Thirteen Ghosts
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Thirteen Ghosts | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Steve Beck |
Screenplay by | Neal Marshall Stevens Richard D'Ovidio |
Story by | Robb White |
Based on | 13 Ghosts by Robb White |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Gale Tattersall |
Edited by |
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Music by | John Frizzell |
Production companies | |
Distributed by |
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Release date | October 26, 2001 |
Running time | 91 minutes |
Countries | United States Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $42 million[1] |
Box office | $68.5 million[1] |
Thirteen Ghosts(also known as13 Ghostsand stylized asTHIR13EN Ghosts) is a 2001supernaturalhorror filmdirected bySteve Beckin his directorial debut. Aremakeof the 1960 film13 GhostsbyWilliam Castle,[2]the film starsTony Shalhoub,Embeth Davidtz,Matthew Lillard,Shannon Elizabeth,Alec Roberts,Rah Digga,andF. Murray Abraham.[2]
Released theatrically on October 26, 2001, the film grossed $68 million at the box office on a budget of $42 million and received generally negative reviews upon release.[3]
Plot
[edit]Ghost hunterCyrus Kriticos and hispsychicassistant Dennis Rafkin lead a team on a mission to capture a spirit called the Juggernaut. Several men, including Cyrus, are killed while the team can catch theghost.Cyrus's nephew Arthur, a widower, is informed by Cyrus's estate lawyer, Ben Moss, that he has inherited Cyrus' mansion. Financially insecure, Arthur decides to move there with his two children, Kathy and Bobby, and their nanny, Maggie.
Dennis meets the family as they tour the mansion. The residence is made entirely of glass sheets inscribed withLatinphrases, which Dennis recognizes as barrier spells. He discovers that the 12 angry ghosts he and Cyrus captured are imprisoned in the house, held captive by the spells. As he warns Arthur, Moss unwittingly triggers a mechanism that seals the house and releases the ghosts. Moss dies when a set of sliding doors cut him in half. Bobby sees several of the ghosts, including the Withered Lover – his mother, Jean, who had died of injuries sustained in a house fire. He is knocked unconscious and dragged away.
Dennis uses a pair of spectral glasses that allow the wearer to see the supernatural realm to avoid the ghosts. The Jackal, one of the most dangerous ghosts, attacks Kathy and Arthur, but they are saved by Kalina Oretzia, a spirit liberator attempting to free the ghosts. Kathy disappears. The four adults gather in the library, where Arthur learns that Jean's ghost is also in the house. Kalina explains that the house is a machine powered by captive ghosts, allowing its users to see the past, present, and future. The only way to shut it down is by creating a 13th ghost from a sacrifice of love. Arthur realizes that he must become that ghost to save his children.
Armed with the spectral glasses, Arthur and Dennis enter the basement to find the children. Dennis barricades Arthur behind a glass sheet for his protection. Dennis is beaten to death by the Hammer and the Juggernaut, two other dangerous ghosts. It is revealed that Cyrus faked his death to lure Arthur to the house; Kalina is his partner and lover, revealed when she knocks Maggie unconscious with a large book and promptly kisses Cyrus upon his arrival. Cyrus has orchestrated the abduction of Kathy and Bobby so that Arthur will become the 13th ghost, which will not stop the machine as Kalina had claimed but trigger its activation. Cyrus kills Kalina, who objected to Cyrus putting the children in danger and summons the ghosts to activate the machine.
Arthur witnesses all 12 ghosts in the main hall orbiting a clockwork device of rotating metal rings, with his children at the center. He fights Cyrus while Maggie disrupts the machine's controls, releasing the ghosts from its power and causing the machine to go haywire. The ghosts hurl Cyrus into the moving rings, slicing him to pieces. With the encouragement of Dennis' ghost, Arthur jumps through the machine safely to protect his children. The house's walls shatter as the malfunctioning machine rips itself apart, freeing the ghosts. Jean's ghost tells them she loves them before she disappears.
As the family departs, Maggie angrily declares she is quitting as their nanny.
Cast
[edit]- Tony Shalhoubas Arthur Kriticos
- Embeth Davidtzas Kalina Oretzia
- Matthew Lillardas Dennis Rafkin
- Shannon Elizabethas Kathy Kriticos
- Alec Roberts as Bobby Kriticos
- JR Bourneas Ben Moss
- Rah Diggaas Maggie Bess
- F. Murray Abrahamas Cyrus Kriticos
Development
[edit]James Gunnperformed rewrites to the script, but was uncredited.[4]Production on the film tragically coincided with theSeptember 11th terrorist attacks.
