Cover Art

Credits

Director: Steve Beck Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Rah Digga, Embeth Davidtz, F. Murray Abraham, Alec Roberts, JR Bourne, Screenplay: Neal Marshall Stevens, Richard D'Ovidio Music: John Frizzell Tagline: Terror has multiplied. Country: USA

Moving on to the obligatory guided tour with a slightly disgruntled power guy tagging along for the ride, the group takes in the splendour that is their new home with absolutely no knowledge of what lies in waiting. Before they even have time to jump up and down on the beds however, the power guy freaks out, drools all over the glass floors and then reveals that he is in fact a psychic ghost chaser who had helped the dearly departed Cyrus capture twelve ghosts for some nefarious scheme that he was hatching (which required a thirteenth ghost to be completed, hence the title), and that all twelve ghosts are imprisoned in the basement of the very same house that they are currently gallivanting within. Spooky! Cue some shifting walls which trap the group inside the house and release said ghosts from their imprisonment, add a couple of disappearing family members who must be searched for (in pairs of course) and throw in another paranormal expert who has gained entry to the house in order to free the ghosts from their enslavement (sort of like the paranormal worlds answer to a Greenpeace member) and you have the ingredients for a suitably creepy eighty seven minutes of high gloss entertainment which sees the group endlessly pursued, tormented and physically assaulted by some seriously spooky spooks.

Thir13en Ghosts is based somewhat loosely on William Castle's 1960 fright-fest 13 Ghosts (same title, different spelling) which featured the interesting 3D gimmick "Illusion-O". For this reworking however the producers have elected to go with the standard two dimensional option, which may or may not have altered the enjoyment factor. With so many horror movies these days trying to follow in the footsteps of Scream by being more of a parody of a horror film than an actual horror film, Thir13en Ghosts is a welcome change of pace, giving us spooks and scares aplenty without a hint of self referential dialogue and only occasional attempts at comic relief. Visually, the film is amazing, with the production design Sean Hargreaves being one of its major selling points (The glass house looks extremely impressive) while Gale Tattersall's cinematography helps to create a fantastic atmosphere. The cast all do a great job (yes, even the occasionally annoying Matthew Lillard) and director Steve Beck keeps things moving along at a rapid pace, delivering numerous scares and some impressive gore sequences along the way (check out the gruesome demise of the lawyer!). The ghosts themselves look very creepy, due in no small part to the always impressive work from the KNB FX group, and John Frizell's score helps add to the tension and ups the scare factor even further.

Making of Thir13en Ghosts is an 18 minute documentary which features interviews with producer extraordinaire Joel Silver, director Steve Beck and others and provides an interesting insight as to how the film was made.