Thir13en Ghosts, featuring a baker’s dozen of seriously nasty ass ghosts imprisoned in an inherited glass puzzle house, came out in 2001. It was a remake of 1960’s 13 Ghosts, which had a neato gimmick: a family inherits a haunted house, and a special pair of goggles allows them to see the polter-pests. When you saw it in a movie theater, they handed out special cardboard glasses with red and blue cellophane so you could see the ghosts as well. This filming technique was called, Illusion-O. Beer works in much the same fashion.
Now, over six decades later, we MIGHT be getting 13 Ghosts: The Series. This project has yet to be greenlit as of this word barfing, but here’s what’s being proposed: “Patrick Mediate (Primordial Pictures) and Aaron McLane (SFX Supervisor, Fear the Walking Dead) have shared an exclusive update with Dread Central announcing their partnership with Dark Castle Entertainment to develop and pitch a 13 Ghosts television series to Sony Pictures Television™.”
Says Mediate and McLane, “Every culture in the world has its ghost stories, and this re-imagining of 13 Ghosts presents an international sampling of these supernatural tales. The ghost stories within each episode will have their own stylistic look and feel that will be explored and influenced by each individual director. This makes our ghost vignettes stand out stylistically as they set the theme for each episode.”
Praying to Budweiser™ this one happens as Thir13en Ghosts sported some of the most brutal specters ever committed to film. So while we all hope Sony Pictures Television™ don’t bust these ghosts, here are a few upcoming horror/sci-fi movies that may or may not look better filmed in Illusion-O…
PSYCHO: THE LOST TAPES OF ED GEIN / September 17, 2023 (MGM+™)
“For years, filmmakers, journalists, and scholars have tried to unravel the mind of this notorious killer. And with new reveals and never-before-heard recordings, viewers will be transported to late-1950s Middle America and submerged in Gein’s perverse mind. The series explores Gein’s upbringing and twisted relationship with his mother (which famously inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho), his early grave robbing, the murders leading up to his arrest, and the police’s discovery of his terrifying house of horrors — all accompanied by the brand-new revelations revealed in the recordings.”
There are 13 horror movies inspired by Ed Gein. And before you go look ’em up, just know that Barbie (2023) isn’t one of ’em.
FOG CITY / Release pending 2023 (VOD)
“A group of friends seal themselves inside a secluded Cape Cod vacation home after a mysterious orange fog leaks from an old nearby factory. Once trapped, they quickly learn there is no escape.”
I liked this better when it was called The Beach House (2019).
THE REV / October 2, 2023 (Icon Film Channel ), January 8, 2024 (VOD)
In 1985, Detective Inspector Gwyn Roberts was sent to a quiet Welsh seaside town to investigate an unusually threatening and vile anonymous letter, leading him to the home of a seemingly mild-mannered clergyman, the Reverend Emyr Owen. What the police found in the unassuming house was shocking: dozens of naughty magazines and books on black magic, humans devouring humans and surgery. But the most vital discovery of all was a series of photographs from which one thing became clear: the reverend was guilty of abusing and mutilating human bodies awaiting burial. To this day, with no similar offence ever recorded in legal history, it remains one of Britain’s most infamous criminal sprees.”
The had me at naughty magazines.
REBEL MOON / December 22, 2023 (Netflix™)
“When a peaceful colony on the edge of a galaxy finds itself threatened by the armies of a tyrannical ruling force, a mysterious stranger living among its villagers becomes their best hope for survival.”
And that mysterious stranger who gives everyone hope is…SPACE BATMAN!
Drinkin' & Drive-in 