Illusion-O!
History lesson: One last trip to Castle-vania, because the man deserves it. Illusion-O was his concept for the release of 13 Ghosts. The spirits could only be seen with the special glasses left by one of the characters, Dr Zorba. In the theatres, the ghosts were depicted using shades of red and blue such that they were difficult to see without the special glasses handed out at the film's showings
Was it successful? Much like the birth pangs of 3D, the effects were mixed. Plus some people felt cheated, since the movie was often wrongly advertised as 3D. Fortunately for Castle, he did such a good job of promoting his movies that he never tended to lose money.
Could it work today? You can actually still find copies of the film on DVD with glasses, but there’s some controversy since more recent versions have ditched the idea altogether (probably due to cost).
We’d be happy to see an adaptation to the current 3D systems, which allows certain elements of the film. It would certainly have been useful when the remake of 13 Ghosts (Thir13en Ghosts) arrived in 2001, since it might have kept the screen blank AT ALL TIMES.
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Comments
Mart15
Apr 3rd 2009, 18:25
There are still some cinemas at French amusment park Futuroscope that have simulators that go along with movies. What's painfully evident with them as well as with the majority of movies on this list is that most of what little plot they have is built straight from the gimmick. House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler are still laff-riots on DVD though.
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