The Thirteenth Guest

Reviews

CinemaSerf
Ginger Rogers ("Lela") and Lyle Talbot ("Winston") work well enough together in this quite enjoyable murder mystery. It all centres around a dinner party that took place (or didn't!) some thirteen years earlier, at which the wealthy host died. It turns out that his fortune has been left to the thirteenth guest, but nobody knows who that actually is/was... Skip forward to present day, and a young woman returns to the house - still bedecked for the ill-fated banquet, only electricity and a telephone have been installed. After a brief altercation with two unknown assailants, she is murdered - or is she? Who is she? The police, led by "Capt. Ryan" (J. Farrell MacDonald) now have to track down the culprits and establish an hitherto unclear motive for all these shenanigans. They start by summoning those who ought to have been at that fateful dinner and with the aid of Talbot (a criminologist) work to get to the bottom of things, in an increasingly dangerous environment for all! As cheap and cheerful thrillers go, it's not bad at all. The eerie big house setting works well in it's favour, the pace is quite effective and there are enough interesting characters - especially the acerbic "Marjorie" (Frances Rich) and an hooded stranger who inhabits the obligatory secret passages, to keep the pot boiling. I could have done with far less of McDonald's annoying comical sidekick "Grump" (Paul Hurst) though even he does manage to raise a laugh at the end. It was probably just the print, but the lighting really needed a bit more radiance too. Worth an hour though...
Movie Recommendation
- Tajomaru: Avenging Blade2009-09-12TAJOMARU is the famous 'bandit' of the forest from RASHOMON. Whoever kills Tajomaru inherits his name, status and sword. A royal brother leaves his kingdom to protect the princess he loves, only to find a series of harrowing adventures along the way which lead him back to where he came from, and then disinheriting his past to become the bandit TAJOMARU.More...
- Defeat of the German Forces Near Moscow: The Restored Soviet WW2 DocumentaryNo data for this movieSoviet wartime cameramen accompanied the fighting troops of the Red Army on foot, aboard their tanks, and in their aircraft to film this epochal documentary of the Battle of Moscow that halted the vaunted and---until then, unstoppable---German war machine cold in its tracks.More...
- Serial Killers: The Real Life Hannibal Lecters2001-01-01This documentary examines a selection of real life serial killers and compares them to the fictional Hannibal Lecter.More...
- F.O.T.O.G.R.A.F.2018-03-11A short film based on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fictional universe, combining the “Picnic to the curb” of the Strugatsky brothers, “Stalker” by Andrei Tarkovsky and the “Exclusion Zone” location around the Chernobyl NPP. According to the scenario, an agent of the peacekeeping forces, nicknamed "The Photographer", arrives in the Zone to prevent a global scale catastrophe, which could be caused by an experiment that went out of control at a scientific lab.More...
- Don Camillo: Monsignor1961-10-07Don Camillo (now bishop) and Peppone (now senator) return to the town of Brescello and rekindle their friendly rivalry.More...
- Marvel One-Shot: Item 472012-08-29Benny and Claire, a down-on-their-luck couple, find a discarded Chitauri weapon referred to as 'Item 47'.More...
- Tremors 5: Bloodlines2015-10-06When Gummer is hired to capture a deadly creature terrorizing South Africa, he and his new sidekick, Travis Welker, engage in another battle of survival against the fiercely aggressive Graboids.More...
- Strange Object2020-10-07An archival investigation into the imperial image-making of the RAF ‘Z Unit’, which determined the destruction of human, animal and cultural life across Somaliland, as well as Africa and Asia.More...
- Paiyaa2010-04-02Shiva, an engineering graduate, is not serious about his job or future even when his friends advise him about life. He falls in love with a girl he saw at a bus stop and finally gets to ride with her in a car.More...
