Premise - When rich collector Cyrus Kriticos (F. Murray Abraham) dies acquiring his latest piece he leaves his entire estate to his nephew Arthur (Tony Shalhoub). Arthur is now a single father thanks to a fire which claimed his wife six months ago and he sees his uncle’s house as a way to get them out of the financial hole they find themselves in. So, Arthur and his family move into his uncles house, little do they know that his uncle has left them more than just a house.............. A bit of a surprise to be sure, but Thir13en Ghosts is actually a reasonable film and is one of the better studio 'horror' films that I have seen in a long time. Sure, it's not scary, but it is highly entertaining and worthy of a watch by anyone even vaguely interested by the horror genre. The main thing that strikes you about the film is the luscious production design. From the stunning design of the house itself to the convincing make-up effects on the ghosts themselves, Thir13en Ghosts is a looker, if nothing else. The house that Arthur and his family move into is a huge glass construction where you can see through every wall. Needless to say this is used to great effect later in the film during a few set pieces. The glass look of the house makes a welcome and refreshing change from the usual creaky old castle or manor. The make-up effects really are of the highest standard. Every ghost has been given their own look depending on how they left the mortal plain. For example the ghost called The Hammer has nails all over his body and has a hammer where his severed hand used to be. It's all very impressive and adds to the feel of the film having such convincing spectres wandering around. The sound design is also very good as the ghosts wail, screech and generally make as much noise as possible. It can best be described as a wall of sound when the ghosts are on screen, like many different sound effects layered on top off each other. It can be a little disorientating, but it is very effective. A similar approach is used to show the ghosts. The characters in the film need to wear special glasses to see them, but even then they fade in and out of vision, in a stuttering manner not dissimilar to the sound effects that accompany them. Films of this type don't need to concern themselves with piffling things like plot, script, character development and quality acting. This is probably just as well because Thir13en Ghosts skimps on these elements no end. The plot is about as hokey as any number of horror films and the script is laughably bad (so bad it’s good?), littered with lame one liners and crap pay off's. Outside of a 'seen it coming a mile off' plot twist near the end, the film has no character development to speak off. The acting is of a universally low standard with a consistent level of cheesy overacting. No member of the cast overacts more than F. Murray Abraham; his cackling pantomime villain is right out of the textbook. Mathew Lillard tries to outdo Abraham, but just comes short. His psychic ghost catcher is as irritating as any character he has brought to the world of film. Shannon Elisabeth may look good, but she couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag, so she is perfectly suited to this kind of popcorn horror flick. Rah Digga is the standard black character and is just that, a standard black character. Tony Shalloub is the only one who doesn't overact, in-fact he mat be guilty of underplaying it a little too much. He just doesn't seem that concerned that the lives of his family are in jeopardy. The less said about Alec Roberts as 'the kid' the better, my thoughts on irritating child actors (or Jake lloyd-itis) are well known. Yes, the film has many problems, but I took the film for what it is, an entertaining bit of popcorn horror. Not even close to being scary, but it's a damned good laugh, with some innovative production design. It's nothing deep or brain taxing, just a decent way to spend ninety minutes.

/10. Poster Quote - Lucky 13.