13 Ghosts
Director: William
Castle
Year:
1960
Rating: 6.0
Finding a good
affordable house in 1960 must have been as difficult as it is now. Otherwise,
why would a family of four not move out of a haunted house? In this film,
though Mr. Zorba (Donald Woods) has a fine job at a museum as a paleontologist,
his salary isn't enough to stop his furniture from being re-possessed. Half
his salary goes towards rent. When his son wishes for a home with furniture,
there is a knock at the door and a creepy small man hands the father a telegram
to see a lawyer. The lawyer (Martin Milner) tells him that his uncle has
left him his house. Great! By the way, it is haunted by 13 ghosts. No problem.
A house! With furniture.
This was produced by William Castle who
had found gold with his independent horror films beginning with Macabre in
1958 and following that with House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler. He was
the master of the promotional device. In this one the audience was given
duplex glasses, one level to look through if you believed in ghosts and one
if you didn't. When the screen turned bluish, you could see the ghosts. I
don't have a pair of those glasses, but in the video whether you believe
or not, you see the ghosts. This is actually, a fairly solid horror film
for its time but the ghosts are so cheesy that it hurts the film. In a theater
though it would probably have been great fun.
The uncle captured ghosts from all over
the world and brought them home. We all need a hobby. On the first night
they find a Ouija board and laughingly decide to ask it questions. Are there
ghosts here? Yes. Do they mean to hurt us? Yes. And then the planchette floats
in the air. I would be calling Ghostbusters but dad says, there must be a
simple explanation. Yes, ghosts! The creepy maid is played by the Wicked
Witch herself, Margaret Hamilton.
