Rating: 
Summary: This "13" Not So Unlucky
Review: I was very hesitant about seeing this movie. I have heard not so good things about it from almost everyone who has seen it. I was expecting to not like it. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Is it a great movie?. God no. Is it fun?. Oh yeah. I found myself enjoying the movie. Former "Wings" co-star Tony Shalhoub and his family, including red hot Shannon Elizabeth as his daughter, his little son, and a cliched black nanny, inherit his recently deceased Uncle Cyrus' weird house made entirely of glass. It appears that the uncle collected ghosts and has them locked up in containment cells in the basement. Well, naturally, something happens and the ghosts are set free. Our new owners are locked in the house and must battle the ghosties. The catch is that you can only see them when wearing these special glasses. I won't delve too much into what happens so as not too ruin it for anybody who might see it. F. Murray Abraham co-stars as Uncle Cyrus. Mr. Abraham, have things been this bad since your oscar winning performance in "Amadeus"?. This movie isn't going to set the cinema on fire, or overly impress most people, but it is solid entertainment. I was expecting to hate it after hearing other people, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. Matthew Lillard and his drool also appear. Is it just me or does he drool a lot?. He did in "Scream" and he does in here too. Shannon Elizabeth looks great, but her role is just a typical 'damsel in distress'thing. Rah Digga as the nanny was a horrible cliche. A black character as nothing better than a nanny. It gets worse folks. She is also there to chime in with the typical comical one liners at the most inopportune time. So stereotypical. This is 2002 you filmmakers. Can't we do something better with a character than that?!. I guess not. I do have to say that some of the ghosts were downright creepy. Even if you dislike the movie, you have to admit that the make-up was great, which it was, and that the ghosts were really good. They were. This is the only recent 're-make' of an old horror movie that I have liked. Sure I still dream of the old days when movies were scary without CGI and effects and were just meant to be scary, but this movie managed to have a little of both. The make-up was great and the ghosts themselves were eerie. A couple death scenes were quite cool too. The first 10 minutes or so were pretty interesting to watch. "13 Ghosts" is not a winner by any stretch of the imagination. No one is going to feel smarter after watching it. It's just entertainment and entertain it did. At least for me. Two and a half stars.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm shocked, he DOES have taste in movies!
Review: Excuse that little dig.This film definitely does deserve all its five stars, if not more. It literally scared the living daylights out of me! And the production design was absolutely AWESOME! The person(s) who designed the overall look of this film must have terrific imaginations. So much thought went into the design of the house, and it was amazing to watch. I was not expecting this film to be five stars. I was expecting another average horror film (which has to be said for the finale). There are similarities between this and Hellraiser, if you've ever seen it. I suppose the finale of this did not match up to the rest. As someone else has already pointed out, once you've seen the end of one haunted house/horror movie, then you've seen them all. So the ending didn't have a lot of thought put into it, unlike the rest of it. There's always something blowing up in these kind of movies these days! Out of the twelve ghosts, my favourite had to be the Angry Princess (Shawna Loyer). She was terrific, and it must have took a lot of courage to appear naked! The best scene was where she appeared in the bath of blood, and Shannon Elizabeth is bending over. The darting eyes are terrific, and add a lot to the character. Otherwise, I wasn't too keen on the rest of the ghosts. I would have liked to see how they came to be the way they were. Poor Shawna though, she had to be in makeup for 5 hours! She hasn't done much else apart from this, but I'll be surprised if she doesn't get grabbed for something else - she's stunning, and will no doubt get more films under her belt soon. There's a lot of people out there who have a slight obsession with her though! She's also a para-legal in training! Ooooh! Both Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard were great assets to this movie. Is it just me or is Matthew really cute?! Maybe it's just me, but he is! Hubba hubba. The two quibbles I have about this movie, is that there wasn't much development with the family (or maybe there was, but it slowed the film down?). You don't really see much of the family together as a whole, but the camera work with the family right at the start was cool! Just keep your ears open, and you'll work out what's happening. And my second quibble is about Matthew. In the film, he's psychic, and manages to 'see' what will happen to him. Which I thought wasn't fair. You'll have to watch the film to find out what happens, cos if I reveal anymore, Amazon will slap my wrist. This is a great movie, I loved it, and kind of makes up for Lost Highway! If you've seen the rest of the Dark Castle movies, then you'll love this one, and it's just a brilliant movie overall.
