Review of Thir13en Ghosts (2001) by Filipeneto — 06 Jul 2018

This film is the remake of a film with the same name directed in 1960 by William Castle. The plot is similar: Arthur Kriticos is a modest man embittered by the death of his wife when he receives the news of a great inheritance left to him by a uncle, Cyrus, who was very rich.

In the inheritance is included a huge and very modern house that Arthur doesn't know to be haunted by a collection of evil spirits that his uncle hunted and imprisoned. The film has a truly frightening opening sequence that shows us how this man hunted and trapped the most cruel spirits.

But then the film calms down, takes on a more cadenced rhythm and builds the ending, on a plot simpler and more psychological than one might expect. Suspense isn't effective as it should, some script solutions are forced and unnatural, even resorting to obvious clichés.

There are several scenes of graphic violence somewhat shocking but this is not scary, it's disgusting. In contrast, the film is visually pleasing, with proper cinematography, good special effects and sound and an extraordinary setting.

The house is something like I've never seen, combining tradition and modernity with a sinister touch, and the subplot around it was a plus point for the film. Tony Shalhoub (who still remembers this actor in Monk?) did a good job as lead actor and F.

Murray Abraham also pleased me. I didn't like Matthew Lillard, overly theatrical and exaggerated to the point of being humorous when he shouldn't. The rest of the cast was OK and did their job without surprising, disillusioning or highlighting.