If you're old enough, or if you're just a sucker for the horror genre, you'll remember the William Castle shlockfest, 13 Ghosts, which was released in 1960. It's a fun movie, but only mediocre -- and it's said that those kind of movies are the best to remake. After all, why re-do something if you cannot improve upon it? I'm happy to report that 2001's 13 Ghosts is indeed an improvement over the original. The plot has been loosely preserved -- an eccentric ghost-hunting uncle bequeaths haunted house to poor relatives -- but mostly this is a stylish, spooky special-effects extravaganza. Unlike the gangly ghost-gandering goggles of the original, the new glasses are pretty plain -- but the important thing is what's seen through the lenses. The ghosts are just about the freakiest, scariest, most way-out creatures to come rattling down the hallway in a long time. Since there are twelve of them (who's the thirteenth ghost? As in the original, that's a mystery till the end), there's a special nightmare for everyone. The Torn Prince, The Torso, and The Jackal, to name just a few. The house is vastly improved as well -- it's a much scarier see-through structure than the one used in this year's wannabe thriller, "The Glass House."
Trapped in their new home by shifting walls and churning floor levels, the family (Dad Tony Shaloub, daughter Shannon Elizabeth, and son Alec Roberts) encounters evil entities that want to eradicate anyone in their path -- and unlike traditional ghosts, these ones can (and will) do bodily harm! Aside from the family, their housekeeper and two other people end up trapped inside the malevolent structure. One is Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), former assistant to the aforementioned eccentric uncle (F. Murray Abraham) -- I've always liked Lillard, but he didn't work for me here. He's too funny, and I think that 13 Ghosts would have worked much better as a straight-ahead scary movie. (And there isn't quite enough comedy in it to make a comedic horror film, like An American Werewolf in London, or even Scream.)
Steve Beck, who is making his directorial debut here, is no stranger to the film industry. He served as visual effects art director on such films as The Hunt for Red October, The Abyss, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He definitely knows how to keep our eyes trained on the screen. Everything comes together really well and compliments each other (the music score and sound effects overlap and entwine, following the action on the screen perfectly).
I'm not saying that 13 Ghosts is the best supernatural horror film of the year (that honor would have to go to The Others, with Jeepers Creepers on its heels), but it's a fun way to "kill" an hour and half this Halloween season.
Trapped in their new home by shifting walls and churning floor levels, the family (Dad Tony Shaloub, daughter Shannon Elizabeth, and son Alec Roberts) encounters evil entities that want to eradicate anyone in their path -- and unlike traditional ghosts, these ones can (and will) do bodily harm! Aside from the family, their housekeeper and two other people end up trapped inside the malevolent structure. One is Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), former assistant to the aforementioned eccentric uncle (F. Murray Abraham) -- I've always liked Lillard, but he didn't work for me here. He's too funny, and I think that 13 Ghosts would have worked much better as a straight-ahead scary movie. (And there isn't quite enough comedy in it to make a comedic horror film, like An American Werewolf in London, or even Scream.)
Steve Beck, who is making his directorial debut here, is no stranger to the film industry. He served as visual effects art director on such films as The Hunt for Red October, The Abyss, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He definitely knows how to keep our eyes trained on the screen. Everything comes together really well and compliments each other (the music score and sound effects overlap and entwine, following the action on the screen perfectly).
I'm not saying that 13 Ghosts is the best supernatural horror film of the year (that honor would have to go to The Others, with Jeepers Creepers on its heels), but it's a fun way to "kill" an hour and half this Halloween season.