What’s it rated? Unrated
When? 1960
Where’s it showing? The Bay Theater, Monday, March 25,
at 5:30 p.m.
William Castle (House on Haunted Hill) directs this ghost story by Robb White (The Tingler). Occultist Dr. Plato Zorba dies, leaving his ramshackle mansion to his impoverished nephew, Cyrus (Donald Woods), and his family, wife Hilda (Rosemary DeCamp), teen daughter Medea (Jo Morrow), and young son Buck (Charles Herbert). The old mansion comes with housekeeper Elaine Zacharides (Margaret Hamilton, the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz). Oh, and 12 ghosts and a hidden treasure.
When released, it used a gimmick: Illusion-O, a pair of cellophane glasses allowing viewers to “see” the ghosts through a red filter or “remove” the ghosts through a blue filter. When the film was released to television, the ghosts were tinted red. No word on whether the March 25 screening at the Bay Theater will include Illusion-O glasses.
“I wish. I’m waiting to see what the print the distributor sends looks like,” theater proprietor Cameron Wilson laughed.
In any case, viewers brave enough to witness this film will encounter spirits such as a wailing woman, a lion and its headless trainer, an Italian chef who’s perpetually murdering his wife and her lover, and even Zorba himself, all of whom can only be freed when they collect a 13th ghost. (84 min.) Ī
This article appears in Spring Arts Annual 2024.