Product: 13 Ghosts (1960)
Rating: 3.0
Ghostly sitcom
William Castle made his directorial career out of spooks and curses -- both human and supernatural. One of his frothier films was "13 Ghosts," which doesn't come near the caliber of his better films, but is still fun to watch as a sort of supernatural sitcom. It isn't hard to imagine this as a TV series.The Zorba family has just had their furniture repossessed (again) when Cyrus (Donald Woods) receives a letter from young lawyer Ben Rush (Martin Milner). His reclusive uncle just died, leaving the family a mansion and a pair of goggles for ghost-viewing. Grateful for this, Cyrus moves in with his wife and kids, despite Ben's insistence that something evil is lurking in the house.And soon the Zorba family is being plagued by the twelve ghosts, from ghostly lions to a temperamental chef. Now they want out, and fast -- but they don't realize that Ben wants them to leave so he can find the money hidden somewhere in the house. Will Ben find the money and get away with it? And who will be the thirteenth ghost haunting the house?"13 Ghosts" is a pretty straightforward film, with straightforward characters in a straightforward situation. Basically, it's like a long sitcom episode with ghosts -- we have your basic 1960s nuclear family (working dad, housewife, two kids) encountering a problem, and sort of bumbling into a solution.The movie was made nearly fifty years ago, which means that the ghosts aren't too convincing, especially since Castle used a short-lived visual gimmick called "Illusion-O" (which for some reason is still on the DVDs). But Castle makes up for that with some entertaining scenes like the chef-specter flinging knives around the kitchen, and generates some real eeriness in the seance scene.The acting is pretty good on most counts, with Milner, Woods, Jo Morrow and Rosemary DeCamp turning in solid enough performances. Margaret Hamilton is outstanding as a taut, secretive medium. But Charles Herbert plays a very annoying (and rather stupid) little boy. Did Castle think it was cute to have him call his dad's office and announce "I've got a secret"?Though it's among William Castle's lesser works, "13 Ghosts" is a lightweight, amusing "horror" movie, with a nice mix of ghosts and treasurehunting.