The Ghosts
[edit]While the backstories for nearly all the ghosts are not mentioned in the movie, they are hinted at and are explicitly described in the "Ghost Files", a special feature on the DVD, with Cyrus as the narrator. With a few exceptions, they seem to become more dangerous as their numbers increase.
- The First Born Son:(played by Mikhael Speidel) Billy Michaels was a young boy who was addicted towestern filmsand loved pretending to be acowboy.He was also rebellious and a stubborn brat who notoriously got what he wanted whenever he wanted, and hated & disagreed with everybody. One day, another little kid and friend, challenged Billy to a duel, which Billy accepted, donning his cowboy costume. But Billy'scap gunwasn't a match for the boy's real steel-tipped arrow which pierced him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Billy's ghost is wearing the same cowboy costume, and the arrow is still in his head. Unlike the rest of the ghosts, this one is a mild threat, never attacking anyone and just saying "I want to play."
- The Torso:(played by Daniel Wesley) Jimmy 'The Gambler' Gambino was agamblerin the early 1900s. He was the son of an addicted gambler and spent most of his childhood on the horse tracks. His love for gambling eventually led him to become a greedycasinoowner, who caught the attention of theMafia.Challenged by a wealthy businessman affiliated with the mob, he better heavily on a bo xing match. After he lost the bet and didn't have the money to pay up, Jimmy attempted to flee but was caught by the Mafia and boxer who cut him into pieces and wrapped him incellophane,dumping the remains in the ocean. His ghost appears as a torso with a severed head nearby forever screaming in agony, and is more a neutral spirit than actively hostile.
- The Bound Woman:(played byLaura Mennell) Susan LeGrow was the richest girl in town and was the most popular girl in high school. Her one flaw was the way she flirted and toyed with boys and men, leaving a long trail of broken hearts. During her seniorpromnight, Chet Walters, a starquarterback,caught Susan cheating on him with another boy. The next day, the boy was found beaten to death and Susan had gone missing. Susan was found dead two weeks later buried beneath the fifty-yard line of the high school's football field. Her ghost lures Bobby into the dangerous basement and still shows in her prom attire, bound ropes holding her arms.
- The Withered Lover:(played by Kathryn Anderson) Jean Kriticos was a happy and devoted wife and mother. She died as a result of fire injuries at St Luke's Hospital half a year before the events of the film begin. Unlike most of the ghosts, she is not dangerous; she isbenevolent.
- The Torn Prince:(played byCraig Olejnik) Royce Clayton was a gifted and famous teenage baseball player in the 1950s who caught the eye of colleges around the USA. He died in a drag race, thanks to his challenger, agreaserwho cut his brake lines. His remains are still buried in a plot overlooking abaseball diamond,and his ghost carries his baseball bat.
- The Angry Princess:(played by Shawna Loyer) Dana Newman was a beautiful but abused lady who lived in the late 20th century. She had plastic surgeries to alter her perceived flaws, and after a botched experiment that mutilated her eye, she brutally killed herself in a bathtub at the clinic. Her ghost is bloody, naked, and carries the same knife she used to commitsuicide.
- The Pilgrimess:(played by Xantha Radley) Isabella Smith came to North America as a colonist to find a new life after being an orphan inEngland.The tight-knit community ostracized and ignored her and used her as ascapegoat,being accused ofwitchcraftwhen crops and animals mysteriously died. She denied such accusations, but she was trapped in a burning barn but managed to escape unharmed. That sealed her fate, and she died of starvation after being condemned to thepillorythat she carries with her as a ghost; her skin is badly damaged.
- The Great Child:(played byC. Ernst Harth) Harold Shelburne was amentally disabledman who never outgrew diapers and had to be spoon-fed even as a fully grown adult; he often made baby sounds. After being mocked, teased, and tormented relentlessly all his life, he caused a massacre at the oldfreak showwhere he and his mother, Margaret Shelburne, lived. Some of the freaks had kidnapped his mother as a joke one night, accidentally killing her in the process. The circus owner, Jimbo, had Harold mutilated beyond recognition. His ghost appears as Harold did in life, with a small patch of hair, a bib covered in vomit, and cloth diapers; he still holds the ax that he used to kill his enemies.
