13 Ghosts (1960)

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White (written by)

Release Date:

July 1960 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

IT'S FUN TO BE SCARED BY 13 GHOSTS (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A family inherits what proves to be a haunted house, but a special pair of goggles allows them to see their ghostly tormentors.

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Haunted House | Mansion | Supernatural | Seance

Cast

Charles Herbert	...	Buck Zorba
Jo Morrow	...	Medea Zorba
Martin Milner	...	Ben Rush
Rosemary DeCamp	...	Hilda Zorba (as Rosemary De Camp)
Donald Woods	...	Cyrus Zorba
Margaret Hamilton	...	Elaine Zacharides
John Van Dreelen	...	Van Allen

Also Known As:

Thirteen Ghosts

Runtime:

85 min | 82 min (black and white version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (No. 19630) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | UK:PG | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec)

Company:

William Castle Productions

Trivia:

Margaret Hamilton's character Elaine Zacharides is often referred to by Buck as a witch. This is an in-joke in reference to Hamilton's most famous role, the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the Ouija board planchette is flying around the room (from 21:58 to 22:08), you can see the wires that are holding it up. (This is not apparent in the 2005 DVD version from Sony Home Entertainment.)

Quotes:

Medea Zorba: [Ben has just brought Medea home] That was a wonderful evening Ben, thanks, how about some coffee before you go.
Ben Rush: No thanks not tonight, I sure wish you and your family were staying somewhere else this place gives me the creeps.
Medea Zorba: Oh don't start with that again.
Ben Rush: Well I worry about you Medea, just for me will you try to be a little careful.
Medea Zorba: For you I'll pull the covers over my head tonight.
Ben Rush: [smiling] See you tomorrow?
Medea Zorba: I hope so, good night Ben.
Ben Rush: Goodnight
[leaves the house]
Ben Rush: .

Movie Connections:

Featured in Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story (2007)

Actually.... I liked it better than the modern version

Yes, it may be old but I find it better than the "new revised" version that terribly stunk. Sure, when we see floating candles and furniture we can only imagine a small thin piece of string on the tip but hey, at least they used their imagination and had fun with it. The part played by the wicked witch from "The Wizard of Oz" was the best part. She was perfect in the film. As well as the family. They played their parts better. The father didn't act as stupid as the one in the modern version and the rest of the actors/actresses were better as well. There were alot of parts in the film that did not match the ones in the modern version but hey, thats why I liked it better they didn't have all those boring motives that the modern version had. And the ghosts were even scarier even though you could tell that it was a man in a costume with a reflecting light.