the middle of nowhere.
I would recommend this film for anyone who loves ghost stories and being made to jump.
The main cast is:-
Tony Shalhoub - Arthur Kriticos Shannon Elizabeth - Kathy Kriticos Alec Roberts - Robert "Bobby" Kriticos Rah Digga - Maggie Bess Matthew Lillard - Dennis Rafkin Embeth Davidtz - Kalina Oretzia J.R Bourne - Benjamin Moss F. Murray Abraham - Cyrus Kriticos Matthew Harrison - Damon
"Thirteen Ghosts" was directed by Steve Beck ("Ghost Ship") and is a remake of the 1960 version which was directed by William Castle ("Macabre", "The Night Walker"). In the original 1960 version, the audience had to wear special glasses to see the ghosts so it is interesting how they incorporated that into the film this time around by having the characters having to wear glasses.
The screenplay for this 2001 version was written by Neal Marshall Stevens ("Hellraiser: Deader") and Richard D'Ovidio ("Exit Wounds").
The soundtrack added to the spooky and jumpy feeling of the film and the original music was composed by John Frizzell ("Ghost Ship", "Cradle 2 the Grave").
"Thirteen Ghosts" was classified as 15 in the UK, R in the USA and MA in Australia.
This film is available on DVD from the following places:-
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
a good review, although, considering you mention the extras at one point - it would have been better if you had gone into more details about these. Although ciao is being stupid so it didnt actually show if you reviewed the film or the DVD!! :-S Hannah xxx
sandyback75 03.01.2006 23:34
I thought this was much better than Ghost Ship. Jono. x
A by-the-numbers haunted house movie, albeit one with some neat twists, a couple of good ... more
performances and impressive design work,Thirteen Ghostsis a remake of the 1960 original by exploitation superstar William Castle. When ghost-hunter Cyrus (F Murray...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
A by-the-numbers haunted house movie, albeit one with some neat twists, a couple of good ... more
performances and impressive design work,Thirteen Ghostsis a remake of the 1960 original by exploitation superstar William Castle. When ghost-hunter Cyrus (F Murray...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
When a family inherits a spectacular old house from an eccentric uncle (Academy Award ... more
Winner F. Murray Abraham - Best Actor, Amadeus, 1984) they know nothing of its own dangerous agenda.Trapped in their new home by shifting walls, a father and daughter...
The family may have moved in but the ghosts aren't moving out in this special-effects ... more
spectacular update of William Castle's classic 1960s shocker! When the Kriticos family inherits a spectacular old house from an eccentric uncle (F. Murray Abraham) t...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
![Thirteen Ghosts [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78520990.jpg "Thirteen Ghosts [DVD] [2002]")
Jan 13th, 2005
very helpful by (65%):
helpful by (35%):