- The Dire Mother:(played by Laurie Soper) Margaret Shelburne, Harold's mother, was a shy little lady, standing three feet tall. She never could stand up for herself. At the freak show where she lived, she was raped by the Tall Man, another circus freak, and gave birth to her illegitimate son Harold, whom she loved more than life itself. She smothered and spoiled him from infancy and never stopped as he grew; this is the main reason for Harold'smental handicap.The two were abused to the point where Harold killed almost the entire circus after Margaret accidentally died during a prank orchestrated by the other circus freaks. As ghosts, they remain together, with Harold being protective. Like the Torso, she is not aggressive and is more of a neutral spirit.
- The Hammer:(played by Herbert Duncanson) A happy and honest family man andblacksmithin the early 1890s, George Markley was falsely accused of stealing by a higher-up named Nathan, and threatened with exile from their old Western town. Knowing he was innocent, George stood up to Nathan and refused to leave. One day, when George's family was walking home from the market, Nathan and his gang of thugs attacked and killed them brutally. Enraged, George took his blacksmith's hammer, tracked down Nathan and his friends, and beat them to death but the townsfolk chained him to a tree outside his blacksmith shop and droverailroad spikesinto his body. His left hand was cut off and his hammer was crudely attached to it. His ghost is one of the more angry spirits and is partially responsible for Dennis' death.
- The Jackal:(played by Shayne Wyler) Born to aprostitutein 1887, Ryan Kuhn developed a sick appetite for women, attacking and raping prostitutes in the night. Seeking to be cured of his insatiable appetite, Ryan voluntarily committed himself to Borehamwood Asylum for treatment. But after years ofsolitary confinement,Ryan went completely insane, scratching on the walls so violently his fingernails were torn completely off. In response, the doctors kept him permanently bound in astraitjacket,tying it tighter whenever he acted out, contorting his limbs. After gnawing through his straitjacket to get free, the doctors locked his head in a cage and sealed him away in a cell in the basement. while there, he developed a hatred of humanity, screaming madly and cowering whenever approached by people. When the asylum burst into flames, he chose to stay behind and perish in the fire while everyone else escaped. His ghost carries his torn straitjacket with the torn cubic head cage; it is called a sign of Hell's Winter. He is one of the most aggressive and violent ghosts, attacking and nearly killing Kathy before Kalina saves her.
- The Juggernaut:(played byJohn De Santis) Horace 'Breaker' Mahoney was born very disfigured and was an outcast his entire life. His mother abandoned him at a tender age, and his dad put him to work in the junkyard, using his unusual strength to crush cars. After his dad died, Horace went insane: he would take motorists and hitchhikers, tear them apart with his bare hands and feed the remains to his dogs. After several of these murders, he was arrested. ASWAT teamshot and killed him when he broke free of his hand cuffs. As a ghost, he remained at the junkyard with his body riddled with bullet holes, killing intruders. Both Dennis and Cyrus remark that his kill count numbered in the 40s, making his ghost one of the most evil and dangerous of the twelve.
Release
[edit]Home media
[edit]The film was released onVHSandDVDon April 2, 2002.[5]The film initially debuted on theBlu-rayformat on October 19, 2010 in a double feature withHouse of Wax(2005).[6]
A special collector's edition Blu-ray was released byShout Factoryunder theirScream Factorylabel on July 28, 2020. This new release features brand new interviews with the cast and crew, plus a brand new audio commentary with director Steve Beck.[7]
Reception
[edit]Box office
[edit]In the US, the film opened ranking 2nd behindK-PAX,making $15,165,355.[8][9]It spent 10 weeks in the US box office, eventually making $41,867,960 domestically, and $68,467,960 worldwide.[9][10]
Critical reception
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Reviews for the film were mostly negative. Praise was directed toward the production design but the film was criticized for its lack of scares and a number of strobe effects throughout that could induceseizures.It holds an approval rating of 19% on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes,based on 96 reviews with an average rating of 3.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The production design is first rate, but13 Ghostsis distinctly lacking in scares. "[3]OnMetacritic,the film has a weighted average score of 30 out of 100, based on reviews from 24 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[11]Audiences polled byCinemaScoregave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[12]
Ed Gonzalez ofSlant Magazinerated the film two out of four stars, panning the film's lack of scares, and predictable plot twists. However, Gonzalez commended the art direction, while also stating it was underutilized.[13] Roger Ebertpraised the production values saying, "The production is first-rate...The physical look of the picture is splendid." However, he criticized the story, lack of interesting characters, loud soundtrack, and poor editing.[14]In 2005 Ebert included it on his list of "Most Hated" films.[15] In the years since its release and disappointing box office performance, the film has gathered a prominent cult following, finding further success and more positive reception.Elvis MitchellofThe New York Timessaid of the film "what we're left with after the scares is just plain dumb."[16]
Future
[edit]In August 2023,Dark Castle Entertainmentannounced that they're planning to make aThirteen Ghostsseries.[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ab"Thir13en Ghosts (2001)".Box Office Mojo.Archivedfrom the original on October 10, 2023.RetrievedJuly 3,2021.
