Rating:  Summary: GOOD OL' B RATED FUN! Review: This is a very quite dated horror film that dates all the way back to the 60s, (1960 to be exact) which therefore the special effects and the scares are less shocking by todays standards. However, it was all still good for it's time and after watching it myself, I thought the use of illusion for this film was nicely done! The Illusion-O feature on side A of the disk is where you get to use the glasses at some scenes in order to see the ghosts, while side B doesn't have the theatrical version with the glasses but more of a normal viewing. The movie itself, is excellent whether you use the glasses or not. There are some special effects though that I thought were VERY laughable! (You can see the strings on some of the floating objects such as the fly and the jar of milk) The acting on the other hand is the BEST I've seen in horror for such a long time and was possibly the only thing that saved this movie and made it thrilling enough to entertain and please audiences worldwide! Sure, it's a bit silly looking at times, but even today the ghost effects are pretty creepy looking while everything else is like cardboard compared to how much movies have upgraded over the years. A good ol' B-rated horror flick that's sure to please just about ANYBODY who likes a good scare but with some laughs along the way! Cheesy but great fun for the hardcore B-movie collector. Be sure to also check out the remake, "Th13een Ghosts" (2001) because it's very improved and the scares are just as good (if not better!) Oldschool horror is a treat!!
Rating:  Summary: 13 Ghosts Review: This older movie is a lot better then the new 13 Ghost. Every one should see this one.
Rating:  Summary: Great DVD Review: This is a fantastic DVD. It's the best print of this film I ever saw. Best of all, it features the original version that included the "Illusion O" gimmick. Movie audiences in 1960 were required to look through the red lens of the viewer to see the ghosts. If you didn't want to see the ghosts, you were instructed to look through the blue viewer. This is the first time the film was presented for home viewing using this process. A caption appears when the time comes to use the viewer, and then another caption appears to tell you to remove the viewer. Side B of the disc provides a version that doesn't require the need for the special viewer. Both versions on the disc are presented in pristine widescreen. One thing - the effect is not 3-D like some reviewers mistakenly reported here. Also, the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because Columbia Tristar home video only provides one viewer. To get extras, you are required to write Columbia and pay $3 each for them. It's a piece of paper with red and blue tinted paper in it, for heaven's sake. They should have included at least three viewers.
Rating:  Summary: This is fun stuff w/3D glasses now on WideScreen DVD !! Review: In the 1950's Hollywood tried to add more realism and excitement to the movies (also to compete with television) by adding gimmicks and sensationalisms liked 3D (dimensional). Horror Movie Director William Castle was one of those shrewd Hollywood tricksters who provided his audiences with thrills & chills in the 1950's.3D was semi successful but had limiting effects wearing these very peculiar tinted glasses. The illusion provided the viewer with the special 3D effect of items coming off the screen right at you. For a brief moment providing a scare or two. By 1960 3D had almost come to an end but William Castle had one last trick up his sleeve, "13 GHOSTS" and ILLUSION - O. With this special effect the viewer could choose to see the ghosts through the RED lens or NOT to see them through the BLUE lens. The Illusion - O viewer (glasses) & the movie hype was a quick success for William Castle. Now for the first time on WideScreen DVD this Black and White cult horror film "13 Ghosts" with Illusion - O including the Special Effect Glasses is available for your home entertainment. The 3D effects are quite successful and with a little imagination proves to be fun stuff! The DVD provides excellent digital picture & sound quality. The Anamorphic (auto adjust to any tv) WideScreen presentation (16:9 HDTV Home Theatre)increases the enjoyment immensely. Summary: An impoverish family inherits a strange pair of glasses (ILLUSION - O), a large haunted house filled with treasure, scary servants & "12 Ghosts". The gimmick here is they must live in the house and find the "13th" to keep it all and be freed of these other ghosts. They can only see these ghosts with those special glasses. Do you see where we're going here? Do you use the Red or the Blue lens? This DVD includes 2 sided prestentation; Side A - with ILLUSION - O & Side B - without Illusion - O. extras to include - 1 pair of ghost viewer glasses, movie phamplet, featurette movie about 3D, Production Notes and Trailer. This is a rare home 3D movie nostalgic experience. Don't miss it!!! This could be your only chance to experience 3D. Enjoy.