Rating: 
Summary: Half decent mainstream horror romp
Review: From the same producing team behind the 1999 remake of House on Haunted Hill; this other remake of a William Castle horror film trades in the shocks and suspense for buckets of blood and gore. When a wealthy man (F. Murray Abraham) mysteriously dies, his only living family members (including Tony Shalhoub and Shannon Elizabeth) inherit his massive, glass made mansion. Oh, and did I mention that the house is loaded with ghoulish ghosts looking to make a killing. Matthew Lillard is on board as a psychic, as is Army of Darkness' Embeth Davidtz; both of whom go sadly udnerused. While there is a fine cast here, they are all but wasted in their roles, except for Abraham who chews as much scenery as he can. 13 Ghosts isn't scary one bit and has an anticlimatic ending, but there's enough creativity in the makeup and special effects (plus the glass mansion is a marvel) to make 13 Ghosts worth watching for horror fans.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I say there's a PETTING ZOO downstairs? NO!
Review: I cannot comprehend why so many critics here on Amazon choose to give only 1 or 2 stars to this DVD. I myself enjoyed the film when it originally premiered in the theater 2 years ago. It may not be the GREATEST horror movie in history, but let's face it; it's certainly not the worst. Anyone who prefers to watch creepy black and white classics (including the 1960's William Castle version of 13 Ghosts) may not be crazy about what Steve Beck's version exhibits. But my review ISN'T ABOUT THOSE PEOPLE!
Anyway, here is the basic synopsis: F. Murray Abraham plays the deliciously evil Cyrus Kriticos, who meticulously constructs an exquisite glass house with 12 tortured spirits trapped within its unbreakable walls. Shortly after his character dies (allegedly), his widowed nephew Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shaloub) luckily inherits from him this very same home. What holds this movie together more than anything else is its atmosphere; the exquisite glass mansion (complete with protective Latin spells delicately etched on the walls) displays the same twists and turns as would a haunted walkthrough funhouse. Later on it's discovered that it is actually a gigantic machine; the ghosts themselves (including Arthur's late wife Jean, who tragically perished in a fire) all represent the symbols of The Black Zodiac, and together they are needed to pry open the Eye of Hell and make evil Uncle Cyrus the most powerful man in the universe. Meanwhile, Arthur and his kids (played by Shannon Elizabeth and Eric Roberts) are aided by a paranoid psychic named Dennis Rafkin (Matthew Lillard) who years ago had helped Cyrus ensnare the maniacal spirits in the first place. I would continue writing on about the synopsis, but I don't want to bore you with yet another paragraph. All I can say is that the character acting is fairly decent, and both the rapid cutting action of the film AND the ghosts' grisly makeup blend into one
another nicely. "Thirteen Ghosts" has alot of unexpectant shock and cheap humor, both of which can really hold a viewer's interest. Also, don't forget to check out the Ghost Files, which explain every ghost's personal history; how each one of them both lived and died. Quite interesting! My favorite spirits, by the way, are The Jackyl, the Angry Princess and The Pilgrimess.
Rating:
Summary: Freakishly Bad
Review: Thirteen Ghosts, the latest film from the Dark Castle production company, is a freakish, mind bending trip. Unfortunately, plot takes a backseat to oddity in this so so shockfest.
The story, or lack thereof, centers around a widower and his family that inherits an enormous home in the middle of nowhere. The strange thing is, the house is almost totally constructed of glass. The original owner of the house, F. Murray Abraham, had quite an unusual hobby. He collected ghosts, which he kept in containment cubes in the basement. These aren't your run of the mill spirits either. In life, these spirits were tortured souls, and are now seeking their revenge. Not surprisingly, the spirits are released, and the family has to run for their lives. Sound familiar? Its because the plot of Dark Castle's other film, House on Haunted Hill, had a very similar storyline.
Unfortunately for 13 Ghosts, House on Haunted Hill worked much better, due to its large number of A-list stars. Trading in top performers like Geoffrey Rush and Famke Jannsen for one hit wonders like Matthew Lillard and Shannon Elizabeth wasn't a smart move.
