:
Charles Herbert,
Jo Morrow,
Martin Milner,
more...
:
William Castle
see all cast/crew...
: Not Rated
: Columbia TriStar
: Horror, Ghosts
: 84 min.
: English, Spanish
: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, Thai
see additional details...
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Gimmick-loving producer William Castle strikes again with this fun haunted-house thriller which invited audiences to find the hidden ghosts roaming about a haunted house through a special process called "Illusion-O" by which patrons could employ a special pair of red-and-blue-colored glasses to detect ghosts on the screen during the film's color-tinted sequences. The story is set in the mansion of the deceased occult scientist Dr. Zorba, whose nephew Cyrus and his family occupy the creepy estate and discover that they are not the only tenants. It seems the Doctor has been harboring 12 elusive specters on the premises, the appearance of which can only be detected through his final invention: a special pair of ghost-viewing goggles. To further complicate matters, it is learned that Zorba has stashed a small fortune somewhere in the house, and someone -- or something -- is determined to stop Cyrus and family from finding it. This film's original release featured an introduction from Castle, describing the "Illusion-O" process and demonstrating the proper use of the tinted glasses; he also appears in an epilogue stating that the glasses can be used to detect ghosts outside the theater! ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
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| If Walt Disney made thrillers...
by artifex
September 16, 2004 - 5:15 PM PDT
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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This would be a great spoooooooky (not scary, just thrilly and silly) movie to show on family night, especially if you have little kids. Otherwise, you might find it too corny and dated. Still, there are some classic fun touches that make even adults smile indulgently, like the intro scene where a skeleton does dictation for director William Castle, and he shows this movie's gimmick: a special viewer to see the ghosts! Just like the people in the movie use! WOW!
(Don't worry about Greencine not sending you the glasses and the effects being ruined, because you can watch it with them integrated.)
Watching this felt a bit like when I went to Disneyland for the first time, after being used to Six Flags: the rides (thrilly bits) seemed a bit tired and tame, until I realized these may have been the prototypes of much of my thrill-seeking vocabulary. I still jumped in surprise at a couple of the things that I expected would happen, though, because the timing was just after I expected them. After a while, though, I found myself skimming scenes with cheesy monster outfits to get back to the 50s-style dialogues between family members. And that's where this movie shows how dated it really is, of course: when this movie was made, the plot and dialogue were intended to just glue the action sequences together, but over time the effects have lost their novelty. It's now mostly a historical curiosity, but still good for entertaining kids. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 6.41)
71 Votes
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