Rating:  Summary: NOT ONE OF CASTLE'S BEST..... Review: A displaced family complete with a cute little kid gets a bargain on a creepy old house complete with a sinister housekeeper. Then they learn it has a still very active history of spooky doings. The father finds a journal of the former owner that explains the house is haunted and a weird pair of glasses that enable him (and the audience) to see the "ghosts". It all turns out to be about money on the property and someone's after it. Despite the 3-D gimmick stuff, I find this William Castle spook effort frustratingly disappointing. The combination of "haunted house" movie and family flick just doesn't work for me. It's just too silly and too many good ideas are used to inane effect. Interesting, though, to see Rosemary DeCamp in a Castle movie but she's wasted as the mom. Still, I can't recommend this with much enthusiasm. It plays like a 50's family sitcom. If that's your cup of tea then you might enjoy this. Otherwise, it's too tame for a "horror" movie. I like Castle's other films a lot better.
Rating:  Summary: In Amazing Illusion-O!!! Review: William Castle was a master showman. For a while, every movie he released had its own gimmick. For example, with the movie The Tingler, several seats in theatres where it was shown would be rigged with mild electric shocks which would be set off during key scenes. For 13 Ghosts, the gimmick was that scenes with ghosts were filmed with the background tinted blue and the ghosts tinted red (and difficult to see). People in the audience were given a ghost viewer/remover. If you looked through the red lense, the ghosts are enhanced and become more visible. Look through the blue lense and the ghosts become completely invisible. William Castle's films, especially 13 Ghosts, are for the most part highly enjoyable and entertaining even without the gimmicks, but now at last those of us who were unable to watch the original theatrical productions can at least experience the wonders of Illusion-O thanks to this DVD, which comes with one free ghost viewer/remover. And the effect works amazingly well! You have the option to watch the film in normal black and white (like in TV broadcasts), but the ghosts look more blobby and contrived. Watching it in Illusion-O makes a huge difference! The ghosts look more detailed yet more ethereal, like actual ghosts, and the red tinting makes it all the more spooky. It's also fun switching the viewer back and forth to watch the ghosts appear and disappear. The film itself is fun for the whole family, filled with humour and suspense and great characters, and is a far more effective horror film than the remake. I haven't had so much fun watching a competently made film in a long time! And there is a great in-joke with the boy suspecting the housekeeper of being a witch (she is played by the same actress who was the Wicked Witch of the West in the Wizard of Oz). Also included is a great documentary giving the background of the film. This DVD is highly recommended!
Rating:  Summary: 13 Ghosts not much scary, not much fun Review: I bought this film thinking that I would be scared to death and have fun watching it because of the ghost viewers. I thought that was a cool idea. I saw it and it was not scary at all! The ghosts aren't scary and you don't even need the ghost viewers to see the ghosts! Another dumb thing was that the family knew the house had 13 ghosts, but they still moved in and after someone gets attacked, they don't even bother to leave. I was a bit dissapointed. Some ghosts are not even shown! The remake is way better then this one.
Rating:  Summary: Spooky!!! With style... Review: Mr. Castle gave us the Tingler with seats that shocked you at those TENSE times in the movie. But, before that he gave us 13 Ghosts with the viewers so you could see the ghosts! (When you wanted too). You have to give Castle credit for trying new things and entertaining the audience. Isn't that what movies are suppose to be about. I liked this movie. Buy it...buy some extra viewers...have the kids over on Halloween and have fun. This is a keeper.
Rating:  Summary: Creepy Castle Classic! Review: I first heard of William Castle when I bought the movie "House on Haunted Hill", which quickly became one of my favorite "ghost shows". I watched the re-make of this film before I had a chance to see the original, and was intrigued. When my birthday came about, and I found this movie, I had no excuse. What a thrill! I was unfortunate enough to have missed out on the 3-D craze of the 50's, but thanks to Columbia/Tristar, Illusion-O is back with a vengance! The movie makes great use of deep, haunting sound and the ghostly visuals to keep it creepy. Now, don't get me wrong, mostly this is Mayberry horror, but there are a few scenes that honestly got me to jump! Like the others, I lament not having more "ghost-viewers" to share with my friends, but even without the viewers, this Castle show is definately worth seeing. So make sure you keep your viewers close, and after the movie, give your dark house a good look-through with them to be sure none of the strange specters followed YOU home......
Rating:  Summary: A really good movie Review: I watched this movie because of the new one that is coming out, and I thought that it was a grate movie. So know I am anxious to see the new version.
|