The original 1960 "13 Ghosts" was a very boring, stupid horror film. This one, while no classic, is actually quite good.
A grieving widower Arthur (Tony Shalhoub), his hot daughter (Shannon Elizabeth), annoying son (Alec Roberts) and feisty black maid/cook/babysitter/whatever (Rah Digga) get trapped in an all glass house with a sort of psychic (Matthew Lilliard) and a ghost liberator (Embeth Davidtz). It was set up by the evil Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham) and he has 12 murderous ghosts in cages down in the basement. But they all get out, one by one, and go after the family.
This is pretty dull stuff until they get locked in the house, the ghosts escape...then the movie REALLY gets going. The ghosts are very brutal-looking and their attacks are bloody and violent. In a nice tip of the hat to the original, people in the movie can only see the ghosts when they have special glasses on. The special effects are excellent and it has more than a few scary scenes. The plot does go out the window at the end, but I was still interested.
The acting--Shalhoub is OK as the father. Davidtz is in it for the money (and her character is badly written). Lilliard goes way over the top...as always (take a few Valium bud)...seriously, can't this guy do anything but overact? Elizabeth is full of life and is viciously attacked in one scene but she's not in the movie enough. Roberts is just annoying as the kid. And F. Murray...he can play this villain role in his sleep...and he does. And Digga is funny but her character is cliché city.
No masterpiece but not the disaster I was expecting. Worth seeing in a theatre with a good sound system.
A grieving widower Arthur (Tony Shalhoub), his hot daughter (Shannon Elizabeth), annoying son (Alec Roberts) and feisty black maid/cook/babysitter/whatever (Rah Digga) get trapped in an all glass house with a sort of psychic (Matthew Lilliard) and a ghost liberator (Embeth Davidtz). It was set up by the evil Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham) and he has 12 murderous ghosts in cages down in the basement. But they all get out, one by one, and go after the family.
This is pretty dull stuff until they get locked in the house, the ghosts escape...then the movie REALLY gets going. The ghosts are very brutal-looking and their attacks are bloody and violent. In a nice tip of the hat to the original, people in the movie can only see the ghosts when they have special glasses on. The special effects are excellent and it has more than a few scary scenes. The plot does go out the window at the end, but I was still interested.
The acting--Shalhoub is OK as the father. Davidtz is in it for the money (and her character is badly written). Lilliard goes way over the top...as always (take a few Valium bud)...seriously, can't this guy do anything but overact? Elizabeth is full of life and is viciously attacked in one scene but she's not in the movie enough. Roberts is just annoying as the kid. And F. Murray...he can play this villain role in his sleep...and he does. And Digga is funny but her character is cliché city.
No masterpiece but not the disaster I was expecting. Worth seeing in a theatre with a good sound system.