Ghost Ship (2002)
Talk about a front-loaded feature. This movie has an excellent opening sequence, specifically designed to look like an old-fashioned romantic melodrama. The credit font is a curvy pink, there's a bunch of smiling white people on a cruise ship's dance floor and a gorgeous Italian siren leading them through the steps. Suddenly, a highly tensed wire slices straight through the crowd, resulting in bodies and heads flopping straight to the ground. Perfect black comedy. Then the other shoe drops; GHOST SHIP severely squanders its potential both as an action B-movie and a creepy tale of lost souls lost at sea. After the gory prologue, we follow a group of ship scavengers in the present date, taking up the idea of a stranger's to locate the now desolate ship and drag it to shore. You do get to enjoy the camaraderie of this crew throughout, consisting of talented actors like Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Isaiah Washington, Ron Eldard, and a then-unknown Karl Urban. Too bad they have to tolerate a series of flaccid "scares", a recycling of TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE, and some truly insane revelations. Honestly, what the hell was going with the last couple of twists, including the true motives of the supernatural antagonist? Even the other impressive sequence, a disturbing reveal of what happened in the other corners of the ship, is botched by a horrendous techno song out of nowhere. The blame resides solely on director Steve Beck (THIR13EN GHOSTS), screenwriter Mark Hanlon (who?), and possibly the interference of producer heavyweight Joel Silver. So, if you want to view a promising title fall apart while rocking out to Mudvayne's "Not Falling", this one's for you.
FINAL REVIEW: 2 / 5
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