Top Box Office Movies

Ghost Ship (2002) Warner Brothers
1 hr. 31 mins.
Starring: Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne, Isaiah Washington, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington
Directed by: Steve Beck

Ghost Ship

Rating:

E-MAIL GIANCARLO DE LISI

Photo: Warner Brothers

Despite its' poignant ending which includes a suggestive supernatural twist, 'Ghost Ship' is about as empty as a sunken vessel. My apologies for the horrendous analogy, but this film is truly an unfortunate attempt at breathing new life into the tired genre of horror.

Director Steve Beck first started his career as a Visual Effects Supervisor working on such movies as 'The Hunt for Red October' and 'The Abyss'. In this film, he takes his love for aquatic shots and desecrates an even more desecrated plot with silly banter, horrible acting and ambitious angles that result in a flawed film. The only element that redeems this film from being an annihilation of the human intellect, is its' interesting and somewhat surprising ending. Make no mistake, we are not talking about a 'Sixth Sense' ending, but as the audience becomes conditioned to predictable, formulaic dribble in this film which offers nothing new to this wasted genre, suddenly comes this twist ending that seems grandiose due to the context it is situated in.

Director Beck's first feature was 'Thir13een Ghosts', and while it was a stylish and empty film, 'Ghost Ship's visuals are mundane and dry, even with the abundance of water occupying the frame. Producers Robert Zemeckis (yes that Robert Zemeckis) and Joel 'The Matrix' Silver continue churning cost conscious horror fare from their Dark Castle Entertainment division. This is the third feature after 'House on Haunted Hill' and 'Thir13een Ghosts'. The result: the least satisfying of the three but with a creepy ending that is brought to life by the infusion of a refreshing heavy metal score that replaces the tiresome unoriginal and repetitive score of Music composer John Frizzell.

The film opens with an eye-opening counter-horrific credit sequence reminiscent of the 1950's Frankie Vallie pictures. Pink titles underlined by a nostalgic score introduce us to the film as even the film's title is presented in a pink bubble gum font. That sets the stage for a malicious and violent opening sequence where the camera pans over all the victims in a 1950's cruise liner who await a gruesome death. Cut to present day as actor Gabriel Byrne cannot find himself another 'The Usual Suspects' script and has to settle for a seemingly out of work actor position in this film. Also, fresh from her departure from ER, Julianna Margulies is introduced as a tough talking tom-boyish character who fears nothing, but who will as the visions commence later on in the film.

All these characters compose the core of a salvage crew who set out to sail after this 1953 Ocean liner, which mysteriously disappeared. As the crew attempts to tow the liner back to shore, they notice the most surreal and violent events ever witnessed. Mind you, not all of our cast of characters make it out alive to see the reason behind the boat's disappearance retold in an impressive timely and flashy edited sequence. Flashy is not an adjective one would want to associate with this film.

The film is generic and tiresome except as aforementioned for the final 20 minutes. While it does not offer anything new to the genre, it insults the audience with the less is more take that eventually offers absolutely nothing.

`Ghost Ship' will probably satisfy the hard core horror fans due to its' extreme and vicious massacres, yet the film offers no horror and suffers from its' own ambitious yet unfulfilled suggestivity.

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Giancarlo De Lisi
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