what was the point? - 13 Ghosts Discussion

[–] Jeynne 18 years ago

I haven't watched the movie in a while, but didn't the lawyer try to kill her? I know it's not one of the ghosts, but still.

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[–] grand_duchess1895 18 years ago

No, I think the lawyer tried to kill the boy, but thanks anyways for your response.

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[–] Jeynne 18 years ago

I just put the DVD on and you're right...I don't know why I remembered it as the daughter. And now the original question is going to drive me crazy because it no longer makes sense.

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[–] dancingchic 18 years ago

im watching it right now, so when i see the reason ill post again

Im on Team Captain Jack Sparrow, Savvy?
"its good to be the king"- Mel Brooks

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[–] dancingchic 18 years ago

yeah i think either the director or the writer forgot they did that. because i didnt see anything with her again. or maybe the ghosts didnt really want to kill her they just wanted to spook them all

Im on Team Captain Jack Sparrow, Savvy?
The Blunderbuss Boucan Brandishing Bosun of the Official Jack Freedom Club
Tortuga Soul At Your Service, Yarrrr
"its good to be the king"- Mel Brooks

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jcat56 18 years ago

Drwomb - I'm assuming you were born in the 90's if you felt the movie was crap.

Getting back to the original question... I don't think that Ouija board scene was meant to be taken as something important to the plot, other then the ghosts just spooking them. I think the lawyer decided to take advantage of that moment by dressing up as the apparition later in the movie. I'm sure his original plan was not to kill Buck until buck found the money, though.

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[–] i-swear-it-wasnt-me 18 years ago

bit of sterotyping on teenagers there jcat i was born in 1989 and i like this film

look i promise it wasn't me
ok look ill cut a deal with you
"points at sister" it was her

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[–] Rockhound6165 18 years ago

I don't think it pointed at anyone. What it did was answer yes then the disc floated to Medea so I don't think it singled her out. As for Ben, he didn't try to kill Medea but he did spook her then he tried to kill the boy.

"If you can do it, it ain't braggin'"-Dizzy Dean

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[–] Scott_Parton 18 years ago

Yes, it definitely pointed at her. I always thought just to scare them out of the house.

I agree that the lawyer was trying to make use of this by scaring her later in the film since she was feeling vunerable. He only tried to kill the kid because he found the money and knew the "secret". Plan B perhaps?

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[–] Bob_Zerunkel 11 years ago

You're assuming he meant that all teenagers would think it was a poor film.

Easy mistake for a teenager to make.

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[–] andrsbckly 17 years ago

First, this movie is a classic, and if u think it's crap, it's because you have probably been weaned on computerized SFX, you poor creature.
NOW then....it seems you have all forgotten one important fact: the ghosts were WARNING medea, not indicating her death, warning her to not get involved with Ben. In fact, the ghosts constantly warn the family- and Ben would have killed all of them, including her anyway.\

BTW, medea was the name of Jason's spurned sorceress woman in the argonaut story,

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[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 11 years ago

You've got it right.

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[–] Steve_L 18 years ago

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I don't think it specifically targeted her, it just floated in the air and landed in her lap, but I didn't think it was actually indicating her.

Having said that, she later encounters that apparition in her room (which we later find out is Ben dressed up in a costume) so maybe Ben had her in mind as the first victim. But how did he manage to rig the planchette? Maybe the planchette was genuine, and (realising that Medea would be worried that she would be the first victim) this gave him the idea to target her first?

I dunno, it only suggestion...

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[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] zboycoolcat 15 years ago

I agree with steve.

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[–] novastar_6 15 years ago

I think the point of it is...everybody says Ben didn't try to kill Medea, but he really didn't have a good enough chance for us to find out, did he? He's there dressed up like a ghost, she runs out screaming, he most likely did NOT anticiapte her waking up to shut the windows. Did anybody think about that?

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] novastar_6 15 years ago

Oh I don't know about that. I wouldn't say Strait-Jacket is made for kids, or Homicidal for that matter.

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[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 15 years ago

I'm not a fan of the approach to fiction that everything has to have some "payoff" purpose later on. I find that formulaic and it leads to predictability in a negative way. If you need a plot-based explanation for it for some reason, there are any number of possibilities, including that the ghosts were just antagonizing the family, the ghosts do not have omniscient access to future events, and the ghosts had knowledge of that future event, but it wasn't unalterable, and what we saw altered it.

http://www.rateyourmusic.com/~JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies

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[–] Ten-Inch-Toni 11 years ago

I no this is an incredibly old post, but I just watched the film again for the millionth time. It's a guilty pleasure of mine.

Anyway, Andrsbckly below or above me, has it right.

First, this movie is a classic, and if u think it's crap, it's because you have probably been weaned on computerized SFX, you poor creature.
NOW then....it seems you have all forgotten one important fact: the ghosts were WARNING medea, not indicating her death, warning her to not get involved with Ben. In fact, the ghosts constantly warn the family- and Ben would have killed all of them, including her anyway.\

BTW, medea was the name of Jason's spurned sorceress woman in the argonaut story,

The ghosts new that Zorba had willed his home and fortune to Zorba the nephew. After all Zorba the ghost is one of the 12 ghosts in residence at the home.

The OuiJa board, seance, the things Buck learns are all the ghosts and ghost-Zorba's attempt to warn the family that Ben is planning to kill them if he can't frighten them away.

Some of you think Ben didn't get the idea to frighten Medea until the OuiJa board went crazy, but that's not correct either. Remember, he murdered Zorba. Zorba-the-ghost wants his family to have the hidden fortune and the house.

So... anyway, the OuiJa board says one will die in the house and that's true... the one being Ben. But, they also warn that the rest of the family is in danger.

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[–] MystMoonstruck 10 years ago

People have made some great points about the family being warned.

However, I just watched "House on Haunted Hill", also by Castle, and in it he has blood drop on a woman's hand, at which point she is told that she is marked for death. She even experiences blood on the hand later, but....
SPOILER BELOW!

Nothing ever happens to her. I think Castle also liked to do this as misdirection. We're waiting for something to happen to that woman and to Medea, but~~~~~~nothing really happens! Medea gets a couple of frights; that's all. The columnist in "HOHH" escapes without more than those two incidents. Meanwhile, Castle blasts us again and again with other scares.

Again: I do agree about the uncle trying to warn them. BTW: I saw this in the theater with my family when I was about 9 years old. Sadly, the "glasses" were lost likely during our move to the city; I'm sure that my younger sister and I would have hung onto them till then. Also lost in the move were my first four issues of "Fantastic Four" and other comics now worth a great deal. *enormous sigh*

(W)hat are we without our dreams?
Making sure our fantasies
Do not overpower our realities. ~ RC

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