Who's In It?

Tony Shalhoub as Arthur, Matthew Lillard is Rafkin, Shannon Elizabeth as Kathy and Embeth Davidtz as Kalina 

Who Made It?

Steve Beck

Where's The Web site?
www.13ghosts.com

What's It About?

Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham) is a ghost hunter.  It's not really clear why he is hunting ghosts but he has been in search of 12 ghosts with his assistant Rafkin (Matthew Lillard).  The hunt for the 12th goes very wrong and Cyrus, as well as some of his other workers, are killed.

Fast forward to the post Cyrus era and it turns out that his estate has been left to his only surviving relative Arthur (Shalhoub) and his family.  His estate consists of a beautiful property whose centerpiece is a wondrous glass house.  But as the family quickly finds out, this house holds more mystery and intrigue then anything they have ever experienced.  There are ghosts everywhere, but with the help of Rafkin and Kalina (Davidtz) they may get out alive.  No one wants to find out who is the thirteenth ghost .

Common Guy's Thoughts

Thirteen Ghosts is a tale of two movies.  The movie begins by getting the family into the house as they are finding a way to cope with the loss of their wife and mother.  It starts with an in your face type of scare factor.  There are quick images of ghosts that pop up and shock you all the time.  These are the parts of the film that are scary.  I will admit that I am the type of person that jumps at things that pop up out of nowhere, and this film has a lot of those types of scenes.

However, this then goes ahead and takes a turn to the totally incomprehensible to end things.  It was one of those films where it made me think that someone just said, "ok it's time to be finished now" and came up with the easiest way to end things.  There were so many ways that this film could have went to explain its ending, and yet it just kinda ended.  Of course there is the obligatory storylines left slightly open for sequel possibilities but I doubt they will need to be used.

The sad part of this film was that it had potential.  It had a lot of momentum going throughout most of the film, and then just blew it at the end.  It spoiled a nice comedic turn by Matthew Lillard and Rah Digga (Maggie the baby sitter).  Shannon Elizabeth was virtually invisible in this film and I've come to expect performances with more depth for Tony Shalhoub.

Overall the movie checks in just barely above your average horror film.  That's disappointing given the fact that it was on its way to a solid B in my book.  The over the top gore and ending just took away from the film.  The ending stopped this film from being a very good film and in fact almost left me giving it a negative review.  Instead, I can just mildly recommend this one, even though I really wanted to like it. 

Grade

C+

Parents Guide

Rated R for horror violence/gore, nudity and some language. Boy this is an R rated film.  The gore alone will leave the weak stomached with something to be desired.  There is a scene where we see a lot of the inner workings of the human body that just leaves you disturbed.  One of the ghosts in the film is the "jilted lover" and she walks around nude the whole time so you definitely get your share of nudity.  Language isn't as bad as it could be.  Parents I would recommend this film for only those who are 17 and over, and even some of those folks may have nightmares over this film. 
 

Back to Now in Theaters Page
Back to Now on Video Page
Back to Home Page