13 Ghosts is a 1960 supernatural American horror film directed by William Castle (Homicidal; The Tingler; Mr. Sardonicus) from a screenplay by Robb White (Macabre; The House on Haunted Hill). It stars Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Rosemary DeCamp, Martin Milner, Donald Woods.
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 film 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, scenes involving ghosts were shown in a “process” dubbed Illusion-O: the filmed elements of the actors and the sets — everything except the ghosts — were displayed in regular black-and-white, while the ghost elements were tinted a pale blue and superimposed over the frame. Audiences received viewers with red and blue cellophane filters. Choosing to look through the red filter intensified the images of the ghosts, while the blue filter “removed” them.
It was remade in 2001 under the title of Thirteen Ghosts, directed by Steve Beck.
Plot teaser:
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 Dr. Plato Zorba’s housekeeper, Elaine Zacharides, plus a fortune in buried treasure and twelve 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 and severed head, a fully grown lion with its headless tamer, as well as Dr. 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 money and is willing to kill for it…
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Reviews:
” … it hangs together pretty well. The story overall is not nearly as smart as it thinks it is, which can be a little grating, but that’s also part of the movie’s charm. Probably the most entertaining thing about 13 Ghosts is the palpable sense of how much fun the cast and crew had making it, combined with the knowledge that someone was willing to give William Castle enough money to make movie after movie after movie, despite and indeed because of the fact that he could absolutely be counted on to produce something like this almost every time.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“Actually, this mild little spook melodrama, directed and produced by William Castle, would be a lot better off without this gimmick, courtesy of the house. It’s too bad Mr. Castle, in serving up his ghosts, didn’t simply have some cartoonists draw, ’em on in full view. We have in mind, specifically, that dandy ghost entry during World War II called “The Uninvited,” when those vaporish coils were molesting Ray Milland and Gail Russell.” Howard Thompson, The New York Times (1960)
“Gimmick aside, it’s a pretty fun movie for the most part. The end kind of sucks, but I like the main family a lot (the kid is terrific), and each ghost is different enough to be memorable, from the lion trainer to the executioner to the chef that seems to have inspired a particular Swedish Muppet, they are all fun to watch during their brief appearances on-screen (you won’t need the glasses for more than maybe 10-15 total minutes of the film) and, despite being 50 years old, largely convincing in their ghostly appearance…” Horror Movie a Day
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Cast:
- Charles Herbert as Arthur “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 Zacharides
- John van Dreelen as Van Allen
- William Castle as Himself
- David Hoffman as Messenger
- Roy Jenson as Dr. Plato Zorba’s ghost
