Thirteen Ghosts
I sat down to watch thirteen ghosts late one Friday night. I had been told that the movie was very good, and on reading the back cover, where it tells us that a family inherits a spectacular old house from an eccentric uncle, I was picturing a massive countryside mansion (a bit like out of the Haunting). And that they get trapped in that....
Movie
I sat down to watch thirteen ghosts late one Friday night. I had been told that the movie was very good, and on reading the back cover, where it tells us that a family inherits a spectacular old house from an eccentric uncle, I was picturing a massive countryside mansion (a bit like out of the Haunting), and that they get trapped in that home, by shifting walls, and encounter powerful ghosts I would I’d have a really scary, jumpy (if even a little clichéd) movie in my hands.
And so with much anticipation I pressed play on the remote, and was hoping to be scared out of my wits. The opening scene initially seemed promising, Dennis (Matthew Lillard – Shaggy from Scooby Doo) was teamed up with Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham - Amadeus) in a car wrecking yard with a bunch of throwaway goons, trying to catch The Juggernaut who is a violent, sadistic ghost. Juggernaut is the last of 12 ghosts that Cyrus needs to catch, for reasons that are not really hinted at, at this time of the movie.
This opening scene is really there to just introduce to some of the main characters in the film. We see Dennis, who has some form of psychic ability, Cyrus, who seem to be the main man behind the capture of the ghosts, and Kalina (Embeth Davidtz) as a ghost freedom activist who is trying to rescue all these poor souls. After this initial scene the opening credits role, and at this point I am thinking that the movie may not quite be as good as I was told, the main reason for me thinking this is the way the action pans out in the wrecking yard, and that fact that we have already been introduced to a ghost activist, I mean who is going to believe that?
After the opening credits we are introduced to the rest of the cast. Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub), Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth) and Maggie (Rah Digga). And it is here we see them witness a tragedy within their family and also inherit Uncle Cyrus’s mansion. The scene is quickly set with the lawyer taking them all up to the mansion, where they meet Dennis, who is pretending to be from the electricity company. They all go into the house, and this is where the real meat of the film is played out.
Firstly I was disappointed by the house, no massive old haunting style country mansion, instead a house made of glass. That said after a while the house does become creepy, even if it is a state of the art house, rather than an old mansion. And also, if I’m to be unbiased, it does lend a little originality to the location.
Inside the house there are hundreds of pulleys and levers, Latin written on the walls, and other non normal things. Once inside certain events transpire and the ghosts (which are trapped in (you guessed it) Glass cells), are released one by one.
I found the ghosts convincing (mostly) the The Angry Princess, The Torso and The Jackal being particularly good. Each of the ghosts has their own back story (which we see in one of the extras) and i think it may help if you watch that extra before watching the film.
The ghosts appear in the film in an unusual way, not the general transparent floating ghost, but a form of epileptic inducing flashing. I looked on IMDB and most of the people that played the ghosts have not done much before and I found they did well in there roles, even though there was not dialogue as such from them. It’s a pity that couldn’t be said of the majority of other actors in the film, whom I found unconvincing for long periods of the film.
Ultimately I thought that the movie was ok, certainly not something that I would add to my DVD collection, but if you are up late, it’s a bit windy outside, and the atmosphere is generally creepy it is worth a watch.
Picture / Sound
The picture was clean and the colours rich, textures on people skin is clearly visible, as with any film of this nature, there are lots of dark moments and they stands up very well.
Sound was excellent, with good use of the surround speakers, adding lots of atmosphere to the sound track; the effects are very loud although the centre dialogue is not lost amongst the sound effects.
Extras
* Audio commentary from director Steve Beck
* 'Making Of' featurette
* 12 additional featurettes
* Trailer
* Filmographies
* Interactive menu
* Scene access
OVERALL
Not the best film in the world, but worth a watch.
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