one word reviews of Movies and TV

Friday, October 7, 2016

Millennial Horror - 2001: Thir13en Ghosts

THERE
Thir13en Ghosts -There

Getting into the 2016 Halloween spirit, we are going to pick up right where we left off in 2015. In case you missed it, "Scream 3" was our last attempt and to keep the good times rolling let's revisit another lackluster horror attempt from the early 2000s, namely 2001, with "Thir13en Ghosts" a remake of William Castle's 1960 classic "13 Ghosts."

To be honest, this isn't a bad film. It's got some great set pieces, I love the ghost designs, and the stories behind them, but just like most Dark Castle-produced, there always seems to be something missing. Maybe it's the lack of scares, the over, or poor, acting, or maybe even the inclusion of dated pop culture zeitgeist, ie, Marilyn Manson's "Sweet Dreams' in "The House on Haunted Hill" and using rappers as actors (stay tuned for a review from a film for 2002 coming soon). I guess at the end of the day, you have to take the good with the bad.

The gist of "Ghosts" is that there is this guy trying to collect ghosts in order to powerful machine that would essentially make him a god. He is only missing the Thirteenth Ghost in order to finally bring the machine to full power. A pretty straight forward plot that is at times style-over-substance, but just like many Dark Castle-produced fare, the films are dumb and fun.

The ghosts in the film are interesting, each with their own little mythology and the makeup effects are really quite impressive. With so much emphasis on digital effects in modern horror, it's great to see actual, live people in costumes, it really is a lost art.

The acting is pretty hokey and just plain bad, but again, you take the good with the bad and it doesn't take you out of the film too badly, but yeah, when it's bad, it's bad.

Overall, "Ghosts" is a fun little remake with some nice production design, but plenty of flaws, but that doesn't mean it's unwatchable, besides maybe Rah Digga's acting, you won't be spitting bars, you might just spit up.

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