The late Dr. Plato Zorba is an occultist who has left his large house to his nephew Cyrus. Curys and his family are living very much from hand to mouth, struggling with making ends meet, so this is a wonderful opportunity for them. Or so they think. Curys, along with his wife Hilda and their daughter Medea and son Buck, decide to move to the house despite the lawyer informing them that the house is also inhabited by a bunch of ghosts that Dr. Zorba collected from all around the world. With the property also comes a housekeeper named Elaine, who of course conducts seances and is creepy as hell. And that’s not even all, as there is a hidden fortune somewhere on the property. The ghosts are a varied sort, including a fiery skeleton, a slightly goofy Italian chef, and even a lion with its headless tamer. And none of them are there willingly, as they’ve been captured by Dr. Zorba who also created a set of special goggles that makes you able to see the ghosts. There are 12 ghosts in the house, one being the ghost of Dr. Zorba himself who is also trapped and wants someone to become the unlucky 13th ghost to free him and the others.
13 Ghosts is a supernatural horror film from 1960, written by Robb White and produced and directed by William Castle. In some previous films, William Castle had used gimmicks to promote them, and 13 Ghosts was no exception. Audience members were given the chance to see the ghosts by using glasses with red and blue cellophane filters, in a process dubbed “Illusion-O“. The filmed elements had a blue filter, while the ghosts had a red filter, so the blue filter “removed“ the ghosts. Using the glasses gave the viewers the option to see them.
The movie, and mostly the gimmick, was not all that well received, but it still became a modest box office success. It’s a fun old-fashioned haunted house film that of course never manages to scare, but still has its charm. The ghosts are actually interesting enough, all with their own little backstories and looks. I especially liked the ghost of the lion and headless tamer…makes me wonder why this was counted as just one ghost, though, as the lion and the tamer are definitely two ghosts. There’s another two-for-one deal here: the ghosts of a mother and her infant son who were both burnt at the stake as witches. Aside from the ghosts who are more or less “just there“, the story is simple and straight-forward enough with some mysteries and plot twists. After all, it isn’t only in Beetlejuice that you should never trust the living. Even with a house full of ghosts, the ones still breathing are a bigger threat than the dead ones.
13 Ghosts is very much a classic haunted house film, with some solid special effects for the time it was made in.
Director: William Castle
Writer: Robb White
Country & year: USA, 1960
Actors: Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary DeCamp, Donald Woods, Margaret Hamilton, John van Dreelen
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053559/
