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13 Ghosts (1960)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 1/24

13Gh
1/24: 13 Ghosts is a bland gimmicky horror picture at the hands of William Castle.

I fail to comprehend the need of all four signals to indicate the emergence of ghosts: USE VIEWER, when somebody puts it on, the change of color on screen, and REMOVE VIEWER. Really, only the third will suffice.

When ghosts appear, there's hardly much to see. Nothing dramatic happens. Nobody seems to be bothered or frightened by them. Ultimately, the plot turns out to be money. That's what the movie is about: greed. The director might as well call it 13 Thousand Dollars to save me the grief. "13 Times the Thrills! 13 Times the Scream! 13 Times the Fun!"? Ha! "13 Times the Rubbish" is more like it.

Nobody in the cast stands out. Save for Margaret Hamilton who's okay herself as she relies on her The Wizard of Oz fame, they're all patently ridiculous. The creepy-looking boy who plays Buck is Charles Herbert. Having been robbed of his Hollywood income by his parents, he was left with $1,700 and then lived out his life abusing drugs before passing away at the age of 66.

All in all, 13 Ghosts proves William Castle wasn't good at directing horror films.