Now, where the rest of the cast fail to make likable characters, Lillard actually succeeds which is surprising seeing as I usually end up hating him in films. Finally, there's Matthew Lillard, giving us yet another shouty, psychotic, on-the-edge type performance which he has been doing all of his career. Former singer Rah Digga is unwelcome as the comedy relief housemaid (whose self-pitying presence recalls the 'spooked' black manservants of the horror-comedies of the 1940's) whilst Shannon Elizabeth is around to look pretty and not do a lot else. Murray Abraham as the cultured bad guy of the piece, another mad scientist type (Abraham fills the role of suave baddie perfectly). He's supported by Embeth Davidtz as some kind of idiotic 'ghost rights' campaigner and the effortlessly charismatic F. Tony Shalhoub is the straight man in the film, the middle-aged male hero, a solid character who can't believe in what he sees. Sure there are a couple of 'surprising' character twists here and there but by and large the film is an action-orientated horror romp which showcases scared people being chased and killed by a wide variety of evil spirits. It's one of those movies where you have to turn off your brain to enjoy. The script is unbelievable but then so is the whole idea of the film, that a machine houses twelve ghosts who can open the "Eye of Hell". Thus we have lots of tricksy jump-cuts, slow motion, cameras sped up and all kinds of wannabe stylish bits in place of any real atmosphere - and no, Steve, panning your camera around a few empty corridors doesn't count as atmosphere building. The biggest problem is first-time director Steve Beck, one of the new wave of film-makers who can't resist including plenty of MTV style into their movies.
Some truly horrific special effects work from the reliable KNB group combined with a jolting soundtrack made this a horror film in the true sense of the word and one not for the squeamish. One surprise is that I found it actually scary in a number of places especially where the ghosts are concerned. Sure, I'll have totally forgotten about this popcorn entertainment in a couple of days time but I can't deny that I had a good time watching it, despite the many flaws. Added into the mixture was a smattering of gore and I actually found myself enjoying the whole thing. What I got was a paper-thin story, taking segments from GHOSTBUSTERS(!) and the HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL remake, plenty of clichéd situations and characters, some nifty special effects work, and a ton of jumps and scares. I went to see the THIR13EN GHOSTS remake expecting little.
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All in all, the visuals are great and there are two decent(not great though, Abraham especially has been much better) performances but the rest of the movie is bad. Everything feels too rushed, the ending is a thrown-in cop-out and the scares and jumps feel too brief and predictable. The story was a good idea but was unfortunately never lived up to. They are not helped though by their clichéd and poorly developed characters or by their embarrassingly cheesy dialogue.
I like Tony Shalhoub, but his character is annoying and he can do little to make him likable, while Embeth Davidtz struggles with a badly written role and Matthew Lillard overacts to the point that he is irritating. However, the rest of the acting is disappointing, mainly because the cast are very talented. Shannon Elizabeth is not bad at all either though you do wish that she was in the film more.
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F Murray Abraham has a great presence as the villain, although his role is not a patch on his outstanding performance in Amadeus. It does look great, the make-up is pretty incredible, the house is a wonderful setting and the effects are well above-average. This said, Thir13en Ghosts is not a completely terrible movie. It is not as if I dislike Dark Castle movies, I did enjoy Ghost Ship and House on Haunted Hill, though both had major imperfections. I didn't care at all for this remake, which is proof that a remake can be bad on its own merits without being compared. After seeing The Tingler(with Vincent Price) I now have a pretty good idea what to expect so will re-watch the film with those expectations in mind. I haven't seem William Castle's Thir13en Ghosts in a while, though I do remember not being sure what to make of it.