13 Ghosts (1960)

  • Review Date: May 18, 2003
  • NR
  • Genre: Thriller
  • 1960
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Cheesy -- and gory -- classic; no young'uns.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this movie does include occult material, including a Ouija board and a seance, which may be upsetting to some children. There is an attempted murder of a child, and another character is murdered. Some families may be uncomfortable with the father's irresponsibility about money.

  • A few scary surprises and special effects, child in peril, not very intense.
  • Not applicable.
  • Not applicable.

What's the story?

A family inherits a haunted house and a mysterious pair of spectacles from a reclusive uncle. It turns out that 12 ghosts occupy the house, including a lion and his headless tamer, a jealous chef and the wife and her lover that he killed with a meat cleaver, a hanging woman, and the ghost of the uncle himself. A Ouija board tells them that a 13th ghost will be added soon. Who will it be?


Is it any good?

 

The special effects were low-budget even for their time, and today's audiences will find them more silly than scary. But there are a couple of jump-out-at-you moments and plot twists that still work pretty well. The DVD includes both the version that requires the glasses and the one that does not and a brief documentary about Castle that is as much fun as the movie, especially the selection from the movie's original introduction, which explained how to use the glasses.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the enduring popularity of horror movies. Why do people like being scared?


This review was written by Nell Minow
Adult
May 26, 2010
 
The remake was pretty good, I can't wait to view this version!

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Kid, 12 years old
May 1, 2009
 
The Genre of This Film is "Children and family"
Piece of Sh I t

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Parent
February 2, 2010
 
13 Ghosts (1960)
Not the best horror of it's era, but its watchable and wont scare the kids.

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Kid, 13 years old
July 2, 2009
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
A fun, scary movie!
Why is this rated R?? There's nothing really wrong with it- except for some mild scary scenes and frightening images. Certainly nothing worse than what's shown on tv now.

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Kid, 11 years old
April 6, 2012
 
Classic still scares
I loved this horror. Even though it was boring in the beginning, but then got interesting. I recommend this movie for people who like spooky classics.

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This review was written by Nell Minow
Studio:Columbia Tristar
Director:Martha Beck
Cast:Charles Herbert, Jo Morrow, Martin Milner
Genre:Thriller
Run time:85 minutes
Theatrical release date:August 5, 1960
DVD release date:September 11, 2001
MPAA rating:NR

This review was written by Nell Minow
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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