THIR13EN GHOSTS

Starring: Tony Shalhoub, F. Murray Abraham, Embeth Davidtz, Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard
Director: Steve Beck
Running Time: 91 mins
Certificate: 15

Out to buy on DVD 22nd July

Still in mourning after the death of his wife, Arthur Kriticos (Shalhoub) learns that his Uncle Cyrus (Abraham) has been killed and he is the sole beneficiary of his will. He and his family have inherited his departed Uncle's house and all its possessions, along with enough money to keep them financially secure for the rest of their lives. The magnificent glass house is not all it seems however, it is in fact a fact a machine, designed by the Devil and powered by the dead. For in it's basement are twelve angry ghosts who are about to be released.

This is a popcorn movie at its most basic. While the special effects, makeup and set design are exceptional; the movie itself is a poorly written and acted scary movie that isn't really that scary.

While the cast are quite good, Tony Shalhoub and F. Murray Abraham are good actors plus Matthew Lillard is no stranger to the genre, the dialogue is extremely basic giving them nothing to work with.

The main problem however, is the whole repetitiveness of it all. As each ghost is released, we are greeted with another chase scene of a ghost trying to kill one of the cast, which gets very tiresome after a while. If each ghost had more personal traits and reasons for killing, the movie would have been a lot scarier. Instead it is just the same flashy cuts for each of the ghosts to make them appear and disappear, never giving you enough time to view the outstanding makeup. The ending also felt very rushed and leaves you even more disenchanted with the film.

What we have in Thir13en Ghosts is an average late-night horror movie that is more suited to home viewing than the big screen. I expected more from producers Joel Sliver (The Matrix) and Robert Zemeckis (What lies Beneath, Back to the Future and Forest Gump).

Audio commentary from director Steve Beck, 'Making Of' featurette, 12 additional featurettes, Trailer, Filmographies, Interactive menu, Dolby Digital & Scene access