Thirteen Ghosts

Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Shannon Elizabeth, Matthew Lillard, Embeth Davidtz
Directed by: Steve Beck
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Remake of the 1960 film. The Kriticos family suffered financially and emotionally after a fire which destroyed their home and killed the mother. However, their financial situation seems to change after they inherit a mansion from their late uncle. When they go to see the house, they begin to learn the uncle was a paranormal invetigator, who brought his work home with him. They family learns the house is haunted by a number of quite violent spirits (who can only be seen through special goggles), and soon find themselves beginning to comprehend the meaning behind the thirteenth ghost.

Review:

Tim: Ah, another horror movie. These films are difficult to rate, because it is so easy for a film like this to become downright silly. While Thirteen Ghosts does flirt with this line now and again, for the most part, it is a decent film. The strong points for this film are the ghosts, and the gore factor.

The ghosts in this film are quite chilling. Younger viewers should beware, unless you enjoy waking up in the night from horrendous nightmares. The ghosts are depicted in this film in an incredibly un-Casper-like manner. These ghosts are definitely not friendly, as they'd rather rip you limb from limb than hold a conversation with you. You never know when the ghosts will appear, which adds to the fear factor in this film. When they do appear, they very often do bad things, and look just awful. The ghosts are definitely very scary.

Another positive (for some viewers anyway, mostly horror fans) is the gore. This film is quite violent. Many haunted house films have the ghosts tossing objects around or inflicting violence on their victims in secondhand ways. This film has the ghosts right up there, clawing and fighting in very gruesome ways. The film does portray the violence in very gory ways- those squeemish viewers might want to skip this film, or get their hands ready to cover their eyes quite frequently.

The actors in this film are difficult to gauge. Tony Shalhoub is a wonderful actor. Everytime I see him on the screen, I am quite pleased with his work. He does a decent job here. The faults I have with him are occasional lines that come across seeming silly. However, this fault lies not with him, but witht he writing. All in all, he did an excellent job, and it's nice to see him in a main role. Shannon Elizabeth no doubt attracted many younger male viewers, but I think for the most part, they will be disappointed in her role in the film. She doesn't do much besides walk around and look hot. And, she's not in the film as much as you might wish. I heard some criticism of Matthew Lillard in this movie, but it's ungrounded. He plays his role very well. I'm a big fan of Lillard, going back to his "Scream" days. Its true he doesn't have a whole lot to do in this film, but he's perhaps the most interesting character, and enjoyable to watch on screen. The rest of the supporting cast does above decent work.

One other positive to mention are the occasional incredibly funny lines thrown in. Lillard has a few, the "petting zoo" one is particularly funny. Maggie, the nanny, has perhaps the best line in the film- "Did the lawyer split?" if you've seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about- watch for it, because it will crack you up.

Perhaps the biggest flaw of the film is its unbelievability. One person gets ripped to shreds while the little kid wanders around the basement for half and hour, in the thicket of the ghosts, and does not get a scratch. Riiiiiight. The entire Satanic-powered-glimpse-into-the-future mumbo jumbo was just confused and downright silly. However, if you'd don't pay attention to all the little details, you'll like this movie much better. It's definitely not like the typical horror movie. I think you'll enjoy this quick-paced, occasionally intelligent movie. You can definitely do worse in the horror department.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Scream, House on Haunted Hill, The Haunting, The Others