Cyrus Kriticos is a ghost hunter, and together with his psychic assistant Dennis Rafkin they are on a mission with an entire team to ghost-bust a spirit located in a junkyard. Even though they manage to capture the ghost, there are several fatalities, including Cyrus. After this somewhat crazy scene we head over to a man named Arthur, a widower who is Cyrus’ nephew. He gets informed by a lawyer that he has inherited his uncle’s estate, which comes as good news as Arthur is close to being completely broke. He moves there with his two children, Kathy and Bobby, and along with them comes their nanny Maggie. The house is made entirely out of glass panels, inscribed with Latin phrases. Odd…but that doesn’t steer Arthur away from finally becoming financially secure. At the property they meet Dennis, who tells them that he is an electrical technician so he can come inside with them. In the basement Dennis discovers that the ghost hunting activities he and Cyrus had together, made Cyrus capture twelve ghosts inside cells which can be seen using some special glasses. Dennis tries to warn Arthur, but before Arthur even has a chance to take anything seriously enough, the house is sealed and they are all trapped inside. But the ghosts are eager to come out of their cells so they can add to their number!
Thirteen Ghosts (aka 13 Ghosts and THIR13EN Ghosts) is a supernatural horror film from 2001, directed by Steve Beck in his directorial debut (a year later he made Ghost Ship). It is a remake of the 1960 film 13 Ghosts by William Castle, and it was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the US while Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International released it in other countries. It became somewhat of a box-office disappointment with $68.5 million towards its $42 million budget, and received mainly negative response from the critics, despite the production design getting some praise. It has later garnered a bit of a cult following and is nowadays seen in a more positive light.
A movie like this is one of those where you kind of feel its schlocky vibe all over the place, while also feeling it’s considerably more polished than it should have been. The production design is awesome, the effects here are quite solid and much of it practical. The practical creature makeup was created by Howard Berger and the KNB EFX Group, using full-body transformations where many of the ghosts had full-foam rubber bodysuits and prosthetics. The most complicated ghosts were the Juggernaut and The Angry Princess which required five hours in the makeup chair!
I remember seeing it way back when it was released, and didn’t think too much of it actually. Well, your perception can certainly change over the years, and with a more recent rewatch of the film I was able to appreciate it a lot more. Having now also seen the 1960 film, I found this be a decent remake of the original, updated to a more modern premise and also giving the ghosts a considerably more nasty look to the point where some of them could have come straight from a Hellraiser movie or from the Netherworld in Beetlejuice. I liked how the ghosts are an actual deathly threat, and them all being trapped inside the glass house. If you can even call it a house, it’s more like a hellish contraption of some kind…which is more or less exactly what it is.
Thir13en Ghosts is a fun and easy popcorn film for the Halloween season, and one that kind of got better rather then worse over the years. Practical effects usually gives a movie a better chance to stand the test of time, but as an early 2000’s movie there’s also a little flair left of the slightly silly and rompy vibe of the 90’s films. Something to not take too seriously and just have a fun time with.
In August 2023, Dark Castle Entertainment announced plans of making a Thirteen Ghosts series, but it is still in development.
Director: Steve Beck
Writers: Neal Marshall Stevens, Richard D’Ovidio
Country & year: Canada/USA, 2001
Actors: Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Alec Roberts, JR Bourne, Rah Digga, F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Harrison
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0245674/
