but this time with the special illusion affects William Castle put in it in tact, and special glasses could come with the DVD/video. This may look to some like a typical cheesy 50's & early 60's horror film, but it's one of the best.

son I shouldn't complain, that boy acts and talks the same way I was at his age loses everything except their private belongings and then discovers a forgotten rich relative has left them his house and fortune. Wouldn't you want that to happen to you ? Before you say 'yes,' the house turns out to be haunted by the eccentric relative's ghost collection this was years before "Ghostbusters" . The family has to decide to give up the house which may be hiding the relative's missing fortune or give it all up. It's a great plot, but the "Illusio" used at the time to create the ghosts with special glasses doesn't translate well to the black and white of today's tv screens, not even if you try to substitute 3-D glasses.Still, for what you see of them, the ghosts are chilling in a surreal sort of way as they go about their business and scare the family on the side. Some of the acting is campy, particularly De Camp's reactions to the ghosts in the kitchen. The boy, Buck, can be particularly chilling in the way Haley Joel Osment was for "The Sixth Sense." The daughter, Medea, played by obscure Jo Morrow, overdoes some of the stern sister's acting, but the father is played somewhat wooden. "Adam-12's" Martin Milner looks out of his element as the family lawyer, but he was near the start of his acting career. Kudos have to go to the casting of Margaret Hamilton from "The Wizard of Oz" as the housekeeper who may or may not be a witch in this movie too. Can you imagine what this movie would have been like with Ann B. Davis ?

them, and lets not forget Miss Margaret Hamilton, the 'Wicked "Witch of the West" from the great "Wizard of 0z' all in all an entertaining, fun family film It has its scary moments, but none of the 'gore' so prevalent in today's films.

great actress. Margaret H.a.m.i.t.o.n was great actress. This is a great movie. See it.

manages to steer away from patronisation and keep firmly within the realms of the fun horror film. The story is halfway between a tale of ghosts and a story about mad science, and we follow a family who find themselves between a rock and a hard place when the repossession men take their furniture and the father's uncle dies, leaving them his house. However, he dabbled in the occult; and the house that he's left his nephew's family is filled with ghosts! Hot on the heels of his successes with Vincent Price starring films, The Tingler and House on Haunted Hill; 13 Ghosts is another gimmicky film with over the top special effects, and once again Castle does a great job of entertaining the audience. The plot doesn't have a lot of originality, but it doesn't matter because it's successful where it counts. The family are shown as the classic American set up of a father, mother, daughter and son; and they're all very easy to get on with, which makes both of the 'evil' subplots easy to buy into. The special effects are one of the most notable things about this film. William Castle clearly doesn't subscribe to the idea of 'less is more', and 13 Ghosts shows that quite clearly. The ghosts here leave nothing to the imagination, and I was very happy with that as the main reason I don't usually like ghost stories is that they take too long to get going. This one doesn't suffer from that, and although it's a bit silly at times - 13 Ghosts is a real good time, and comes highly recommended to all!

use of dissolves and split screen is especially nice , charmingly crude special effects, game acting from a sturdy cast, and a suitably eerie tone, this picture provides a good deal of infectiously sincere ooga-booga scary fun. The ghosts themselves are a really nifty bunch; my favorites are the flaming skeleton, an axe-brandishing executioner, a murderous angry Italian chef, and a headless lion tamer. Excellent supporting performances by Martin Milner as amiable lawyer Ben Rush and Margaret Hamilton as creepy housekeeper Elaine. What makes this film a complete joy to watch is its endearingly good-natured sense of pure give-the-audience-what-they-want-to-see gusto and enthusiasm. A total treat.

gave me something to think about. When I spotted the video it was a must have. Great memories.