Thirteen Ghosts (13 Ghosts) poster & wallpaper
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Tony Shalhoub, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Lillard, Alec Roberts, Shannon Elizabeth ... see more see more... , Kathryn Anderson , F Murray Abraham , Jacob Rupp , Craig Olejnik , C. Ernst Harth , JR Bourne , Rah Digga , Xantha Radley , Mike Crestejo , Aubrey Lee Culp , Mikhael Speidel , Daniel Wesley , Laura Mennel , Shawna Loyer , Laurie Soper , Herbert Duncanson , Shayne Wyler , John De Santis , Charles Andre , Matthew Harrison , Laura Mennell , Richard D'Ovidio , J.R. Bourne

This haunted house chiller is the second feature from Dark Castle Entertainment, the mid-budget outfit put together in 1999 to remake the cheesy horror genre pictures of William Castle by his daughter... read more read more..., Terry Castle, and producers Gilbert Adler, Robert Zemeckis, and Joel Silver. Financially ravaged and widowed by a fire that is consuming him with guilt, Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub) is left to raise two kids on his own: beautiful teenager Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth) and grade school student Bobby (Alec Roberts). Good news suddenly drops into their lives when a lawyer visits and reveals that they have inherited a lavish home from a late uncle, Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham), an eccentric ghost hunter. The Kriticos family moves into the remote house only to discover its odd secret: the dwelling contains a state-of-the-art, elaborate system of moving glass walls that trap spirits inside. Soon the ghosts, which can only be seen through the use of special high-tech spectacles, are loose in the elaborate contraption and are none too thrilled about their predicament. With the exits sealed, the family members try to learn the secret of Uncle Cyrus' bizarre mansion and survive supernatural assaults with the help of sassy housekeeper Maggie (Rah Digga), neurotic psychic Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), and Kalina (Embeth Davidtz), an activist championing the civil rights of ghosts. The eyeglasses through which the spirits can be viewed in Thirteen Ghosts (2001) were part of a ballyhoo gimmick involving pairs of spectacles handed out to audiences for screenings of the 1960 original, which was presented in "Illusion-O." ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Flixster Users

60% liked it

243,816 ratings

Critics

12% liked it

89 critics

R, 1 hr. 31 min.

Directed by: Steve Beck

Release Date: October 23, 2001

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DVD Release Date: April 2, 2002

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Stats: 9,306 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (9,306)

  • moonrivers
    September 26, 2011
    moonrivers
    an update of an original classic b-movie which, despite better technology, fails to drum up much in the scare department and is actually irritating to watch.
  • TheDudeLebowski65
    August 9, 2010
    TheDudeLebowski65
    This movie was Plainly terrible. The acting was horrible even by horror movie standards, and the story was just horrible. This film did have cool effects, which I did enjoy and kept my mind off the terrible story. In the end, not even the special effects saved this stupid ''horro... read morer'' film.
  • Deano78
    June 2, 2010
    Deano78
    Another cool Dark Castle entertainment horror re-make. Didn't know of the original until I saw some reviews mention it. This reminded me a lot of the House on Haunted Hill remake made 2 years earlier. It's fun, not too serious, has a good mix of humour and gore/kills. The cast is... read more ok and well known with Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard, but it was a nice surprise to see Tony Shalhoub (Monk) appear in this. What really makes this film enjoyable in my opinion, along with House on Haunted Hill, is the set design, make up and ghoulish characters created. Both films have a great wacky house setting, good SFX and the ghosts in this look awesome. A great way to enjoy 90mins. So if you liked House on Haunted Hill you will like this just as much.
  • deano
    May 16, 2010
    deano
    This horror story makes no sense whatsoever, and the gory spectres in the haunted house are so scary by killing all its human inhabitants.
    The direction is tawdry and pedantic. Jump cuts and abrupt scene changes only carry so far. The lack of emotional involvement dooms this film... read more from the start. It fails to establish an emotional connection with the main characters, and the ghosts are shown as evil, rather than victims.
    Horror remake of 1960's 13 Ghosts.
  • 3niR
    February 22, 2010
    3niR
    This was creepy. But tiny bit.
  • FiLmCrAzY
    January 22, 2010
    FiLmCrAzY
    it was an alright movie, scary and jumpy in parts with some creepy characters, i think the story is a bit more complicated then it needed to be and its not interesting enough to keep me watching!
    i
  • YosemiteSamFan
    January 8, 2010
    YosemiteSamFan
    A fun hyper-edited spooky action pic. A cool house with variety of freakish ghosts captured in glass cases; it's viscous death when some of them escape. Instead of offering the same ghost viewer gimmick the original 1960 version had, the makers had quick almost-subliminal flashes... read more of the appartions, which left an eerie after-effect. I liked how the characters still needed special glasses to see the ghosts. All thirteen ghosts were wonderfully envisioned with live actors in costume and makeup, without the need for CGI, although some was used on the victims for the gorey body-slicing effects. I wish each ghost was given more detail, I hardly caught their names and specialties. Matthew Lillard played a weird psychic character. I didn't understand if Uncle Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham) was a ghost or human at the end because they were seeing him without the glasses. The little boy with his morbid curiosity was funny.
  • SirPant
    September 24, 2009
    SirPant
    Not a very clever story and not a very good film.
  • stormyweather980
    September 14, 2009
    stormyweather980
    My favorite brother saw this and immediately said it's the best movie he's ever seen, and he's a horror movie fanatic (so am I), but this movie just didn't do it for me. An extremely rich, yet mischievously evil 57-year-old man just died. He decides to leave his mansion to his ne... read morephew and his family. The proud new owners of this towering mansion that looks like a glass lover's dream come true, could go from worrying about how to pay all the bills to having no worries at all. But wait! If something seems like it's too good to be true, it usually is. They don't know it yet, but this mansion is terrifyingly haunted. There are several dead, ghostly spirits that reside in the building's basement that are dying to be released.
    The family soon finds out that their lives are in great danger. They must figure out a way to escape from this place with a heart that still beats. But how? How in the world is it possible?

