Story: When Cyrus Kriticos, a very rich collector of unique things dies, he leaves it all to his nephew and his family. All including his house, his fortune, and his malicious collection of ghosts!
Thirteen Ghosts is hands down one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Right next to FearDotCom, Hellbent, Bats, An American Werewolf In Paris (to name a few). I know its not a particularly good film. The acting is mediocre, with the best performance coming from Tony Shalhoub who carries the film very well Matthew Lillard seems to be enjoying himself and Embetz Davitz feeling stiff. Rah Digga has some funny moments but I've always thought Shannon Elizabeth looks out of place. Probably got the role because of her looks and fame back then. Alec Roberts who plays the little kid is annoying as hell.
But what elevates the material is the house design. Man, I could look at that house forever. The detail that went into everything relating that place is incredible. They really went buck wild with that and the ghost's make-up looks insane (my favorites being The Jackal, The Angry Princess & The Hammer). The production values are outstanding for the kind of B-movie this is. Pure eye candy. Even the cgi looks decent by todays standards.
The dialogue is cringe inducing with Embetz Davitz spitting the worse lines in my opinion. F. Murray Abraham brings intensity but is completely wasted. There's no tension, no suspense but a lot of gore. The deaths are my favorite part even if the body count is low. My greedy self would've killed two more characters.
All in all, this one got mistreated upon release back in 2001. But I'm happy as hell this is finally getting the love that deserves. Because Thirteen Ghosts is damn entertaining and in an age where all we get are superheroes, sequels to movies nobody cares, and re-imaginings, it is nice to revisit a story (that although a remake itself) has a bizarre flair missing today.
Thirteen Ghosts is a cheesy, gory, glossy, sometimes sloppy and full of great visuals and a likable cast. Not what you'd call a great film but good enough for a laugh and some jump scares. Never aspires to be anything its not and that's what so great.
Here's the trailer:
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