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Ghost Ship (2002)
Rate:
3
Viewed:
5/22
5/22:
I didn't "sea" evil but bad filmmaking in Ghost Ship.
The more the story went on, the more I felt James Cameron's distinctive style was being ripped off when it came
to creating a tale on the ocean. My instincts were proven correct because the director, Steve Beck, used to
assist in visual effects for The Abyss. He only did two films (this one and
Thirteen Ghosts) that turned out to be semi box-office disasters and
therefore never worked in Hollywood again.
Ghost Ship has a terrible intro because of the lame editing. Who does title design for a horror film with
pink lettering that's meant for chick flicks? That's absurd. To make matters worse is the inferior acting. I admit
that Gabriel Byrne did sustain my interest, but they've made a big mistake by killing his character off midway
through. Once he's gone, there goes the film.
The concept as presented early on is actually interesting: a ghost ship with no living crew or passengers aboard.
But it doesn't have to be silly or gory. Just treat it as a mystery thriller by providing a lot of artifacts and
newspaper clippings. That way, it'll be like The Changeling or
Cold Creek Manor. Instead, Steve Beck opts for the clichéd route that's
been done to death a hundred times before. What I said was the original intention of the screenplay, but it got
radically changed without the cast's knowledge until everybody arrived in Australia for the principal shooting.
By the way, there's no way the standard gold bar is that light.
All in all, Ghost Ship sounds promising, but the execution falls flat.