I think this film is a soupier classic like I think the acting was great in my opinion. My score is a 7.5/10 by the way. Honestly I don't care if it's "cheesy" or it's "black and white" this film don't need color to be good. I love how you can use 3D glasses to see ghost with them like that's the cool part like I wish they did that in the remake. I'd pretty much like the film.

I honestly can't say that I am at all impressed with William Castle as a director of low-budget horror films from the 1950s & 60s.I continually find Castle's direction to be noticeably flat and, oftentimes, quite unimaginative. If you ask me, Castle seemed to possess no real distinctive directing style, whatsoever. And he certainly didn't appear to understand the genre of horror at all.I got the clear impression that Castle viewed horror as being nothing but a joke and something to be jeered and sneered at. And so, with Castle playing horror strictly for laughs that, of course, left us (the unsuspecting & gullible audience) as the direct brunt of his dumb jokes.As a director, William Castle had about all of the skills (and motivation) of a used-car salesman who was knowingly selling his customers junk. In other words, Castle was a shyster as a director (and an amateur at that).From its bad pacing, to its red herrings, to its poorly executed moments of horror & suspense - 13 Ghosts, pretty much, played out like a very dimwitted TV Sit-Com.Like, if this was really supposed to be a story about a house that was being haunted by 12 authentic ghosts, then it was one of the most tame and non-scary hauntings that I've ever seen.Anyways - When it comes to seriously considering William Castle as a noteworthy director - All I can see is an "Alfred Hitchcock" wannabe who obviously couldn't cut the horror-movie mustard - Not even with his lame-brained "gimmicks" as his biggest selling point.

Typically, my least favorite sub-genre of horror is the ghost story. I tend to like my monsters to be more of a physical threat and don't generally go for the invisible ghosts that do nothing but knock on walls. Just not my cup of tea, ya know, but I say that to admit that this is one ghost story that I absolutely love. That's probably even more odd considering the divided opinion that I normally see on this movie, especially from younger, more modern viewers.Created by the legendary William Castle, who is probably best known for HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, this movie tells the tale of a family of four who move into an inherited house and discover that they have also inherited the ghosts "collected" by the former owner. It almost has to be said, right up front, if you know nothing about this movie DO NOT go into it expecting some terrifying chiller. I think that's probably what turns the average viewer off is they see "ghosts" in the title and expect POLTERGEIST. This is far from it. What the movie is, though, is a really fun, light-hearted horror movie. The tone reminds me a lot of an old silent film THE CAT AND THE CANARY and even more this reminds me of SCOOBY-DOO. That's probably one of the reasons that I like this so much. I grew up on that cartoon and, in many ways, it was my earliest introduction to the world of horror. I often tend to like some of these older movies that were clearly inspiration for the famous cartoon. In this movie we get ghosts of all sorts, from a headless lion tamer and his cat companion, to a grisly ghoul. None of them, though, ever seem to present a real threat to our heroes. They make noises and appear from nowhere, but like the cartoon they never actually harm any of our main characters. Much like Scooby, there is a "villain" in hiding, who is trying to use the events to unfurl his sneaky little master plan, only to be exposed in the end.Speaking of the ghosts, I have seen this movie in two different versions. The first time I ever saw it was on the DVD from the Castle Collection. This version shows the original Illusion-O ghosts. To me, this added even more to the cartoony aspect of the film and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Recently, I saw a television version without the color on the ghosts. There were merely white ghosts superimposed on the black-and-white film. If you have the opportunity, definitely track down the DVD. Even without the aid of red and blue glasses, I think seeing the ghosts in color adds to the enjoyment of the movie.All of the actors do a fine job. There are no Oscar winners here, but you have a Ward and June Cleaver set of doting parents, a pretty teenage daughter and the main star is a young boy who gets all the "good lines". There's even a cameo by the Wicked Witch of the West playing....a witch?I can't think of a modern equivalent that I could compare this movie to because Hollywood doesn't tend to make movies that are this innocent anymore. It's definitely family friendly, but there's plenty here for the horror geek to enjoy too.

I actually loved this movie (and so did my six year old!)..... I watched it over and over again with him! The "special effects" are quirky and funny and clearly 1960's but that was the allure of the movie to me. It was Vintage Royalty Gold and I immediately became a fan of "William Castle" Movies. I loved many of the scenes: 1. Appearance of ghosts were quite strange and quirky. 2.The Seance, with the Ouiji Board gave me the chills...which was interesting, because the special effects were quite odd. 3. Then the diabolical, attorney who's trying to get the treasure from the bowels of the house who meets an untimely demise by being "smooshed" in a canopied bed that becomes a death chamber. (OK then....). Watch it...you just might like it.