Das unheimliche Erbe

Don't confuse this movie with the awful remake. Thankfully this movie was shown on one of the old movie channels before the remake came out or I might have passed on it. Maybe I'm biased having grown up watching all kind of horror movies, but I've always enjoyed the older movies like this one rather than the in your face remakes of today. Subtlety goes a long ways in telling the story!

13 Ghosts is a real classic haunted house style ghost story. Films like this wouldn't do very well these days (hence the reason the remake is so different) as the chills mostly come in the form of wind whistling through windows and pots being thrown off kitchen shelves; things which wouldn't scare people anymore. However, it's delightful to see a film like this - especially one directed by one of the kings of horror entertainment; William Castle. 13 Ghosts works from the assumption that its audience wants to believe in ghosts; and the result is a cheerful little flick that Castle 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!

13 Ghosts has stood the test of time well, as have most of Castle's films. While much is made of the gimmick of seeing the ghosts with 3d glasses, the movie itself is well made and not just a vehicle to carry the gimmick. Seeing the movie on television or video without the 3d glasses (but with the ghosts visible) makes you realize this is a well made film.

The scene where the father encounters the ghosts for the first time in the hidden room is quite spooky, and the special effects are almost hypnotic to watch. The story behind the ghosts being in the house is developed quite well, and makes the ghosts themselves more enjoyable. The ghosts range from almost comical to truly frightening, and it is fun to wait and see what kind of spirit you will encounter next.

The house itself is a rather nice piece of real estate, and I'm sure some people have driven around Los Angeles trying to find it. Martin Milner plays the lawyer who facilitates the will giving the family the house, and it is interesting to see him in his pre-Adam 12 days.

13 Ghosts is definitely worth watching, especially around Halloween. While some may find the plot and idea less than satisfying, I found it to be very spooky. And you really do get to see all 13 ghosts!

This film by William Castle about a family of four moving into a house professed to have no fewer than 13 ghosts is a great deal of fun. Donald Woods is Cyrus Zorba, a paleontologist down on his luck. His furniture has just been removed from his flat and his wife and two children, Medea and Buck, seem used to being in continual dire financial straits. While sitting on the floor for Buck's birthday party, a creepy message comes telling Cyrus to see a lawyer in the morning. Cyrus and wife Rosemary Decamp go and discover that Cyrus has inherited a huge mansion from his Uncle Plato as well as a package containing some weird type of glasses. It seems that Uncle Plato collected ghosts. The rest of the story details what life is like in this house that has these ghosts. I did not have the pair of glasses so cannot tell you what it looked like in Illusion-O, but I bet it was even more fun. Castle always seems to do a good job at creating entertaining, fun films, though none of them ever seem to be much more than that either. The mystery is not hard to figure out at all. The acting is good all around with youngster Charles Herbert giving a nice performance as Buck. Woods is good as the family patriarch and Jo Morrow is just beautiful as daughter Medea. Martin Milner plays Ben the lawyer. And as a retainer in the house is Elaine, played by none other than Margaret Hamilton(always a joy to see her). When Ben first arrives at the house to see how the Zorbas are doing, Buck says "ring the bell and you'll see a witch." Of course the witch reference goes throughout the whole film as Hamilton looks witch-like and this is one marvelous inside gag about her Wizard of Oz performance. The effects for the film are pretty tame and very hokey, but this film is just good, old-fashioned fun. I liked it from beginning to end. If you loved the new one and decide to go back and see the old one - you will be very disappointed. Just as I was disappointed having seen the old one and moving to the new one. They have nothing except some threadbare incidentals in common and a producer named Castle(though a different first name for each).

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) and his family learn they have inherited the house of his late uncle Plato. This couldn't come at a better time for the Zorba family as they are struggling with financial problems. However, once they move in they discover the house is haunted by ghosts that dear old uncle Plato collected from all over the world. Uh-oh.

Filmed in "Illusion-O," William Castle never missed a beat with a good gimmick. This is a fun movie with no pretensions about doing anything other than entertaining you for eighty minutes. Charles Herbert was an enjoyable child actor with a good screen presence. Sadly this was his last credited film role. I guess the same fate befell him that would many other child actors. Donald Woods, decades removed from his leading man days, is very pleasant and likable in this. Lovely Jo Morrow plays the daughter Medea. Margaret Hamilton has fun with her Wicked Witch reputation here. The direction is solid, the music very nice, and the special effects are fun. Okay, they are relatively simple effects but still fun. Maybe it's not that scary but it sure is enjoyable. Way more entertaining than the gory CGI remake.