So this is actually a remake of the same title that was released in 1960 and you were actually given glasses in the movie theater so you could see the ghosts. In this remake, the characters wore the glasses and we got to see from their perspective, in order to see the ghosts. I do not mind the original but knowing that Matthew Lillard does play in this and also Tony Shaloub, whom I love so very dearly as Monk in the tv series, I have a soft spot for the remake. I also appreciate the special effects in this, they are just outstanding. I love watching the behind the scenes where they show the transformations of some of the ghosts, from actors into the ghosts, it is just fascinating to watch.
So we start off with Cyrus, who is quite the collector and also very rich, decides to capture a ghost that is somewhat difficult to handle (that's putting it lightly). We are introduced to the psychic that is also Cyrus's right hand man, who helps him find these ghosts with his ability. Matthew Lillard plays as Dennis Rafkin, not knowing fully the extent of Cyrus's ambitions. He gets a cut of the money and on to the next, not realizing what Cyrus was really doing. Cyrus Kriticos rather poetically gets killed by the ghost that they are hunting but they still manage to capture what can only be described as a psychotic beast of a ghost they name the Breaker AKA Juggernaut. I had nightmares about that one.....GAAAAHHH.
There's two people trying to stop them like they are animal rights activists, trying to prevent them from taking the animal's fur, only this is hunting entities who were once humans. Similar but I'd say pretty different, wouldn't you agree? So we have Kalina who is played by Embeth Davidtz, she plays both sides, only wanting what's best for herself and that ends with quite a head smasher if you ask me. Her partner Damon becomes another victim of the Breaker's, and leaves Kalina desperate for self gratification.
There's another part to this story and that leads to our protagonist, Arthur Kriticos, who tragically loses his wife Jean in a house fire. He's a single father who still manages to afford a maid, which to really think about it, why did they need a maid when his daughter, Kathy helps with her younger brother anyway? Yes, it is joked about that her cooking is not up to par, but she still tries, haven't they heard of take out? Guess not. But enough of that, the maid is Maggie played by Rah Digga, who has a fantastic song at the end of the movie I must say as a side note, she brings some humor to the table, so maybe we do need her around. Her insults towards Kathy, at times, though out of place, still shows us Maggie as a character.
Arthur Kriticos is played by Tony Shaloub, who is one of my favorite characters in this film, he is wholesome, he is grieving and yet he still has some light humor. He knows that he had an uncle but was not aware of what his "hobbies" were because they barely knew one another. But yet Cyrus ends up swooping in at the right place, right time, knowing how much Arthur was struggling to make ends meet. Before we talk about the robotic lawyer, Ben, let's talk about the younger son, Bobby, who is obsessed with true crime at a very young age who is still learning how to say the word: decapitated. He is very into death because maybe he doesn't understand fully what happened to his own mother and he's trying to make sense of it in his own way. You have to put a leash on this kid because he WILL wander off and put you in danger, possibly killed by an enraged ghost that's been imprisoned for who knows how long.
So a knock on the door slows time and there pops in our robotic lawyer, Benjamin Moss played by JR Bourne. He scares the bajeezus out of Arthur, causing him to spill coffee all over his shirt, blaming poor Bobby that it was his scooter's fault but really let's face it....it was Ben's robotic presence. So Ben tells the family about their uncle Cyrus leaving them his glass house that allows no privacy or throwing stones said by Arthur himself. Cyrus lies through his teeth, telling Arthur that he wants to make up for lost time, that he was a negligent uncle in Arthur's life. But of course, there's ulterior motives.
So now let's switch gears to the fun part of explaining each ghost, which we all know, that's one of the best parts of this movie. So the first ghost is The First Born Son, a boy who should not have been playing Cowboys and Indians with real arrows. His friend accidentally shoots him in the head with the arrow while they are playing duel. Second ghost is The Torso, an avid gambler who didn't pay off his debts, therefore meeting his end by being chopped up into pieces, then thrown into the ocean. The third ghost is The Bound Woman, a once rich popular cheerleader who dated the football captain, only to ruin it by fooling around with another guy on prom night. Angered by the discovery of them together, the football captain strangles her with his own tie til her very last breath. The fourth ghost is the surprise ghost that shocks the Kriticos family when they discover it's Jean as The Withered Lover. Cyrus captured the spirit of his own nephew's wife, how depraved.
Fifth ghost is The Torn Prince, a 1950's baseball star in high school, thought it'd be fun to go drag racing with his buddies. But little did he know that his opponent tampered with his brakes, ending in his demise. Sixth ghost is The Angry Princess, obsessed with her own vanity, all she could see were her imperfections, never satisfied with her appearance. Surgery after surgery but still she never believed to be perfect enough to her own standards. She then attempts to perform face surgery on herself, but it results as a major fail, therefore she commits suicide in the bathtub. Seventh ghost is The Pilgrimess whose story is rather fascinating. She was accused of witchcraft, being born in the 1600's, she was burned at the stake but she failed to die during this brutal execution. So they left her in the stocks, slowly dying from starvation. The Eighth and Ninth ghost is The Great Child and the Dire Mother, working at a carnival freak show, she was assaulted by the tallest man who also worked at the carnival, resulting to giving birth to her Great Child. The Dire Mother ended up being murdered by the other carnival workers, causing Great Child to go crazy with an ax on them, only for an angry mob to then kill him. The Tenth ghost is one I would not mess with under any circumstances, The Hammer. Once a blacksmith in a small town, was accused of theft due to racial woes, killing his family. Grief stricken and angry, he takes his sledgehammer and exacts revenge on those who killed his family only to then be murdered by townsfolk, driving railroad spikes into his body until he was dead. The Eleventh Ghost is also another one I would walk across the street to avoid all eye contact which is The Jackal. A predator and a killer, being sick and twisted was all he knew. Checking himself into an insane asylum did no good for him as he lost what was left of his mind. He died in the asylum when it burned down in the 1800's. The final ghost is one to watch for because he WILL rip you apart with his bare hands....The Juggernaut. He was also nicknamed the Breaker because he would pick up hitchhikers, offer them rides, only to take them to his junkyard where he would kill them. His seventh would be victim was actually an undercover police officer, setting Juggernaut up, as he was surrounded by a SWAT team who arrested him. He was able to break free from the handcuffs, killing three police officers, then gunned down by the officers. They put another round in him afterwards just to be sure that he was dead.
The Thirteenth Ghost was meant to be a sacrifice of love and Arthur was the chosen one to become the Thirteenth Ghost. Dennis, knowing his own fate, warns Arthur of this and wants him to destroy the house so all of the spirits will be set free. Unfortunately, Dennis's vision does come true and Dennis becomes a ghost, who overlooks Arthur's safety. It turns out that Cyrus was not actually dead, he faked his own death, to use his house as a decoy to lure his nephew into the house to become a literal part of his collection. Cyrus's plan backfires and the ghosts get to exact their revenge....Now that is poetic. The iconic part is when Maggie walks out of the rubble, after the house is blown up, she says sorry to the family, to the ghosts then proclaims.....I QUIT. And that is understandably so.....
I enjoy this movie on many levels, I love the ghosts, I love Dennis as a psychic posing as the power guy and it's gratifying when the lawyer FINALLY SPLITS.
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