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But you gotta give a showman like Castle credit - the guy had real chutzpah. The master of the gimmick movie, Castle loved to scare his young audiences with such goofy pranks as buzzers under the seats, skeletons flying overhead, and in one of his better films, 13 Ghosts, the magic of "Illusion- O." While maybe not his most inspired gag, the "process" is pretty fun. Utilizing simple color-tint tricks, hold the "Ghost Viewer/Ghost Remover" up to the screen to see or hide from the ghosts. Look through the red viewfinder if you're man enough to view the ghosts, or peek through the blue to remove them if you're too chicken. Hardly hi-tech, but who can't help but chuckle participating in such a stunt?

In 13 Ghosts, the impoverished Zorba family is on their third mortgage and about to be evicted. Then, after receiving a mysterious telegram, the family suddenly inherits a spooky old house from the father's uncle, an eccentric millionaire obsessed with the supernatural. Complete with a "witch" for a maid (Margaret Hamilton, in a hoot of a performance), the house holds 12 ghosts just "dying" to be released. All they need is an unlucky 13th victim. Who will be the final victim of the ghostly shenanigans, and will the Zorba family make it out alive?

13 Ghosts is one of those movies that is probably impervious to criticism. Faulting the good-natured Castle is like throwing rocks at the Easter bunny. Like Ed Wood, the guy is so earnest you just have to forgive the bad acting, cheesy effects, terrible sets and wooden dialogue. But movies like 13 Ghosts are all about fun and playfulness, so even though the Illusion-O gimmick wears out its welcome real fast, who cares? This is good, clean, tacky fun. And 13 Ghosts also serves as a great introduction to horror films for the little ones. If you have a son, daughter, niece or nephew around the age of 6 or 7, this makes the perfect DVD to leave for the babysitter. If you're a sucker for unabashed nostalgia, you'll have lots of fun with 13 Ghosts.

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in two versions - straight black and white and color tinted "Illusion- O" - both are 1.85;1 widescreen and anamorphically encoded. The image quality is surprisingly good. Boasting a clean and clear print, there are frequent blemishes, but far less than you'd expect for a film now forty years old. There is also minimal grain throughout, but the transfer has pitch-perfect blacks and excellent contrast, rendering in a fairly three-dimensional image. Shadow detail is also good for a film of this vintage, as is sharpness, and there is little in the way of artifacting or edge enhancement to mar the presentation. While the transfer can be inconsistent at times - some shots reveal noticeable print damage - this is far better than I would have expected.

The Illusion-O version looks identical to the straight black and white transfer, except for the select Illusion-O color-tinted sequences and an introduction from Castle on how to use the Illusion-O viewers. The gag is hardly realistic - it is designed to work with the enclosed pair of "Ghost Viewer/Ghost Remover" glasses, but the effect works perfectly. The color tinted sequences do reveal a scratchy, more grainy appearance, but that is most likely due to the limited photochemical techniques of the time, and such antiquated effects only added to the fun for me.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

Presented in mono only, just like the transfer this soundtrack was much better than I expected. Of course, it is only mono, so there is no sense of envelopment and very weak low end. But, for a soundtrack this old, it is surprisingly free of hiss, distortion or audible dropouts. The overall fullness of the score is also surprising - though hardly comparable to today's more modern soundtracks, it sounds fine. Dialogue, music and effects are quite well balanced, and sounds quite natural. While this is still a dated mix and likely won't serve as demo material, it is better than most old mono tracks I've heard and supports the film more than adequately.

Also included is a Spanish mono track, English Closed Captions and English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Thai subtitles.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Given that 13 Ghosts is four decades old and most of the cast and crew has long since passed, the included supplements are obviously limited. Aside from two versions of the film, Columbia has produced a nice new featurette, the 8-minute The Making Of Illusion-O. An affectionate nod to William Castle and his bag of gimmicks, we get a bit of background on his stock in trade and the Illusion-O process. Participants include Columbia Pictures Repertory's Michael Schlesinger, film historian Donald F. Glut, Monster Enthusiast Bob Burns and movie maker Fred Olen Ray. A nice little featurette, presented in full frame and 2.0 stereo.

Other extras include a nicely written and designed fold out with production notes, complete with an order form for more "Illusion-O" viewers to impress your friends. (One pair is included.) The theatrical trailer for 13 Ghosts is also included in full frame and mono, along with trailers for Ghostbusters and Castle's The Tingler.

Parting Thoughts