13 Ghosts
Director – William Castle (The Old Dark House, The Tingler)
Starring – Charles Herbert (The Outer Limits, The Farmer’s Daughter), Jo Morrow (Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver), and Donald Woods (True Grit, The Wild Wild West)
Release Date – 1960
Rating 3.5/5
Tagline – “13 times the thrills. 13 times the screams. 13 times the fun”
There are a lot of movies that I should have seen by this point in my life and haven’t. I absolutely adore William Castle and his theatrical gimmicks. I would have given anything to be alive during one of his theatrical stunts. He made going to the movies fun. When I was in middle school I went to Tennessee to spend the weekend with my brother and we rented the film Thir13en Ghosts. I fucking loved it.
I talked my brother into buying me the movie on DVD which I still have. It would be a few years before I come across my first William Castle movie but once I did I was fucking hooked. It was then that I learned that Thir13en Ghosts was actually a remake of a 1960 William Castle film. As much as I loved the remake I never did watch the original. That changed when my friends over at Mill Creek Entertainment sent me the William Castle double feature with 13 Ghosts and 13 Frightened Girls.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a family that is behind on their bills and have lost everything when an attorney reaches out to them. He tells the family that they just inherited their uncle’s home. Their uncle was long thought dead and spent most of his fortune studying the occult.
The family thinks their luck has finally changed and move into the house only to discover that it is haunted. They find a book and learn that the uncle has brought 11 ghosts into the home and he has now died making it 12. The plan is for one of them to die and make the 13th ghost but something happens and the attorney tries to kill them so he can search the house to get the money their uncle left behind only to fall prey to the ghosts.**Spoiler Alert**
What I loved so much about Thir13en Ghosts was the character development and the ghost’s backstories. I love when I watch a movie and every character is fully development and we get some layers to go along with it. I knew that the original film would not have that kind of character development but I knew it would have some chills and great suspense. It had to considering that its coming from the mind that brought us House on Haunted Hill. 13 Ghosts does not have the backstory or character development but it does deliver an entertaining film.
The acting in this one is great. I really liked Donald Woods as the father figure. He was strong, supportive and caring. All the qualities of a great father. I also really enjoyed Martin Milner as the attorney who is secretly planning on killing them to get the money. Sadly, the one cast member that I was not digging was child actor Charles Herbert who received top billing to be apart of the film. He may have been known at that time for his previous work but he was somewhat cruddy in his role in this film.
The story for this one is fun considering but compared to the remake it is rather boring. The film gives us no look at the other ghosts other than a few hints here and there. One of my favorite aspects from the remake is nowhere to be seen in the original. However with that being said, it has some great atmosphere and beautiful cinematography. The film is a rather slow burn but that only adds to the suspense.
Finally, if you are looking for blood and gore then you will be out of luck. Sadly, the film has no real kills and the ghosts we see are superimposed onto the screen. This is almost laughable considering we get amazing scares and jumps in House on Haunted Hill when this film was made by the same team. More thought was placed into the gimmick instead of the actual film. Overall, 13 Ghosts is another classic ghost story that should be in regularly rotation in every horror fan’s movie marathons. Its fun and has some great suspense. Check it out.
13 Frightened Girls
Director – William Castle (Macabre, House on Haunted Hill)
Starring – Kathy Dunn (Days of Our Lives, Ride with Terror), Murray Hamilton (The Golden Girls, The Amityville Horror), and Hugh Marlowe (The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Earth vs. the Flying Saucer)
Release Date – 1963
Rating – 3/5
Tagline – “The big fright. The eerie sight”
If Roger Corman is known as the King of the B-Movies then William Castle is known as the King of Horror Gimmicks. During The Tingler he paid people to get up and scream in the theater as if something was crawling up their backs. With Homicidal he had the coward’s corner where people who were afraid could leave and request a refund. With 13 Ghosts he created a special view finder so those that believe in ghosts could see the ones in the film while those that were afraid could not.
Castle was so known for his horror gimmicks that even his non-horror projects was billed as horror and his gimmicks were applied. Case in point, 13 Frightened Girls. 13 Frightened Girls was billed as a horror film but was actually a Cold War spy film that followed a teenage daughter of a diplomat. The film was the second film in a William Castle Double Feature from Mill Creek Entertainment with 13 Ghosts.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows the teenage Candy Hull (Dunn) who is the daughter of an American diplomat who goes to an all girl school with the daughter of the leaders from several other countries. He father is friends with an intelligence agent and she begins to fall in love with him. She falsely believes that he is a master spy and attempts to become a spy herself.
She goes under the guise of Kitten and finds out she is very good at it especially considering she goes to a school with the daughters of other world leaders. She uses her connections to get top secret information but this comes at a price. The other countries then want Kitten’s head on a platter and it is up to her father and the intelligence agent to keep her alive.**Spoiler Alert**
I went into 13 Frightened Girlsthinking it was a horror flick. The poster work and title is very misleading. That fact that it was paired with 13 Ghosts only added to the horror element. Instead, the film is a spy drama speared with comedy and set directly in the middle of the Cold War. The film is not bad by any means but proper marketing would get the viewer in the right mindset before seeing it.
The acting is great. The relatively unknown Kathy Dunn is fantastic in the role as Candy Hull. Her imdb is depressing. We only have a handful of credits to her name which is a crime. She was great and really could have made a name for herself but stepped away from acting to pursue something else. Her supporting cast is great but her charm and brilliance made her the star.
The story for this one has a good mixture of drama, comedy, and espionage. The film tosses in some laughs here and there to break up the film’s story before tossing in a little action and some twists. The film does have some dry spots but the humor does move it along.
Finally, the action in this one is light and the action we do get is quickly cut or happens off screen. A film like this is expected to have action and this one is watered down. Overall, 13 Frightened Girls is a fun Cold War comedy that has some fun characters and some entertaining moments. Sadly, it does not work well paired with 13 Ghosts.
