I
think its pretty cool that the classic William Castle spookfests are being
re-imagined for modern audiences. Personally, I really enjoyed the update
on HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, which was a pretty solid special effects
laden thrill ride. Nearly as much fun as the updated HOUSE ON HAUNTED
HILL, is the modernized take on THIR13EN GHOSTS ($25). However,
unlike William Castle’s 13 GHOSTS, which required the audience
to wear special glasses if they want to see the ghosts, the remake allows
the audience to see the inhabitants of the spirit realm whenever the characters
in the movie don their special ghost viewers.
The
rather slim plot of THIR13EN GHOSTS concerns a wealthy eccentric
named Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham), a ghost catcher of some sort,
whose interest would appear to lie in the most malevolent and deadly of
spirits. Unfortunately, Cyrus is killed in the early moments of the film,
during an attempt to capture a ghost more lethal than any other in his
menagerie. With Cyrus’ death, the assets of his estate are turned over
to his only living heir- a nephew named Arthur (Tony Shalhoub).
The
unexpected windfall couldn’t come at a better time for Arthur, who is
nearly destitute due to a fire that destroyed his home and claimed the
life of his beloved wife. Along with his daughter Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth),
his son Bobby (Alec Roberts) and Maggie (Rah Digga), the nanny he can
ill afford, Arthur is shown the main asset of his inheritance- his uncle
Cyrus’ very unique home. Situated in the middle of nowhere, the house
has been fabricated out of glass and steel, allowing one to see through
much of the structure. In addition to the curious building materials,
the house seems to have been constructed in the fashion of a puzzle box,
with the ability to change configuration.
When
Arthur, his family and an estate lawyer show up at this very unusual residence,
they find Dennis Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), a former ghost catching associate
of Cyrus, waiting for them. Although there initially to collect money
promised to him, Dennis is soon warning Arthur and his family to get out
of the house, which imprisons the twelve deadly ghosts that Cyrus captured.
Unfortunately, Dennis’ warnings don’t come soon enough, as the group finds
themselves trapped in the house, whose layout begins changing, just as
the ghosts are released one by one from their cells. What follows are
the expected deaths, destruction, mayhem and gore. The cast of THIR13EN
GHOSTS also features Embeth Davidtz, JR Bourne, Matthew Harrison,
Kathryn Anderson, Mikhael Speidel, Daniel Wesley, Laura Mennell, Craig
Olejnik, Shawna Loyer, Xantha Radley, C. Ernst Harth, Laurie Soper, Herbert
Duncanson, Shayne Wyler and John DeSantis.
Warner
Home Video has made THIR13EN GHOSTS available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. This is an absolutely superb looking transfer that one
will likely want to show off to their friends- especially those that enjoy
horror movies. The image on the DVD is incredibly sharp and extremely
well defined. Thanks to the superb transfer, one can truly appreciate
the intricacies of the film’s production design and primary set- the beautifully
designed and furnished glass house. Color reproduction is wonderfully
rich and vibrant, while flesh tones appear completely natural- at least
on the living characters. Blacks are completely inky, plus the image produces
a great deal of shadow detail and terrific depth. Dual layer authoring
completely disguises all traces of digital compression artifacts.
While
THIR13EN GHOSTS features plenty of dead characters, the Dolby Digital
5.1 channel soundtrack is completely alive and kicking. This is an aggressive
and highly directional mix that makes the most of the Dolby Digital format’s
capabilities. Sound effects come from all sides and can easily pan from
one point in the sonic field to another. The sound mix is also very creepy
and incredibly atmospheric- at no time do the sound engineers let you
forget you are watching a horror movie. In fact, the overall effect of
the sound mix intensifies the film’s fun factor to the nth degree. Dialogue
reproduction is pretty clean and completely understandable. Voices should
get a tad muffled as the sound effects hit their peak, but they don’t.
The bass channel provides enough energy to shake the house in the film
down to its foundation- thus giving the subwoofer one’s home theater more
than a proper workout. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack has also been encoded
onto the DVD, as have English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s suitably
intense interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as the DVD’s supplement materials.
Starting things off is a running audio commentary with production designer
Sean Hargreaves, special effects make-up artist Howard Berger, and director
Steve Beck. The participants are listed in this order because the emphasis
of the track is the technical wizardry required to bring THIR13EN GHOSTS
to the screen.
Next
up are a couple of featurettes. Running shy of nineteen minutes is 13
Ghosts Revealed, which offers viewers a look behind-the-scenes
at the production design and special effects work, as well as offering
interviews with the cast and crewmembers. Ghost Files is
an interactive featurette that offers a brief back-story for all of the
malevolent spirits depicted in THIR13EN GHOSTS. The DVD also offers
a biography for producer/director William Castle, who was responsible
for the 1960 version of 13 GHOSTS. The DVD also lists a Club
Reel, which is a music video for the song Excess
by Tricky. A theatrical trailer and abridged cast & crew listing close
out the DVD’s supplements. DVD-ROM supplements come in the form of a few
web links.
Horror
fans that enjoy big, loud gore-fests will find THIR13EN GHOSTS
to be a thrill ride that they will to want to take. Personally, I enjoyed
this flick, although not as much as the remake of that other William Castle
classic- HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. Warner’s DVD looks and sounds incredible,
making THIR13EN GHOSTS a disc that many horror aficionados will
want to show off to their friends. In fact, any horror fan looking for
a new demo disc will definitely want to give THIR13EN GHOSTS a
chance to haunt their home theaters.
