13 Ghost (1960)...

I'm sorry I have been so quiet over the past month and a half, but life can get in the way at times. I'm happy to be back at my blog and continue my passion for horror movies. Last night on Turner Classic Movies (TCM), The original 13 Ghost was on. Having seen the remake which was made in 2001, I really wanted to see the original. The remake was really good and it is a movie that I highly recommend. Technology today makes for some very good/gory movies. I never saw the original movie, for one thing... I was only one year old when it came out. I have said many times before that watching old movies from the past is a hit or miss situation. I have been so disappointed with many that I remember as a kid loving. One reason is that they aren't scary and many seem silly by today's standards. Maybe we are spoiled with all this new technology that gives us special effects that seem like science fiction to those born in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. The standards of today allow for so much more sex and gore than you will ever see in a movie from the 50's and 60's. One thing that struck me funny about the 60's version of 13 Ghost was that the husband and wife in this movie slept in separate beds. It was like watching the old Dick Van Dyke Show or I love Lucy Show. The special effects were cloudy, or frames within a frame shots that were shaky and didn't appear scary or real. The storyline was similar to the remake, but there were MANY differences. The father in the remake was single and the ghost were actually creepy! Also the remake was not about "money", but about the Uncle's design of the house to get all the ghost together for his own evil desires. The remake was so much better than the original. At last, it was another old school "horror" movie that was very silly and not scary at all. Check out the remake from 2001!

Plot:
When occultist uncle Dr. Plato Zorba wills a huge ramshackle house to his nephew Cyrus and his impoverished family, they are shocked to find the house is haunted. Their new furnished residence comes complete with a spooky housekeeper, Elaine, plus a fortune in buried treasure and 12 horrifying ghosts. His family soon discovers that these spirits include a decapitated man, a fully-grown lion, a wailing lady and a flaming skeleton, who are held captive in the eerie house and must find an unlucky thirteenth ghost to free them. Dr. Zorba leaves a set of special goggles, the only way of seeing the ghosts. However, there is someone in the house who is also looking for the money and is willing to kill for it.

Featured cast:
Charles Herbert as Buck Zorba
Jo Morrow as Medea Zorba
Rosemary DeCamp as Hilda Zorba
Martin Milner as Benjamen Rush
Donald Woods as Cyrus Zorba
Margaret Hamilton as Elaine Zacharides
John van Dreelen as Van Allen







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