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Thirteen Ghosts (2001) KILL COUNT is the two hundred and seventy-first video of The Kill Count.
Overview[]
Ghost hunter Cyrus Kriticos and his psychic assistant Dennis Rafkin lead a team on a mission to capture a spirit called the Juggernaut. Several men, including Cyrus, are killed while the team is able to catch the ghost. Cyrus's nephew Arthur, a widower, is informed by Cyrus's estate lawyer, Ben Moss, that he has inherited Cyrus' mansion. Financially insecure, Arthur decides to move there with his two children, Kathy and Bobby, and their nanny, Maggie.
Dennis meets the family as they tour the mansion. The residence is made entirely of glass sheets inscribed with Latin phrases, which Dennis recognizes as barrier spells. He discovers that the twelve angry ghosts he and Cyrus captured are imprisoned in the house, held captive by the spells. As he warns Arthur, Moss unwittingly triggers a mechanism that seals the house and releases the ghosts. He dies when a set of sliding doors cut him in half. Bobby sees several of the ghosts, including the Withered Lover - his mother Jean, who had died of injuries sustained in a house fire. He is knocked unconscious and dragged away.
Dennis uses a pair of spectral glasses that allow the wearer to see the supernatural realm to avoid the ghosts. The Jackal, one of the most dangerous of the twelve, attacks Kathy and Arthur but they are saved by Kalina Oretzia, a spirit liberator who is attempting to free the ghosts. Kathy disappears, and the four adults gather in the library, where Arthur learns that Jean's ghost is also in the house. Kalina explains that the house is a machine, powered by the captive ghosts, that allows its user to see the past, present, and future. The only way to shut it down is through the creation of a thirteenth ghost from a sacrifice of love. Arthur realizes that he must become that ghost to save his children.
Armed with the spectral glasses, Arthur and Dennis enter the basement to find the children. Dennis barricades Arthur behind glass to save him which allows the Hammer and the Juggernaut to beat Dennis to death. It is revealed that Cyrus faked his death to lure Arthur to the house; Kalina is his partner. Cyrus has orchestrated the abduction of Kathy and Bobby so that Arthur will become the thirteenth ghost, which will not stop the machine as Kalina had claimed, but trigger its activation. Cyrus kills Kalina and summons the ghosts to activate the machine.
In the main hall, Arthur witnesses all twelve ghosts orbiting a clockwork device of rotating metal rings, with his children at the center. He fights Cyrus while Maggie disrupts the machine's controls, releasing the ghosts from its power and causing the machine to go haywire. The ghosts hurl Cyrus into the moving rings, slicing him to pieces. With the encouragement of Dennis' ghost, Arthur jumps through the machine safely to protect his children. The walls of the house shatter as the malfunctioning machine rips itself apart, freeing the ghosts. Jean's ghost tells them she loves them before she disappears. Maggie angrily declares she quits her nanny job, and the family peacefully leave the house.
Deaths[]
Counted Deaths:[]
- "When Did Those Happen" Kills #1 - Presumably killed by Juggernaut - 7 mins in (bodies seen)
- "When Did Those Happen" Kills #2 - Presumably killed by Juggernaut - 7 mins in (bodies seen)
- Cyrus's Guy #1 - Killed in junkyard w/ junkyard stuff - 7 mins in
- Cyrus's Guy #2 - Killed in junkyard w/ junkyard stuff - 7 mins in
- Cyrus's Guy #3 - Killed in junkyard w/ junkyard stuff - 7 mins in
- Cyrus's Guy #4 - Beaten to death by Juggernaut - 8 mins in
- Damon - Found dead after scrap in Junkyard - 9 mins in
- Jean Kriticos - Died in housefire (offscreen) - 11 mins in
- Ben Moss - Split in half down frontal plane - 35 mins in
- Dennis Rafkin- Beaten, back broken by Juggernaut - 1 hr 15 mins in
- Kalina Oretzia - Crushed to death by glass walls - 1 hr 18 mins in
- Cyrus Kriticos - Chopped up by rotating machine parts - 1 hr 22 mins in
Non-Counted Deaths[]
- The First Born Son - Died Before the Film
- The Torso - Died Before the Film
- The Bound Woman - Died Before the Film
- The Torn Prince - Died Before the Film
- The Angry Princess - Died Before the Film
- The Pilgrimess - Died Before the Film
- The Great Child - Died Before the Film
- The Dire Mother - Died Before the Film
- The Hammer - Died Before the Film
- The Jackal - Died Before the Film
- The Juggernaut - Died Before the Film
Trivia[]
- Dennis Rifkin is played by Matthew Lillard, previous on the Kill Count as Ghostface killer Stu Macher in Scream (1996).
- A year after Thir13en Ghosts, Matthew Lillard starred in Scooby-Doo (2002) and its sequel Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (2004) as Norville 'Shaggy' Rogers. Coincidentally there was a Scooby-Doo show involving thirteen ghosts called The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985), voiced by Vincent Price as Vincent Van Ghoul. Curiously, the first movie produced by Dark Castle Entertainment (and the previous to Thir13en Ghosts (2001)) is House on Haunted Hill (1999), a remake from the original House on Haunted Hill (1959) which starred Vincent Price.
- Kalina Oretzia is played by Embeth Davidtz, who played Miss Jennifer Honey in Danny DeVito movie Matilda, and was previous seen in Army of Darkness.
- This is the last Kill Count of Year 4.