13 Ghosts

This film by William Castle about a family of four moving into a house professed to have no fewer than 13 ghosts is a great deal of fun. Donald Woods is Cyrus Zorba, a paleontologist down on his luck. His furniture has just been removed from his flat and his wife and two children, Medea and Buck, seem used to being in continual dire financial straits. While sitting on the floor for Buck's birthday party, a creepy message comes telling Cyrus to see a lawyer in the morning. Cyrus and wife Rosemary Decamp go and discover that Cyrus has inherited a huge mansion from his Uncle Plato as well as a package containing some weird type of glasses. It seems that Uncle Plato collected ghosts. The rest of the story details what life is like in this house that has these ghosts. I did not have the pair of glasses so cannot tell you what it looked like in Illusion-O, but I bet it was even more fun. Castle always seems to do a good job at creating entertaining, fun films, though none of them ever seem to be much more than that either. The mystery is not hard to figure out at all. The acting is good all around with youngster Charles Herbert giving a nice performance as Buck. Woods is good as the family patriarch and Jo Morrow is just beautiful as daughter Medea. Martin Milner plays Ben the lawyer. And as a retainer in the house is Elaine, played by none other than Margaret Hamilton(always a joy to see her). When Ben first arrives at the house to see how the Zorbas are doing, Buck says "ring the bell and you'll see a witch." Of course the witch reference goes throughout the whole film as Hamilton looks witch-like and this is one marvelous inside gag about her Wizard of Oz performance. The effects for the film are pretty tame and very hokey, but this film is just good, old-fashioned fun. I liked it from beginning to end. If you loved the new one and decide to go back and see the old one - you will be very disappointed. Just as I was disappointed having seen the old one and moving to the new one. They have nothing except some threadbare incidentals in common and a producer named Castle(though a different first name for each).

William Castle set out to make a fun, spooky, scarey picture for anyone who ever believed (or wanted to believe) in ghosts, and the result, 13 GHOSTS, is a marvelous and memorable little picture, that even after 40-odd years, still has creeps, scares, thrills and fun galore.

If at all possible, see it the way it was meant to be seen- - -with proper Ghost Viewers-(available with the DVD edition) -so you can experience Illusiono, by which you can actually see the ghosts in Ectoplasmic Color!

The plot, acting and production values may be unsophisticated, but what matter?- -The important thing is THE GHOSTS- -and they are all there as promised, including the mysterious thirteenth ghost- -and a wonderfully familiar witch (who was delighted to play the part)- -

This is a great movie for kids (and adults) who love ghosts and spooky stuff, but are not at all ready (or desirous) of watching a movie full of gore, putrescent language or non-stop violence.

You'll remember the ghosts, the fun and the thrills, for years to come.

Schlockmeister William Castle's "13 Ghosts" is one of his classic horror films of the late 1950s/early 1960s. Castle was known, at least during this time, for gimmicks - the gimmick for this movie was special glasses to see the ghosts.

Absent-minded paleontologist Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods), not to be confused with the Dr. Zorba played by Sam Jaffe on the Ben Casey TV show, inherits his eccentric uncle's house. His uncle Plato Zorba collected ghosts. 11 ghosts, including a killer Italian chef, a headless lion tamer and his lion that for some reason is split in half, a few flaming ghosts, and, for ghost #12, the late Plato Zorba.

Uncle Plato (apparently suffocated in a canopy bed) was discovered by his housekeeper Elaine Zacharides, played by the late, great Margaret Hamilton (best known as the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz". Before Uncle Plato died, he converted everything he owned into cash and hid it in the house. His attorney, Ben Rush (Martin Milner) knows that there is a substantial amount of money, but he doesn't know where it is.

There are a few interesting things to ratchet up the scare factor - Ouija board that tells the Zorbas and Ben that one of them will be harmed, different ghosts causing objects to float in the air, these weird specs that light up inside the frames, a creepy housekeeper, a séance, and a hidden stash of cash.

Filmed in "Illusion-O". It's not a great film and by no stretch of the imagination is this on the same level as many other films from 1960, like "Spartacus", "The Apartment", or even "The Bellboy, but it definitely has its place in history.

13 Ghosts has stood the test of time well, as have most of Castle's films. While much is made of the gimmick of seeing the ghosts with 3d glasses, the movie itself is well made and not just a vehicle to carry the gimmick. Seeing the movie on television or video without the 3d glasses (but with the ghosts visible) makes you realize this is a well made film.

The scene where the father encounters the ghosts for the first time in the hidden room is quite spooky, and the special effects are almost hypnotic to watch. The story behind the ghosts being in the house is developed quite well, and makes the ghosts themselves more enjoyable. The ghosts range from almost comical to truly frightening, and it is fun to wait and see what kind of spirit you will encounter next.

The house itself is a rather nice piece of real estate, and I'm sure some people have driven around Los Angeles trying to find it. Martin Milner plays the lawyer who facilitates the will giving the family the house, and it is interesting to see him in his pre-Adam 12 days.

13 Ghosts is definitely worth watching, especially around Halloween. While some may find the plot and idea less than satisfying, I found it to be very spooky. And you really do get to see all 13 ghosts!

13 Ghosts is produced and directed by William Castle and written by Robb White. It stars Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Rosemary DeCamp, Martin Milner, Margaret Hamilton and Donald Woods. Cinematography is by Joseph Biroc and music by Von Dexter.

When the Zorba family inherit a house from the recently deceased Dr. Plato Zorba, they think their luck has turned for the better. But pretty soon it becomes evident that Plato was known to be a dabbler in the supernatural and the house is haunted by a number of ghosts…….

By the time of 13 Ghosts' release, William Castle was well into his stride as a showman producer. Following on from The Tingler, one of his best films that featured his best gimmick (Percepto), he brought to his target audience Illusion-O, basically a two coloured viewer that the audience could use if they did or did not want to see the ghosts in the film, a subtitle flashed on the screen prompted use of the viewer. Unlike The Tingler, 13 Ghosts isn't a good enough film to be considered better than the gimmick that accompanied it. Yet there's a glorious sense of fun about the film, anyone under the illusion (o) that Castle was trying for a serious horror to scare the teenagers, could do with listening to Von Dexter's score for some of the ghostly goings on. Wonderfully tongue in cheek, the whole thing is played for nervous smiles rather than shrieker schlock.

The effects used (red images in a black and white movie) are more than good enough for tone and purpose of this particular production, in fact if you watch in the dark in the right frame of mind, then the ghosts do have a creepy enough vibe to them. The narrative, while hardly taxing for the brain, does contain a couple of surprises, while the presence of the wonderful Margaret Hamilton (Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the West) is a major plus point, especially since she closes the picture down with eyebrow shifting glee. Critics across the years have always been hard on the film, and for sure it's weak in direction, writing and a high percentage of the acting, but it was a hit at the box office. There was a market for it back then, and there still is now, you just gotta be into fun and in an undemanding horror/comedy mood.

Just above average for a cheeky chiller blues lifter. 6/10