    I have an older brother that swears that "Thirteen Ghosts" is the best movie he's ever seen. Horror movies are his favorite genre of films, and he says that unlike most of them, this one is actually scary. I agree with the latter. Whether it's the dead, bloody bodies of the ghosts flashing before your eyes like lightning, or the idea that somebody might die in a few seconds, "Thirteen Ghosts" succeeds at being fairly scary. If you own a basement, you might not want to venture to that underground room that you frequently run to when a tornado is in town, for awhile.

    Unfortunately, that (being scary) and its convincing special effects is about all that "Thirteen Ghosts" succeeds at. The acting is a bit subpar, and the movie is way too predictable. Also, it's fun to watch the movie for awhile, but before it's over (even though it's real short at less than 90 minutes), it grows old. While I enjoyed the film much better than "House on Haunted Hill", it doesn't stand up to such horror greats as "The Haunting", "Pet Sematary", or "Poltergeist".

    It's easy to see that "Thirteen Ghosts" strikes a major chord for some, but not for the majority. I recommend either renting it or watching it on TV before you buy it to see which side of the fence you're on when it comes to "Thirteen Ghosts". NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2002.
  • puffchunk
    November 29, 2008
    puffchunk
    Oh man. When I poop at night, my poop poops this movie out.

View All Thirteen Ghosts (13 Ghosts) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Rick Groen
March 22, 2002
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

By any objective accounting, Thirteen Ghosts is exactly a baker's dozen too many -- this is a zero of a film. Full Review

December 6, 2001
Entertainment Weekly

The drop-dead fact is, this ornate but eerily unspooky production is designed by Hollywood vampires and powered by demographics. Full Review

Joe Leydon
October 29, 2001
Joe Leydon, Variety

Beck maintains a satisfyingly high level of heebie-jeebies throughout. Full Review

Michael Atkinson
October 26, 2001
Michael Atkinson, Mr. Showbiz

A nicely nasty Halloween treat. Full Review

Carla Meyer
October 26, 2001
Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

A B-grade horror picture seems to be a B-grade horror picture no matter how many studio bucks and digital effects you throw at it. Full Review

John Monaghan
October 26, 2001
John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press

For a movie called Thirteen Ghosts, this movie is surprisingly soulless. Full Review

Jonathan Perry
October 26, 2001
Jonathan Perry, Boston Globe

Little did Elizabeth know that after starring in the spoof Scary Movie, she'd soon find herself in another parody of bad horror films -- one that doesn't know it is one.

Mike Clark
October 26, 2001
Mike Clark, USA Today

Ghosts is too distinctive-looking to dismiss out of hand, but it would help to be able to look through a magic viewfinder (or maybe magic eraser) and make its script disappear. Full Review

Kevin Thomas
October 26, 2001
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Although not for the faint of heart, it's a potent -- and very tricky-treat. Full Review

Jonathan Foreman
October 26, 2001
Jonathan Foreman, New York Post

Gruesome, loud, but unsatisfying haunted-house thriller.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Rafkin: I'm sure as hell hope I don't bleed to death. That, would suck.
    • Rafkin: If you hadn't noticed, I'm a little bit of a freak! I come within ten feet of anything dead I go into seizures. I touch somebody, and a whole life full of shit flashes in front of my eyes! Alright? So yeah, I'm depraved. But Cyrus was my friend and he accepted me.
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Thirteen Ghosts (13 Ghosts) Trivia

  • Which movie has the tagline: " Terror has multiplied " ?  Answer »
  • Which movie has the tagline: " Misery Loves company " ?  Answer »
  • What a house! It's all steel & glass & elegant- and it all belongs to Arthur Kriticos and his family as an unexpected inheritance. You couls say it's their dream home. Especially if the dreams are nightmares.  Answer »
  • What is the movie which Matthew Lillard play Dennis Rafkin in house full of ghosts?  Answer »
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