Realizing that they didn't have much in the way of story or cast, the producers have upped the ante in terms of gore and thrills. The ghosts are quite frightening, and many of the scenes will make you jump.
The DVD contains several interesting features, which are actually better than the movie itself. The best of these are the individual biography files of the twelve ghosts. This section is hosted by F. Murray Abraham, who gives the viewer a sixty second rundown of how the ghost came to be, and why he chose them for his collection.
Overall, 13 Ghosts is a marginal film, but nothing worth raving over. Definitely rent this before buying it if you haven't seen the film.
Rating:
Summary: A very good scary movie
Review: First off, I agree with the notion that sometimes the older versions are better than the remakes, but in this case I have to disagree. I saw this version first and then we decided to see the older one. But, the older one was just pathetic--it was worse than a student film. I was not even disturbed at any point during the original--in fact, I was laughing and rolling my eyes through most of it. It was just that stupid. But this remake is tons better--this is one of the few movies I can't watch after a certain point, otherwise I'll be up the rest of the night. The special effects are rather gory and sometimes the writers make the plot stretch a little, but neither of these really hurt the movie. In fact, the special effects make it that much scarier. I enjoyed this remake. I think that if you haven't seen it yet, you should at least give it a try and make up your own mind about it.
Rating:
Summary: Cliche Scary Movie
Review: When I normally review a movie, I tend to review movies that I liked, but this is an exception. When I started watching this movie I was more than eager to see how it would turn out; after all, it was written by Robb White, the same person who wrote House on Haunted Hill. But as I emmerced myself in it's "plot" I couldn't help but to notice that it was nothing more than a different version of House on Haunted Hill. However, unlike House on Haunted Hill, this movie tends to lack substance. Sure, it had a concept behind it, but a bleak one at that. By the end of the movie I was highly dissatisfied at it's lack of a thicker plot. It left me empty and wanting more insight to the story. I won't put any detail in my review about the actual plot as it would spoil it for those that _might_ actually want to see it. I apologize to those that thought this movie deserves 5 stars, but it truly doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: "A Truck Full of Blood?"
Review: This is a great movie!! I absolutely -love- horror movies! They're the best thing to watch. This one, however made it to my top 5 favorites the first time I watched it. For those folks that don't like a movie that gets lost amidst all the gore and violence - Thir13en Ghosts is definately not one of them. It actually has a smaller amount of blood than quite a few horror movies out there. This isn't a slasher, there's no Michael Myers or Jason. Also, it has a completely new look for a horror movie. There is no creepy old abandoned house and the main character is not an oddly well endowed girl! The whole look of the movie is extremely bizarre, adding to the effect and the storyline is really good! (And has been mentioned numerous times in other reviews, so I won't give away the ending, alright?) If you're doubting buying this; go for it!! (And Matthew Lillard is drool-worthy, even if he drools on occaision...lol)
Rating:
Summary: not bad
Review: i rented this movie and it was pretty good. well up until the ending. i didnt care too much for the ending. i liked how the ghosts looked like. i think the 2 craziest looking ghosts were the buff guy with all theses screws and stuff stuck in him nd he had ahuge hamer as a arm and hand. and the ghost with the cage on its head. the movie is about a man who inherits his uncles manshion. well as it turns out his uncle house is a huge machine powered by 12 ghosts. and the uncle keeps the ghosts traped in the basment. well anyways the ghosts get free the only way you can see the ghosts is if you wear these glasses. anyways as it tured out the uncle created that manshion (or machine) to summon the 12 ghosts and then he needed a 13th one. and anywyas he need to summon the ghosts to see the eye of hell that tell severything b/c the uncle wanted to be powerful. ok i know my description of the movie doesnt make much since i left alot out and jumped around alot but thats pretty much the gist of it. so its pretty good just dont get your hope up high on the ending. in my opnion it wasnt that good. well if your curious to see it but not sure on buying it. rent it first thats what i do. and if you like it buy it if you dont then at least you only wasted 3$ or so.
Rating:
Summary: Hammer,Jackal,Pretty Princess and many many more
Review: I liked this movie,it was really good, alot of blood and gore, just pure brilliant gore.Really worth watching.
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