Movies - Thir13en Ghosts

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	Movies - Thir13en Ghosts

Thir13en Ghosts (also known simply as Thirteen Ghosts or 13 Ghosts) is a 2001 horror film directed by Steve Beck. It is a remake of the 1960 film of the same name by William Castle. It follows the remake of another one of Castle's films, House on Haunted Hill
.

Plot

Following a house fire which claimed his wife, Arthur Kritikos (played by Tony Shalhoub), his two children, and babysitter/nanny Maggie (Rah Digga) are struggling to make ends meet. In a stroke of luck he inherits his uncle Cyrus's (played by Abraham) mansion. The mansion itself consists of movable glass walls inscribed with Latin. Despite the strangeness, the family is excited, until a psychic (played by Matthew Lillard), who used to work for Cyrus, reveals that Arthur's uncle was a ghost hunter, and had imprisoned 12 spirits within the house. Arthur doesn't believe him until his two children disappear, after the lawyer who accompanied them triggers the mechanism which seals the house and releases the ghosts one at a time. Arthur and the psychic, armed with special glasses that enable them to see the ghosts, attempt to rescue his two children.

Kalina (Embeth Davidtz), is a spirit releaser who claims to have entered the house through an opening when it shifted. She saves Arthur and his daughter from the Jackal and informs him, Maggie, and the psychic about the ghosts, the house, and about the thirteenth ghost, who is a "failsafe" meant to stop the others.

Arthur learns that the house is in fact a machine, built for the sole purpose of opening the "Eye of Hell". Cyrus (who is still alive), and Kalina, (who turns out to be his partner ) intend for Arthur to sacrifice himself in order to save his family, which would make Arthur the thirteenth ghost and (instead of stopping the machine) bring his plan to fruition. However, Cyrus kills Kalina, by crushing her between two walls ("greatness requires sacrifices"), and when Arthur is about to sacrifice himself, Maggie (who, up till now, was unconscious because of Kalina) breaks part of the machine's inner workings, and the ghosts (except for The withered lover, Arthur's wife) turn on Cyrus, throwing him into a razor sharp gyro, slicing him apart. Arthur then is able to save his children, and all the ghosts leave, as the house is now opened up because the machine is off, except for Arthur's wife, who stays to say goodbye to her family, looking beautiful again. Then the scene shifts back to Maggie, complaining that she's done with babysitting, in an uplifting and slightly humorous ending.

Tagline: Terror has multiplied/Misery Loves Company

The ghosts

The twelve ghosts which make up the Black Zodiac all have their own unique back story, and while these were not described in the film, the production and make-up teams used them as guidelines. All the ghosts were contained in glass prisons, and were caught with the aid of the psychic Rafkin, who could locate them, and on the behalf of Cyrus.

1. The First Born Son (played by Mikhael Speidel)

The First Born Son is the ghost of a little boy called Billy Michaels, who was obsessed with cowboy films. Not heeding his parents' advice, he played Cowboys and Indians with a real bow and arrow, and the arrow went straight through his forehead.

2. The Torso (played by Daniel Wesley)

The Torso is the ghost of a gambler called Jimmy Gambino. Losing everything in a poker game, he tried to welch on his bet and escape. The mob, which he owed money to, caught up with Gambino and cut him into several pieces, wrapping them in cellophane and dumping the corpse.

3. The Bound Woman (played by Laura Mennel)

The Bound Woman was a cheerleader, who, after cheating on her boyfriend preceding a high school prom, was strangled by him, and was later found buried on the football field.

4. The Withered Lover (played by Kathryn Anderson)

The Withered Lover is Jean Kriticos, the wife of Arthur. She died in the freak house fire while trying to rescue her children.

5. The Torn Prince (played by Craig Olejnik)

The Torn Prince is the ghost of Royce Clayton, who was a baseball star. He challenged a greaser to a drag race and was killed in the ensuing crash.

6. The Angry Princess (played by Shawna Loyer)

The Angry Princess is Dana Newman, who constantly tried achieving perfection with her looks, despite being beautiful. She gave up eventually and slit her own wrists. She was found with dozens of self-inflicted gashes on her. The movie suggests that she killed herself for another reason (In the scene when she appears in the bathroom, you see the phrase "I'm sorry" on the floor in blood). This, however, was probably there to add more drama to the scene and not true.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Thir13en Ghosts ]

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