13 Ghosts (1960)

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

Director:

William Castle

Writer:

Robb White

Stars:

Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner

Cast

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

Storyline

Reclusive Dr. Zorba has died and left his eerie mansion to his penniless nephew Cyrus Zorba and his family. Along with the house, the Zorba family has also inherited the occultist's collection of 12 ghosts, who can only be seen through Zorba's special goggles. The family members, their lives at risk upon the discovery that Dr. Zorba's fortune lies hidden somewhere in the house, receive aid from unexpected quarters as the threat to their lives is revealed.

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Plot Keywords:

ghost | lawyer | haunted house | mansion | remade | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

July 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

Thirteen Ghosts

Company Credits

Production Co:

William Castle Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min 82 min (black and white)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William Castle:  [gimmick]  The movie was filmed in "Illusion-O" and a special viewer was needed to see the ghosts. This resulted in a number of sources incorrectly stating that the film was originally shown in 3D. The "ghost viewers" contained a red filter and a blue filter, but unlike 3D viewers/glasses, both eyes would look through the same color filter. The red filter would cause the ghostly images to intensify while the blue filter caused the images to fade.

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Goofs

After Buck slides down the banister and walks off, we see money fall to the floor. It's clearly noticeable that the money didn't fall out of the hidden area in the stairs. If you look closely you can tell that it comes from somewhere above the stairs.

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Quotes

Hilda Zorba: The moving men are here again.
Cyrus Zorba: They won't wait?
Hilda Zorba: Nope.
Cyrus Zorba: Not till tomorrow?
Hilda Zorba: Nope.

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Connections

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

User Reviews

Better With Those Tinted Glasses

I still remember as a kid all the publicity surrounding 13 Ghosts and how when you went to see the film you were given tinted cardboard framed plastic glasses. The better to see the ectoplasm on the screen.

Sadly my VHS copy doesn't have the ghosts in color. They just appear very pale on the screen and the film has to carried by the players who don't look too motivated by the lines they have to utter.

Dr. Zorba played by Donald Woods inherits an old haunted house with a witch housekeeper, Margaret Hamilton, to go with it. Woods moves in his family which consists of Rosemary DeCamp, Charles Herbert, and Jo Morrow. The lawyer handling the estate, Martin Milner, takes quite a shine to Ms. Morrow, but he also has a whole other agenda as well.

Of course after they move in, various apparitions start appearing and it's pretty disconcerting believe me. Action has to be taken and it's took all right.

If you're interested by all means see the film. It's acquired a cult status over the years. The special effects, impressive back then, don't quite hold up as well as say DeMille parting the Red Sea in The Ten Commandments.