- 13 Ghosts
Infobox Film
name = 13 Ghosts
image_size =
caption =
director =William Castle
producer = William Castle
writer =Robb White
narrator =
starring =Charles Herbert
Jo MorrowRosemary DeCamp Martin Milner
Donald Woods
music =Von Dexter
cinematography =
editing =
distributor =Columbia Pictures
released = July 1960
runtime = 85 min / 82 min (black and white version)
country = USA
language = English
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:67116
imdb_id = 0053559"13 Ghosts" is a 1960
horror film directed byWilliam Castle and written byRobb White . To the dismay of some of the cast members, Castle gave top billing to 12-year-oldCharles Herbert . cite web|url=http://www.classicimages.com/past_articles/|title=Charles Herbert: So You Wanna Be a Kid Actor. . .?|last=Weaver|first=Tom|publisher=Classic Images|accessdate=2006-08-13]It was remade in 2001 under the title of "
Thir13en Ghosts ", directed by Steve Beck.Plot
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 a spooky housekeeper, Elaine, plus a fortune in buried treasure and 12 horrifying ghosts. His family soon discovers that these spirits include a decapitated man, a fully-grown lion, a wailing lady and a flaming skeleton, who are held captive in the eerie house and must find 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.
Gimmick
As with most of his productions, Castle used a gimmick to promote the movie. In this film, the ghosts could only be seen with the special glasses left by Dr. Zorba. In the theatres, the ghosts were depicted using shades of red and blue such that they were difficult to see without the special glasses handed out at the film's showings. Later DVD versions have varied in their preservation of this effect, with the latest DVD release including versions with and without the ghost outlines and a set of the special glasses.
Featured cast
*
Charles Herbert as Buck Zorba
*Jo Morrow as Medea Zorba
*Rosemary DeCamp as Hilda Zorba
*Martin Milner as Benjamen Rush
*Donald Woods as Cyrus Zorba
*Margaret Hamilton as Elaine Zacharides
*John van Dreelen as Van AllenReferences
External links
*imdb title|id=0053559|title=13 Ghosts
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