13 ghosts
Would you believe I was actually surprised to discover that 13 ghosts is not a remake that’s held in high esteem? Seriously I have enjoyed a lot of the early Dark Castle releases and 13 ghosts worked really well for me. I can see some things that might have grated on peoples nerves so so let’s look at a couple things that I would’ve done to make this better. As much as I enjoy Tony Schlub I’m almost tempted to say recast him. He’s good and he works but he’s so identified with Monk and with Wings. An unknown face probably would’ve worked better. I also would really like to have driven a stake through the heart of that stupid governess nanny whatever she was. The sassy black lady really irritates me as a stereotype and this one was more grating than most. The only other thing I could say that could’ve made this film better was if they had gone with the original gimmick. We still see their special glasses allow you to see the ghosts with in the film, imagine if something like this and been given out at the box office. Something that allowed you to see ghost at a certain time…perhaps the technology wasn’t quite there yet but 3-D was right around the corner and how this film really could’ve benefited from a good 3-D.
I would definitely go back and work in a lot of that with the ghosts and even show periods where you could put glasses on our just like in the old William Castle gimmick. The stuff worked for a reason and Castle is fondly remembered for it. With these kind of cosmetic changes I think this film could’ve been so much better period but you know what, I still like this film and I think I’ll go pop it in right now!
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