- ^abDonato, Matt (July 1, 2021)."The 'Thir13en Ghosts' Remake Ushered new-School Horror Into a New Millennium [Revenge of the Remakes]".Bloody Disgusting.Archivedfrom the original on August 25, 2023.RetrievedJuly 3,2021.
- ^abThirteen GhostsatRotten Tomatoes
- ^Dee, Jake (August 20, 2021)."9 Movies You Didn't Know Were Written By James Gunn".ScreenRant.Archivedfrom the original on August 10, 2023.RetrievedAugust 9,2023.
- ^Godinez, Victor (March 8, 2002)."Heroes of the past are resurrected".The Dallas Good Morning News.Sun Herald.p. 98.Archivedfrom the original on April 8, 2023.RetrievedApril 8,2023– viaNewspapers.
- ^"Thir13en Ghosts / House of Wax Blu-ray".Blu-ray.Archivedfrom the original on May 6, 2021.RetrievedJuly 3,2021.
- ^Miska, Brad (June 16, 2020)."'Thirteen Ghosts' Gets a Blu-ray Collector's Edition Release from Scream Factory ".Bloody Disgusting.Archivedfrom the original on October 27, 2021.RetrievedJuly 3,2021.
- ^"Aliens, ghosts dominate box office".Daily Press.October 29, 2001. p. 2.Archivedfrom the original on September 3, 2022.RetrievedSeptember 3,2022– viaNewspapers.
- ^ab"Thirteen Ghosts".Box Office Mojo.IMDb.Archivedfrom the original on May 5, 2022.RetrievedOctober 23,2014.
- ^Wee, Valerie (2013).Japanese Horror Films and Their American Remakes.Routledge.p. 220.ISBN978-1-134-10962-3.
- ^"Thirteen Ghosts Reviews".Metacritic.CBS Interactive.Archivedfrom the original on August 16, 2018.RetrievedJune 21,2018.
- ^"Thirteen Ghosts".CinemaScore.Archived fromthe originalon December 20, 2018.RetrievedMarch 25,2019.
- ^Gonzalez, Ed (October 25, 2001)."Review: Thir13en Ghosts".Slant Magazine.Archivedfrom the original on October 23, 2021.RetrievedJanuary 11,2021.
- ^Ebert, Roger(October 26, 2001)."13 Ghosts".RogerEbert.Archivedfrom the original on August 31, 2014.RetrievedOctober 23,2014.
- ^Ebert, Roger(August 11, 2005)."Ebert's Most Hated".RogerEbert.Archivedfrom the original on October 10, 2014.RetrievedOctober 23,2014.
- ^Mitchell, Elvis(October 26, 2001)."FILM REVIEW; People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Stow Ghosts".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on January 6, 2023.RetrievedJuly 3,2021.
- ^Dick, Jeremy (August 13, 2023)."Thirteen Ghosts Series Adaptation in Development".Comic Book Resources.Archivedfrom the original on August 13, 2023.RetrievedAugust 13,2023.
External links
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- 2001 films
- 2001 directorial debut films
- 2001 horror films
- 2000s ghost films
- 2000s supernatural horror films
- Remakes of American films
- American ghost films
- American haunted house films
- American supernatural horror films
- Canadian supernatural horror films
- Columbia Pictures films
- Dark Castle Entertainment films
- Fictional ghosts
- Films about inheritances
- Films based on works by Robb White
- Films produced by Joel Silver
- Films set in country houses
- Films shot in Vancouver
- Films scored by John Frizzell (composer)
- Horror film remakes
- Warner Bros. films
- 2000s English-language films
- Films produced by Robert Zemeckis
- Films produced by Gilbert Adler
- 2000s American films
- 2000s Canadian films
- 13 (number)