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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
Video Description
DVD Special Features
Director’s Commentary
12 Featurettes
"The Making Of" Featurette
Filmographies
Trailer
Languages: English, Italian
Subtitles: Dutch, English, English (for hard of hearing), Hindi, Italian
Director’s Commentary
12 Featurettes
"The Making Of" Featurette
Filmographies
Trailer
Languages: English, Italian
Subtitles: Dutch, English, English (for hard of hearing), Hindi, Italian
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Common' I'm twelve and it just isnt scary , It makes you wanna laugh while they are scared , It's so bad it's unreal .
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Great movie, never seen the original (although i'd like too), but this version is a competent horror. Can't understand an earlier reviewer saying the ghosts are drab, the ghosts are awesome, especially loved the "Jackal" a dickension lunatic. The only ghost which I thought was abit of a let down was the "Juggernaut". Yhe one failing of the movie for me was the lack of a back story on the majority of the ghosts, but still a great film, and worthy of buying.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham) and his physic assistant Dennis Rafkin (Matthew Lillard) have traced the ghost of Juggernaut (a serial killer called Horace "Breaker" Mahoney) to a junkyard. During the fight many are killed, including Cyrus, but Juggernaut is captured. Just why has Cyrus been collecting the ghosts of vengeful spirits? Enter Cyrus's nephew, Arthur (Tony Shalhoub), and his two children, who since the tragic death of their wife and mother respectively have fell on hard times. They are informed via the family estate lawyer that they have inherited Cyrus's bizarre maze of a mansion. So with babysitter Maggie in tow, they enter their dream home along with the suddenly appeared Rafkin, who is looking to get paid the money that Cyrus still owes him, and the lawyer. From where they unwittingly activate a machine that unleashes 12 murderous and vengeful ghosts.
Produced by Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver, it's no wonder that this remake of William Castle's fun and creaky 1960 film of the same name is a ball of noise and bedlam. Dispensing with Castle's creepy house formula, the makers here go for attempted psychopathic gross out set amongst a complex story, within a science fiction type mansion. The house works as a spectacle, the glass and metal revolves and slides and acts as a ghost prison-cum-deadly weapon in itself. But the makers forgot one very basic ingredient, it's just not scary-at all. Once the ghosts are unleashed, a vile looking and odd bunch they be, the whole bloody shrieking and banging things antics quickly grows tiresome. All sense of peril and potential hope for gore disappears, rapidly replaced by bad acting and potential harm to our eyes and ears. It's a shame because the premise is a dandy, if only they had thought it thru and hired better writers and a better director than the hopelessly out of his depth Steve Beck.
To rub salt into the already weary wounds, upon searching thru the DVD of the film we find the ghosts have unique and interesting back stories. Now that would surely have made a better film one feels. Some nice design and a couple of tricksy moments aside, this Thirteen Ghosts just about scrapes in as a drunken time filler. 3.5/10
Produced by Robert Zemeckis and Joel Silver, it's no wonder that this remake of William Castle's fun and creaky 1960 film of the same name is a ball of noise and bedlam. Dispensing with Castle's creepy house formula, the makers here go for attempted psychopathic gross out set amongst a complex story, within a science fiction type mansion. The house works as a spectacle, the glass and metal revolves and slides and acts as a ghost prison-cum-deadly weapon in itself. But the makers forgot one very basic ingredient, it's just not scary-at all. Once the ghosts are unleashed, a vile looking and odd bunch they be, the whole bloody shrieking and banging things antics quickly grows tiresome. All sense of peril and potential hope for gore disappears, rapidly replaced by bad acting and potential harm to our eyes and ears. It's a shame because the premise is a dandy, if only they had thought it thru and hired better writers and a better director than the hopelessly out of his depth Steve Beck.
To rub salt into the already weary wounds, upon searching thru the DVD of the film we find the ghosts have unique and interesting back stories. Now that would surely have made a better film one feels. Some nice design and a couple of tricksy moments aside, this Thirteen Ghosts just about scrapes in as a drunken time filler. 3.5/10
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not Good!
This film is awful, the only saving grace is the costumes that the actors playing the ghosts wear, oh and the ghost that doesn't wear any clothes. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Aj Sutton
Great Disgusting Horror
It has been a long time since I had seen a good horror movie. I saw this movie on free to air and loved it so much that I bought it on blu ray. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Harley
Excellent!
came on time, looked and was exactly as described, was region free, no problems and excellent delivery as usual :) seen it years ago but just bought this on blue-ray to really... Read more
Published 7 months ago by hob4ob
Very good!!!!!
I am big fan of ghost movies as i find them they scariest type of horror, I used to find this movie scary but dont anymore, but i still find it one of the best and exciting ghost... Read more
Published 12 months ago by zachary
the worst movie ever?
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ,two people gave this five stars,ha ha ha ha ha ha.avoid like the plague ,this film is reflective of the disposable trash hollywood is now famous for.
Published 13 months ago by johhn
Halfway decent B-Movie remake
This movie is alright, the effects are not amazing, mainly heavily made up actors and CGI machinery but definitely superior to some genuine B-Movies or low budget productions such... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Lark
Gruesome cheesy fun horror
Having not seen the original, I'm in no position to comment on this remake's better/worse/authentic status. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Benminx
A Great Blu-Ray
I had recently imported this to the USA, since it's not available here in the states yet. Great idea. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2009 by M. Banno
Thirteen Ghosts Blu-Ray
An all round great make you jump horror. The effects are amazing, especially the way the house is built and moves and the characters pretty believable for a horror. Read more
Published on 12 May 2009 by Joanne Hawkins
Felt like a lesson in demonic mythology rather than a movie
Recieved 13 ghosts as part of the buy 2 and get 1 free offer that amazon.uk runs from time to time but from the start of the movie till its completion I regretted the purchase and... Read more
Published on 2 May 2009 by Mr. Adam D. Mcpherson
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