Good image quality, good sound, an interesting house, a few useful extras, and no movie.
The filmmakers attempt little suspense, instead going directly for the jugular, so to speak. The movie is filled with a multitude of quick edits, blaring, pounding, techno-rap music, flashy visuals, and grisly make-up aimed squarely at what the producers must consider an attention-deficit audience. There are no serious scares, only a single, minor thrill, and virtually no characterization or character involvement whatsoever. Worse, the story line defies both external and internal logic with every move. While the upstairs of the house is pure twenty-first century, the basement is straight out of the darkest reaches of the nineteenth century. Another ghost hunter, Kalina (Embeth Davidtz), shows up out of nowhere to help the family, saying she slipped in through a crack, and everyone believes her! Then, she announces the obvious: "The house is a machine designed by the devil and powered by the dead." The evil spirits are enclosed in their cells and then they're not enclosed, seemingly at will. The glass that can't be shattered, shatters. And so on.
Tip of the day: Demon ghosts are afraid of road flares. When entering a haunted house, be prepared.
Video:
Warners' picture, projected in a stock 1.74:1 widescreen ratio, is neat and tidy, free from grain, moiré effects, or other digital transfer residue. Colors are generally clear and natural in appearance, with fair definition.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is good, too, in highly discrete five-channel sonics that are better than most of what's happening on screen. In a haunted-house movie you want the sounds of things going bump in the night to come from everywhere and anywhere, and the movie's soundtrack provides this nicely.
Extras:
The Special Features are nice as well. First, there's an audio commentary with director Steve Beck, production designer Sean Hargreaves, and make-up supervision Howard Berger. They are rather serious fellows, but they reveal some tidbits of information about the film's production that are considerably more interesting than watching the film itself. Next, there's an eighteen-minute documentary, "Thir13en Ghosts Revealed," that could hold some appeal for somebody somewhere who might be in the least interested in the movie. Then, there is a series of "Ghost Files," the best part of the package, which are mini histories of each of the house's spirits, hosted by Mr. Abraham. After that, there's a music video, "Excess" by Tricky, or "Tricky" by Excess, I'm not quite sure. Following the music are cast and director listings--no bios or filmographies, just listings--and a William Castle biography. Finally, there are twenty-four scene selections, a widescreen theatrical trailer, English and French spoken languages, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
Parting Shots:
So there you have it: Good image quality, good sound, an interesting house, a few useful extras, and no movie. So, what do you want--everything? At the very least, the most-recent "House on Haunted Hill" had an eerie atmosphere, a touch of humor, and a couple of frights. This new "Thir13en Ghosts" has none of it. What it does have is blood, gore, body slicing (in two), decapitations, mutilations, and nudity to give it an R rating. People in glass houses should not throw stones. In this case, throw stones.
Tip of the day: Demon ghosts are afraid of road flares. When entering a haunted house, be prepared.
Video:
Warners' picture, projected in a stock 1.74:1 widescreen ratio, is neat and tidy, free from grain, moiré effects, or other digital transfer residue. Colors are generally clear and natural in appearance, with fair definition.
Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is good, too, in highly discrete five-channel sonics that are better than most of what's happening on screen. In a haunted-house movie you want the sounds of things going bump in the night to come from everywhere and anywhere, and the movie's soundtrack provides this nicely.
Extras:
The Special Features are nice as well. First, there's an audio commentary with director Steve Beck, production designer Sean Hargreaves, and make-up supervision Howard Berger. They are rather serious fellows, but they reveal some tidbits of information about the film's production that are considerably more interesting than watching the film itself. Next, there's an eighteen-minute documentary, "Thir13en Ghosts Revealed," that could hold some appeal for somebody somewhere who might be in the least interested in the movie. Then, there is a series of "Ghost Files," the best part of the package, which are mini histories of each of the house's spirits, hosted by Mr. Abraham. After that, there's a music video, "Excess" by Tricky, or "Tricky" by Excess, I'm not quite sure. Following the music are cast and director listings--no bios or filmographies, just listings--and a William Castle biography. Finally, there are twenty-four scene selections, a widescreen theatrical trailer, English and French spoken languages, and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.
Parting Shots:
So there you have it: Good image quality, good sound, an interesting house, a few useful extras, and no movie. So, what do you want--everything? At the very least, the most-recent "House on Haunted Hill" had an eerie atmosphere, a touch of humor, and a couple of frights. This new "Thir13en Ghosts" has none of it. What it does have is blood, gore, body slicing (in two), decapitations, mutilations, and nudity to give it an R rating. People in glass houses should not throw stones. In this case, throw stones.
![Happy Days [TV Show]](/images/displaymedia.php?id=25233&sizew=70&cat=3)
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]10038[/release]