- A Lure: Teen Fight Club2010-11-16A community is under siege as three Belmont Highschool coed students go missing with no trace of their whereabouts. The pressure is on the police to capture the culprits responsible. Scouring the school hallways in search of clues, undercover female detective Maggie Rawdon (Jessica Sonnerborn) enters Belmont High as a transfer student in an attempt to solve the hideous disappearance of the students. Maggie makes a few new friends, and gets invited to a private rave in the country. Just as the group begins to suspect that they've taken a wrong turn, however, the trap is sprung and Maggie finds out firsthand what fate has befallen the missing girls.More...
- Scooby-Doo! and the Sea Monsters2012-03-06The scares start in Hawaii, where Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are scarfing down the surf-and-turf menu until a giant serpent tries to swallow them faster than you can say She Sees Sea Monsters by the Seashore. In Uncle Scooby and Antarctica, a friendly penguin invites the Mystery, Inc. crew to visit his polar home, which happens to be haunted by an ice ghost! Then, the gang meets music group Smash Mouth while visiting Australia's Great Barrier Reef to watch Shaggy and Scooby compete in a sand castle contest in Reef Grief! Just when they think it's safe to go back in the water... it isn't.More...
- Naruto OVA 12: The Day Naruto Became Hokage2016-07-06Depicts the day that Naruto Uzumaki became the 7th Hokage.More...
- Florence Fight Club2015-06-21Intertwined stories from the gladiator/athletes participating to the Calcio Storico Fiorentino yearly championship.More...
- Small Change1976-03-17Various experiences of childhood are seen in several sequences that take place in the small town of Thiers, France. Vignettes include a boy's awakening interest in girls, couples double-dating at the movies, brothers giving their friend a haircut, a boy dealing with an abusive home life, a baby and a cat sitting by an open window, a child telling a dirty joke, and a boy who develops a crush on his friend's mother.More...
- Insane Fight Club II - This Time It’s Personal2015-01-21Insane Fight Club is back. This year the boys are taking their unique form of entertainment to England as they stage fight nights in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.More...
- Taxi 22000-03-25A cabdriver and a cop race to Paris to rescue a love interest and the Japanese minister of defense from kidnappers.More...
- A Geisha's Diary1961-07-28A young girl is rigorously trained in the feminine arts so that she can become a geisha. As she struggles through life, she learns to live not just as a woman but as a complete person.More...
- First Knight1995-07-07The timeless tale of King Arthur and the legend of Camelot are retold in this passionate period drama. Arthur is reluctant to hand the crown to Lancelot, and Guinevere is torn between her loyalty to her husband and her growing love for his rival. But Lancelot must balance his loyalty to the throne with the rewards of true love.More...
- Terminator Commando2017-08-25Jake Crusher is a cop from the 80's who gets sucked into a VCR where he becomes Video Cop.More...
- The Little Matchgirl2006-09-07An animated short based on Hans Christian Andersen's tale about a poor young girl with a burning desire to find comfort and happiness in her life. Desperate to keep warm, the girl lights the matches she sells, and envisions a very different life for herself in the fiery flames filled with images of loving relatives, bountiful food, and a place to call home.More...
Similar Movies
Se7en
1995-09-22Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.M
1931-05-11In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.Dominique
2024-10-11Dominique, a well-trained assassin, flees from her troubled past in an attempt to begin a new life in South America. However, she soon finds herself in a town plagued with violence and corruption. Facing brutal attacks from the police and mafia, Dominique must decide whether to protect herself or an innocent family that has taken her in.Corbin Nash
2018-04-20A rogue police detective in search of his parents' killer is murdered and reborn the ultimate killer.Jackie Brown
1997-12-25Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.Leave No Traces
2021-09-24In 1983, communist Poland is shaken by the case of high school student Grzegorz Przemyk, who is beaten to death by police. The only witness of the beating becomes the number one enemy of the state.Priest of Evil
2010-10-29Detective sergeant Timo Harjunpää of the Helsinki Violent Crime Unit loses his daughter in a tragic way. Despite the support of his closest colleague, Constable Onerva Nykänen, Harjunpää is unable to recover from the loss of his family. He seeks revenge against his daughter's killer, while in his work he investigates strange deaths in the Helsinki metro that turn out to be the work of a serial killer.The Most Dangerous Ga...
