Shout Factory continues to bring a wide range of horror flicks to the fans through their Scream Factory brand. The latest is the 2001film Thir13en Ghosts starring Matthew Lillard, Shannon Elizabeth, Tony Shaloub, and F. Murray Abraham from Ghost Ship director Steve Beck.

 

Thir13en Ghosts follows a family that inherits an elegant steel-and-glass mansion from a deceased relative. The catch is that along with the house comes a slew of ghosts that can be seen only through special goggles. The film is a remake of the 1960 William Castle film of the same name. Outside of the main theme the only thing to really be intact from the original is the use of the glasses. In this film they wear special glasses to see the ghosts, but in the original film that audience was given special glasses to either be able to intensify the look of the ghosts or completely remove them depending on which pair they wore.

 

This is the first time I have revisited this film in almost 15 years and have to say I still had fun with it. Sure there are some bumps in the road with the story and character choices that don’t always make sense, but it still works. The looks of the ghosts are all more badass than the next and the designs still hold up to perfection today which is no surprise since Greg Nicotero worked on them. Once the film unleashes these ghosts it never lets up.

 

The loud soundtrack and strobe lighting really slaps your senses in gear and will either enhance the experience or be too much for you. I don’t find the film overly scary per say, but the constant flashes no doubt will offer up plenty of jump scares for some viewers. I am not usually a big fan of the haunting type horror flicks, but this one stands out as kind of being a blend of that and the slasher gore subgenre to create something all its own. Sure there have been other films like it, but the insane puzzle cube house, horrific awesome ghosts and plenty of blood make this one that I still thought was a ton of fun.

 

Grab your copy of Thir13en Ghosts Collector’s Edition available now from Shout Factory.