Arthur and his two children inherit his uncle's estate: a glass house that serves as a prison to twelve ghosts. When the family, accompanied by a nanny and an attorney, enter the house they find themselves trapped inside an evil machine 'designed by the Devil and powered by the dead' to open the Eye of Hell. Aided by a ghost hunter and his rival, a ghost rights activist out to set the ghosts free, the group must do what they can to get out of the house alive.
Beck maintains a satisfyingly high level of heebie-jeebies throughout.
– Joe Leydon,
Variety,
29 Oct 2001
rotten:
By any objective accounting, Thirteen Ghosts is exactly a baker's dozen too many -- this is a zero of a film.
– Rick Groen,
Globe and Mail,
22 Mar 2002
fresh:
A nicely nasty Halloween treat.
– Michael Atkinson,
Mr. Showbiz,
26 Oct 2001
rotten:
Clever one-liners supplant the lack of frights with cackling -- which you might as well do since, by the end of the movie, it's clear that the joke's on you.
– Melanie McFarland,
Seattle Times,
26 Oct 2001
rotten:
A B-grade horror picture seems to be a B-grade horror picture no matter how many studio bucks and digital effects you throw at it.