Ghost Ship (2002)

Director:

Steve Beck

Writers (WGA):

Mark Hanlon (story)
Mark Hanlon (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 October 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sea Evil

Plot:

A salvage crew that discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea soon notices, as they try to tow it back to land, that "strange things" happen...

Plot Keywords:

Ghost Ship | Ghost | Luxury Liner | Spear Gun | Cut Into Pieces

Cast

Gabriel Byrne	...	Captain Sean Murphy
Julianna Margulies	...	Maureen Epps
Ron Eldard	...	Dodge
Desmond Harrington	...	Jack Ferriman
Isaiah Washington	...	Greer
Alex Dimitriades	...	Santos
Karl Urban	...	Munder
Emily Browning	...	Katie Harwood
Francesca Rettondini	...	Francesca
Boris Brkic	...	Chief Steward
Bob Ruggiero	...	Captain (as Robert Ruggiero)
Iain Gardiner	...	Purser
Adam Bieshaar	...	First Officer
Cameron Watt	...	Second Officer
Jamie Giddens	...	Friendly Officer

Also Known As:

Chimera (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence/gore, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Finland:K-15 | South Korea:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Brazil:16 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:16 (cut) | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:PG-12 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:R (certificate #39390) | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The opening floor deck sequence of the film where everyone is severed in the torso area by a cable, was originally conceived to be that everyone was decapitated, but the studio didn't like the idea.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Just after the Arctic Warrior explodes, Epps jumps from the Antonia Graza's forward well deck into the water and emerges unharmed. The well deck is at least 6 or 7 decks above the waterline, and such a fall would have caused a great deal of pain and possibly some broken bones.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Greer: I can't hold her much longer, Murph. Port bow is heeling. She's taking on way too much water.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Around the Bend (2004)

Soundtrack:

Slippin' Into Darkness

an honest horror movie. Starring Gabriel Byrne

The third movie produced by the production company "Dark Castle" and managed by Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis, "Ghost Ship" (2002) marks a step forward and constitutes a neat improvement in comparison with the two previous movies, "the House on the Haunted Hill" (1999) and "13 Ghosts" (2001). This can be checked at the level of a meticulous making and quite outstanding special effects. It is all the more positive as with "Ghost Ship", we deal with a B movie. Another good point: the change of scenery. It is a judicious choice to have replaced the threadbare topic of the haunted house by the haunted ship.

If the screenplay doesn't avoid all the Hollywood conventions, neither all the clichés of the horror film, the director Steve Beck makes up for it by shrouding his movie an atmosphere of mystery as soon as the crew discovers the ship. He's also imposing (slowly but surely) a progressive rise of the tension which reaches its climax in the end. The result: we come in for a few real moments of fright and Beck, in the long run puts the spectator in his pocket.

As far as the cast is concerned, there are two surprises. First: Julianna Margulies who for once decided to give up scalpels in the "ER" series and especially Gabriel Byrne. An ambitious actor who isn't reluctant to sometimes act in a horror movie which is potboiler for him like "End of Days" (1999) or "Stigmata" (1999).

It is a shame that the end isn't really satisfying and suits badly to the whole. But no matter, "Ghost Ship" remains a nice little horror movie whose main function is to make shiver. For this, it reaches its goal. One last thing, if the movies that come out of the "Dark Castle" production company keep on gaining in quality, maybe will they create a masterpiece one day...

NB:it borrows a bit from "shining".