1932-09-16When legendary hunter Bob Rainsford is shipwrecked on the perilous reefs surrounding a mysterious island, he finds himself the guest of the reclusive and eccentric Count Zaroff. While he is very gracious at first, Zaroff eventually forces Rainsford and two other shipwreck survivors, brother and sister Eve and Martin Towbridge, to participate in a sadistic game of cat and mouse in which they are the prey and he is the hunter.No Good Deed
2002-06-28While doing a friend a favour and searching for a runaway teenager, a police detective stumbles upon a bizarre band of criminals about to pull off a bank robbery. The screenplay by Christopher Cannan and Steve Barancik is based on the short story "The House in Turk Street" by Dashiell Hammett.Z
1969-02-26Amid a tense political climate, the opposition leader is killed in an apparent accident. When a prosecutor smells a cover-up, witnesses get targeted. A thinly veiled dramatization of the assassination of Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis and its aftermath, “Z” captures the outrage at the US-backed junta that ruled Greece at the time of its release.15 Minutes
2001-03-01When Eastern European criminals Oleg and Emil come to New York City to pick up their share of a heist score, Oleg steals a video camera and starts filming their activities, both legal and illegal. When they learn how the American media circus can make a remorseless killer look like the victim and make them rich, they target media-savvy NYPD Homicide Detective Eddie Flemming and media-naive FDNY Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw, the cops investigating their murder and torching of their former criminal partner, filming everything to sell to the local tabloid TV show "Top Story."Danger: Diabolik
1968-01-24International man of mystery Diabolik and his sensuous lover Eva Kant pull off heist after heist, all while European cops led by Inspector Ginko and envious mobsters led by Ralph Valmont are closing in on them.D Company
2013-09-13D Company is a 2013 Indian Malayalam action portmanteau film. It is an anthology of three independently shot action films directed by M. Padmakumar, Vinod Vijayan and Diphan. Its cast includes Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, Unni Mukundan, Fahad Fazil and Asif Ali. The film is produced by Vinod Vijayan, Seven Arts Mohan and Faisal Latheef under the banner of D Cutz Film Company. (From Wikipedia)Run
2017-03-09Run is a dramatic thriller following Levi, a young businessman who marries the love of his life, Natalie Winters (Taylor Murphy), a passionate journalist who reports on human trafficking and fights to expose it. On their wedding night Natalie is kidnapped and in the process to be sold into sex slavery. Levi goes on the hunt for his wife, chasing clues wherever he can find them, leading him to Jeff Conners (Stephen Baldwin) a crime lord with no mercy. Will Levi be able to find his wife before she is sent to Florida and sold in Cuba? Only with the help of God can Levi find the strength to fight.2012: Curse of the Xt...
2012-07-13A sealed ancient Mayan cave would be blown open unleashing Xtabai to wreak havoc on the world and destroy civilization. She begins by infecting the inhabitants of a nearby village with a terrible and deadly fever. The government responds by placing the village under quarantine. A team of students along with their teacher escape into the jungle to find a cure, guided only by a dream. They go deep into the bowels of the Mayan underworld, hunted by Xtabai herself. Will they ultimately succeed in defeating the evil Xtabai and saving mankind from her curse? How many will live to tell the tale?Cop Land
1997-08-15Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.The Long Goodbye
1973-03-08In 1970s Hollywood, Detective Philip Marlowe tries to help a friend who is accused of murdering his wife.Poodle Springs
1998-07-25Private eye Philip Marlowe and his bride move to a desert town, where he uncovers a land scheme.Crime of Passion
1956-12-28Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.Zodiac
2007-03-02The Zodiac murders cause the lives of Paul Avery, David Toschi and Robert Graysmith to intersect.