Story of movie 13 Ghosts :
13 Ghosts is a 1960 American horror film written by Robb White and directed by William Castle starring Jo Morrow, Rosemary DeCamp, Martin Milner, Donald Woods, and 12-year-old child actor Charles Herbert.
| 13 Ghosts | |
|---|---|
Original theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Castle |
| Produced by | William Castle |
| Written by | Robb White |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Von Dexter |
| Cinematography | Joseph Biroc |
| Edited by | Edwin H. Bryant |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 84 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1.5 million (US/Canada) |
The film also co-features experienced character actress Margaret Hamilton. The film was released on a double bill in 1960 with either The Electronic Monster or Battle in Outer Space in most areas. Throughout the film, Buck (Herbert) refers to the housekeeper Elaine (Hamilton) as a witch. Though this was never confirmed, there is the possibility that these inside references were an acknowledgement of Hamilton's best known role as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939). At the end of the film, Buck says to Elaine, "You really are a witch, aren't you?", to which she replies, "Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies."
Screenplay
When occultist uncle Dr. Plato Zorba wills a huge ramshackle house to his nephew Cyrus and his impoverished family, they are shocked to find the house is haunted. Their new furnished residence comes complete with a creepy housekeeper, Elaine, plus a fortune in buried treasure and 12 horrifying ghosts. His family soon discovers that these spirits include a wailing lady, clutching hands, a floating head, a fiery skeleton, an Italian chef murdering his wife and her lover in the kitchen, a hanging lady, an executioner holding a severed head, a fully grown lion with its headless tamer, a floating head (presumably belonging to the tamer), as well as that of Plato Zorba himself, all held captive in the eerie house looking for an unlucky thirteenth ghost to free them. Dr. Zorba leaves a set of special goggles, the only way of seeing the ghosts.
However, there is someone in the house who is also looking for the hidden fortune in money and is willing to kill for it. The villain turns out to be the lawyer, Benjamin Rush. He attempts to kill Cyrus' son, Buck, using the falling bed canopy Rush had used to kill Dr. Zorba, whose ghost catches him in the act, driving the terrified Rush to his death in the bed just as Buck escapes. Rush becomes the 13th ghost, and the ghosts disappear. The next morning, Cyrus and his family count the discovered money, Buck keeps the mask used by Benjamin Rush to scare Buck's older sister, Medea, and they decide to stay, with a fortune in cash. At the end of the film the special goggles are blown into smithereens by an unknown force, witnessed by Elaine, who gets a broom and permits herself a small enigmatic smile.
- Charles Herbert as Buck Zorba
- Jo Morrow as Medea Zorba
- Rosemary DeCamp as Hilda Zorba
- Martin Milner as Benjamin Rush
- Donald Woods as Cyrus Zorba
- Margaret Hamilton as Elaine
- John van Dreelen as Van Allen
- William Castle as Himself
- David Hoffman as Messenger
- Roy Jenson as Dr. Plato Zorba's ghost
As with several of his more famous productions, Castle used a gimmick to promote the movie. For 13 Ghosts, audience members were given a choice: the "brave" ones could watch the movie and see the ghosts, while the apprehensive among them would be able to opt out of the horror and watch without the stress of having to see the ghosts. The choice came via the special viewer, supposedly "left by Dr. Zorba."
In the theatres, most scenes were black and white, but scenes involving ghosts were shown in a "process" dubbed Illusion-O: the filmed elements of the actors and the sets — everything except the ghosts — had a blue filter applied to the footage, while the ghost elements had a red filter and were superimposed over the frame. Audiences received viewers with red and blue cellophane filters. Unlike early 3D glasses where one eye is red and the other is cyan or blue, the Illusion-O viewer required people to look through a single color with both eyes. Choosing to look through the red filter intensified the images of the ghosts, while the blue filter "removed" them. \
Howard Thompson of The New York Times called the film "a simple, old-fashioned haunted house yarn" that "would be a lot better off without this gimmick." Variety wrote, "The idea is sound and exploitable, but the execution doesn't fully come off," explaining the ghosts "lack personality and aren't frightening, so that there isn't sufficient tension in the sequences during which the 'ghost viewer' comes into play." The Monthly Film Bulletin called it "a workmanlike but not very frightening horror film ... the ghosts, which are a dull red colour, are far less effective when witnessed than when their presence is merely suggested, especially when their viewability depends on a process as unremarkable as Illusion-O."
The film was remade during 2001 with the title of Thirteen Ghosts, directed by Steve Beck. Like the original movie, it was distributed by Columbia Pictures (except in the United States and Canada, where it was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures).
- List of American films of 1960
- List of ghost films
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