I
think its pretty cool that the classic William Castle spookfests are being
re-imagined for modern audiences. Personally, I really enjoyed the update
on HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, which was a pretty solid special effects
laden thrill ride. Nearly as much fun as the updated HOUSE ON HAUNTED
HILL, is the modernized take on THIR13EN GHOSTS ($25). However,
unlike William Castle’s 13 GHOSTS, which required the audience
to wear special glasses if they want to see the ghosts, the remake allows
the audience to see the inhabitants of the spirit realm whenever the characters
in the movie don their special ghost viewers.
The
rather slim plot of THIR13EN GHOSTS concerns a wealthy eccentric
named Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham), a ghost catcher of some sort,
whose interest would appear to lie in the most malevolent and deadly of
spirits. Unfortunately, Cyrus is killed in the early moments of the film,
during an attempt to capture a ghost more lethal than any other in his
menagerie. With Cyrus’ death, the assets of his estate are turned over
to his only living heir- a nephew named Arthur (Tony Shalhoub).
The
unexpected windfall couldn’t come at a better time for Arthur, who is
nearly destitute due to a fire that destroyed his home and claimed the
life of his beloved wife. Along with his daughter Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth),
his son Bobby (Alec Roberts) and Maggie (Rah Digga), the nanny he can
ill afford, Arthur is shown the main asset of his inheritance- his uncle
Cyrus’ very unique home. Situated in the middle of nowhere, the house
has been fabricated out of glass and steel, allowing one to see through
much of the structure. In addition to the curious building materials,
the house seems to have been constructed in the fashion of a puzzle box,
with the ability to change configuration.
When
Arthur, his family and an estate lawyer show up at this very unusual residence,
they find Dennis Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), a former ghost catching associate
of Cyrus, waiting for them. Although there initially to collect money
promised to him, Dennis is soon warning Arthur and his family to get out
of the house, which imprisons the twelve deadly ghosts that Cyrus captured.
Unfortunately, Dennis’ warnings don’t come soon enough, as the group finds
themselves trapped in the house, whose layout begins changing, just as
the ghosts are released one by one from their cells. What follows are
the expected deaths, destruction, mayhem and gore. The cast of THIR13EN
GHOSTS also features Embeth Davidtz, JR Bourne, Matthew Harrison,
Kathryn Anderson, Mikhael Speidel, Daniel Wesley, Laura Mennell, Craig
Olejnik, Shawna Loyer, Xantha Radley, C. Ernst Harth, Laurie Soper, Herbert
Duncanson, Shayne Wyler and John DeSantis.
Warner
Home Video has made THIR13EN GHOSTS available on DVD in a 1.78:1
wide screen presentation that features the anamorphic enhancement for
16:9 displays. This is an absolutely superb looking transfer that one
will likely want to show off to their friends- especially those that enjoy
horror movies. The image on the DVD is incredibly sharp and extremely
well defined. Thanks to the superb transfer, one can truly appreciate
the intricacies of the film’s production design and primary set- the beautifully
designed and furnished glass house. Color reproduction is wonderfully
rich and vibrant, while flesh tones appear completely natural- at least
on the living characters. Blacks are completely inky, plus the image produces
a great deal of shadow detail and terrific depth. Dual layer authoring
completely disguises all traces of digital compression artifacts.
While
THIR13EN GHOSTS features plenty of dead characters, the Dolby Digital
5.1 channel soundtrack is completely alive and kicking. This is an aggressive
and highly directional mix that makes the most of the Dolby Digital format’s
capabilities. Sound effects come from all sides and can easily pan from
one point in the sonic field to another. The sound mix is also very creepy
and incredibly atmospheric- at no time do the sound engineers let you
forget you are watching a horror movie. In fact, the overall effect of
the sound mix intensifies the film’s fun factor to the nth degree. Dialogue
reproduction is pretty clean and completely understandable. Voices should
get a tad muffled as the sound effects hit their peak, but they don’t.
The bass channel provides enough energy to shake the house in the film
down to its foundation- thus giving the subwoofer one’s home theater more
than a proper workout. A French 5.1 channel soundtrack has also been encoded
onto the DVD, as have English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s suitably
intense interactive menus. Through the menus, one has access to the standard
scene selection and set up features, as well as the DVD’s supplement materials.
Starting things off is a running audio commentary with production designer
Sean Hargreaves, special effects make-up artist Howard Berger, and director
Steve Beck. The participants are listed in this order because the emphasis
of the track is the technical wizardry required to bring THIR13EN GHOSTS
to the screen.
Next
up are a couple of featurettes. Running shy of nineteen minutes is 13
Ghosts Revealed, which offers viewers a look behind-the-scenes
at the production design and special effects work, as well as offering
interviews with the cast and crewmembers. Ghost Files is
an interactive featurette that offers a brief back-story for all of the
malevolent spirits depicted in THIR13EN GHOSTS. The DVD also offers
a biography for producer/director William Castle, who was responsible
for the 1960 version of 13 GHOSTS. The DVD also lists a Club
Reel, which is a music video for the song Excess
by Tricky. A theatrical trailer and abridged cast & crew listing close
out the DVD’s supplements. DVD-ROM supplements come in the form of a few
web links.
Horror
fans that enjoy big, loud gore-fests will find THIR13EN GHOSTS
to be a thrill ride that they will to want to take. Personally, I enjoyed
this flick, although not as much as the remake of that other William Castle
classic- HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. Warner’s DVD looks and sounds incredible,
making THIR13EN GHOSTS a disc that many horror aficionados will
want to show off to their friends. In fact, any horror fan looking for
a new demo disc will definitely want to give THIR13EN GHOSTS a
chance to haunt their home theaters.
