Another goofy production by the incomparable William Castle, the king of movie gimmicks. Castle was coming off THE TINGLER (1959), which featured his most elaborate and controversial gimmick (“Percepto” wired theater seats) and was looking for something comparable. In the “Illusion-O” ghost viewers that accompanied the release of 13 GHOSTS (1960) he apparently found that something.
13 Ghosts 1960 Original (Trailer)
Inspired by a visit to an eye doctor, Illusion-O refers to a process where certain scenes of this black and white film were tinted blue, with the ghosts of the title seen in red. The Ghost Viewers were cheap cardboard things with blue and red lenses (not unlike standard 3-D glasses) that allowed patrons wanting to see the 01a peek through the red lens, whereas those too chicken could use the blue and see only the background (never mind that in the absence of the Viewers the ghosts and the background were fully visible to the naked eye). Those who’ve only seen the lame 2001 remake of 13 GHOSTS (by Dark Castle Entertainment, who had defiled Castle’s HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL two years earlier) are sorely missing out on what made the original film special.
Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) is a poverty-stricken university professor saddled with a wife and two kids. When his mad scientist uncle dies and wills his ramshackle mansion to Cyrus, the latter doesn’t hesitate to move into the place. The only catch: he has to accept the witchy live-in housekeeper Elaine (Margaret Hamilton) and twelve ghosts residing in the house.
Cyrus’ uncle, it seems, had an unnatural interest in the occult, and traveled the world in search of ghosts. He returned to the house with twelve spirits that are now loose in the place—as for the thirteenth ghost, it hasn’t arrived yet.
A Ouija board warns that a death is imminent. The ghosts, meanwhile, harass Cyrus and his family by trashing the kitchen and terrorizing the youngest child Buck (Charles Herbert) in the basement. Another apparent ghost manhandles Cyrus’ teenage daughter Medea (Jo Morrow), an attack that coincides with the arrival of Benjamen Rush (Martin Milner), a dashing young lawyer who initially seems like a nice guy. But when Buck discovers a hidden stash of money in the stairwell Rush’s sunny disposition changes entirely, and the atmosphere grows increasingly tense. The prophesized death, it appears, is close at hand.
In 13 GHOSTS the gimmick clearly came first, with the story and characters conceived around it. That may well have been the case in legitimately good Castle films like THE TINGLER and HOMICIDAL, but the process is more apparent here, in which any number of haunted house clichés are stuffed into a hackneyed crime drama framework.
That slapped-together quality extends to the Illusion-O gimmick itself, which (unlike THE TINGLER) serves no dramatic purpose; what we have are select scenes shown in blue with snatches of red, which makes little narrative sense. In the absence of a theatrical screening with Ghost Viewers it’s best to view the film in all black-and-white version included on the Sony DVD.
2001 Remake of 13 Ghosts (Trailer)
The good news is that the ghosts are fun. They include a spinning fireball, a burning skeleton, an ax-wielding maniac and a headless lion tamer who can’t refrain from sticking his neck stump into a ghost lion’s mouth. Castle can’t quite make his flesh and blood protagonists into interesting individuals—excepting the Wicked Witch of the West herself Margaret Hamilton, playing an appropriately witchy character—but he really went all out with the ghosts, which are, frankly, the only reason to sit through this film.
Vital Statistics
13 GHOSTS
Columbia Pictures
Director: William Castle
Producer: William Castle
Screenplay: Robb White
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Editing: Edwin Bryant
Cast: Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner, Rosemary De Camp, Donald Woods, Margaret Hamilton, John Van Dreelen, John Burnside, William Castle