Is Thir13en Ghosts (2001) scary?

Moderately so — Thir13en Ghosts (2001) mixes scares with other modes. As a haunted house film, it scored 5.5/10 for fear, 7.3/10 for atmosphere, and 7.0/10 overall on Watch Darkly's curator scale across 2 ratings.

When did Thir13en Ghosts (2001) come out, and is it streaming?

Thir13en Ghosts (2001)'s US theatrical release date is October 26, 2001. It first became available to watch at home on January 17, 2002.

What age is Thir13en Ghosts (2001) appropriate for?

Thir13en Ghosts (2001) is rated R. Watch Darkly does not assign its own age rating, so here is what the film actually contains. On Watch Darkly's curator scale it scored 5.5/10 for fear, 7.5/10 for gore, and 6.0/10 for intensity, where 10 is the most extreme in the catalog. Content warnings on file: child endangerment and self harm.

Who is in the cast of Thir13en Ghosts (2001)?

Tony Shalhoub plays Arthur, Embeth Davidtz plays Kalina, Matthew Lillard plays Rafkin, Shannon Elizabeth plays Kathy, Alec Roberts plays Bobby, JR Bourne plays Ben Moss, Rah Digga plays Maggie, F. Murray Abraham plays Cyrus.

What are some films like Thir13en Ghosts (2001)?

Films similar to Thir13en Ghosts (2001) on Watch Darkly include Oculus (2013), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Evil Dead Rise (2023), selected by shared themes and tags plus the curator scoring across fear, gore, atmosphere, intensity, and overall quality.

Metadata and artwork from TMDB. Not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Haunted house

Thir13en Ghosts

2001 · R · 1h 31m

Curator Score7.0/ 10

Misery loves company.

Release & where to watch

In theaters: October 26, 2001
Home release: January 17, 2002

Where to watchUS, as of Sep 15, 2026

Rent or buy: Amazon VideoApple TV StoreYouTubePlex

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Watch Darkly

Curator Certificate

7.0

Out of ten

Passed by two curators

Fear5.5

Gore7.5

Atmosphere7.3

Intensity6.0

How we score

Built on gore and atmosphere.

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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.

Plot summary via TMDB

Genres

horrorthriller

Details

Budget$42M

Box office$68.5M

Directed by

Steve Beck

Written by

Richard D'Ovidio, Neal Marshall Stevens, Todd Alcott, Robb White

Cinematography

Gale Tattersall

Music

John Frizzell

Starring

Tony Shalhoub as Arthur · Embeth Davidtz as Kalina · Matthew Lillard as Rafkin · Shannon Elizabeth as Kathy · Alec Roberts as Bobby · JR Bourne as Ben Moss · Rah Digga as Maggie · F. Murray Abraham as Cyrus

Production

Columbia Pictures, Dark Castle Entertainment, Warner Bros. Pictures

Reviews

blessedmakerCurator

Apr 21, 2026

Overall7Fear4Atmos.8Gore7

Flawed but very entertaining film. The good: practical effects/make up and ghost/creature/monster design is absolutely top tier. The ghosts are distinctive and are creepy and twisted in their own right which immerses you. The architecture of the "building" the story takes place in is creative and sets are intricate and also help with the immersion building of the story. Tony Shalhoub and Matthew Lillard are standouts in their role, Shalhoub convinces as the protective but broken father (I mean he does the best he can with the writing), and Lillard plays his role as a depraved clairvoyant to maximum effect. Soundtrack is quite good too - good balance of epic/mysterious/foreboding when it was needed. The bad: Family dynamics lacked authenticity (aside from Shalhoub), Shannon Elizabeth (quick, which movie do you think of when you see her, thats probably why they casted her) feels miscast as his daughter and it's glaringly obvious. Plot is pretty wild and definitely has moments where it piqued my curiosity but in my opinion it didn't quite stick the landing and the motivations of characters sounded too implausible. I wouldn't say the story is bad though, just not quite enough there at the end. TLDR; entertaining horror movie, monsters extremely well crafted, great set pieces, and Lillard is charismatic and brings juice to his character. Worth a watch.

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