Ghost Ship (2002) User Reviews (573)

Interesting movie that had more potential (Contains Spoilers)

[sherlock_2040 · 6/10 · 30 July 2003]

Spoiler Alert! I love Dark Castle entertainment, I didn't love 13 Ghosts, but I did really enjoy House on Haunted Hill. I loved the original HoHH, and I thought the 'remake' was inventive and had some unique parts to it. It wasn't brilliant, but the special effects were beautiful and the sets were magnificent.

As a technical theatre student studying everything from stage management to lighting design these films are wonderful exercise in how to create atmosphere through lighting, sound & setting.

Okay so the film wasn't Oscar worthy, particularly well written or particularly well acted, but it did create an atmosphere it did give us a sense of setting and era... and to top it all off, everything was lush in detail.

The special effects team had done their homework. During the opening scene where they're all cut up by the high-tension cable, not only was it gory and creepy, but it was accurate to a degree. The lighting effects with the light reflecting off the water, the dripping sounds and the sound track were all amazing.

I would watch this film again, but only the opening and the middle part where Katie takes us on a journey through what happened. I enjoyed the film, and that's all films are really about - enjoyment. The background history here was errie and disturbing, there was a definite sense of panic here; made me think about how vulnerable you are travelling on board of a ship, your fate put completely in the hands of total strangers.

A lot more could have been made of the film though. More exploration of the ship, discovery of more bodies or something to alert people that something wasn't quite right about this ship. More background story about the gold! The dead captain told the live captain that they salvaged the gold from a sinking ship, more background was needed.

After watching the film I was left with a feeling of wanting to know 'why' it happened, rather than *what* was going to happen next.

Kudos to the special effects team, possibly the first time I've felt sick watching a film. You knew what was going to happen from the camera shots of the tension cable, but I wasn't quite expecting that! Also kudos to the actors who played the ill-fated passengers, especially to the little girl and the dead captain!

I'd give this film at least 5.5 out of ten, it did what it set out to do -- entertain me and that's good enough for me :)

forget that cruise you always wanted!

[susanxx · 7/10 · 21 January 2004]

This films best bits are in the special effects and those moments when you jump out of your seat. The opening sequence lulls you into a false sense of calm, from then on its guess the scenario. The viewer is always two steps ahead of the actors but, for the most, grips you nevertheless. The special effects are especially good and the acting, although no top-notch stars are evident, is not bad. The end is a real twist. Better to watch this than many others I could mention, certainly worth the video rental and a pizza.

‘Love Boat' out of hell!!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 16 February 2004]

I'm rather pleasantly surprised after seeing Ghost Ship…I expected it to be a lot sillier, more dumb and inferior than it actually is. Still a long way from being a good horror film but a step in the right direction, to say the least. Cast and crew paid attention to building up a horrifying atmosphere instead of attacking the audience with lame and violent killing scenes. That's an effort that gets my appreciation. The vicious opening sequence is professional horror… a scene that grabs you by the throat and demands your complete attention and curiosity for the rest of the movie. The high quality level is held up a little while longer but unfortunately it loses his grip during the second half. For as long as the mysterious, deserted ship is portrayed as a complete riddle, the film is fascinating, interesting and beautifully shot. As soon as a few plot-aspects are clarified, Ghost Ship turns into a mediocre and predictable thriller…I'm convinced that, with a slightly more intelligent script, this could have become one of the better horror-thrillers since the new Millennium. Now, it's only regarded as a reasonable and decent effort that lacks a bit of talent. Nonetheless, the settings and decors make it worth watching. The graphic decorations aren't overused, so it remains a beautiful experience to observe at least once. Gabriel Byrne is acting far below his normal standards and yet he's still great! All the other cast-members are pretty uninspired and forgettable. I'd describe Ghost Ship as a nice waste of time. If you have the opportunity, I advise you to search for an 80's horror title called `Death Ship'…a terrific piece of trash of which Ghost Ship borrowed a lot of ideas.

A solid genre movie that builds a good atmosphere and tension across the 90 minutes even if it isn't anything that special

[bob the moo · 5 July 2006]

Sean Murphy and his crew are the top salvage experts in the land (well, sea). They have just completed one big job when a pilot, Jack Ferriman, comes tot them with a ship that he has spotted in remote, international waters. It hasn't responded to distress signals and it seems fair game if Murphy will give Jack a cut and let him come along. Murphy accepts and they set off. The fact that the ship doesn't show up on radar doesn't ring any alarm bells with the crew, who board the ship to find a deserted vessel ripe for the pickings. However she has sustained damage and has days before she will sink forever. Diver Maureen spotted a young girl on board is only the first of several strange things to occur and soon the crew find themselves in deeper than they planned.

Opening with a scene so brutal and gory (made all the worse for me knowing it was coming) that I literally couldn't watch, this film had me hooked at the same time as having me worried that this would just be a big gore fest with nothing else to it. Indeed this is what I had heard, having only read negative reviews for this film. However for the majority it avoids this by being spooky, atmospheric and engaging. The plot isn't anything amazing but it does the job. Many reviewers have said it turns rubbish in the final thirty minutes but to me it was still effective even if it did resort to genre by being gorier and more obvious. It will never win any awards for originality or anything else but it is an effective genre movie that avoids the b-movie schlock of stuff like Deep Rising.

Because it is mostly about atmosphere, the cast are only so-so as they are given little to do. Byrne is a good presence but is slumming it so obviously that he should probably have had a slot in his character's back with a studio exec feeding it every few minutes of screen time. Margulies is better as she has more to do and is a more interesting character; she can work at this level and does. Eldard has some terrible lines but does OK with Urban. Washington is better than this but is quite interesting and has a good screen presence. Harrington plays it so obviously that it is hard not to see him coming, which was a bit of a shame. The direction is good and the design/feel of the film is probably better than the material deserves – nicely building up tension and atmosphere as it goes.

Overall then a good genre movie. Better than b-movie stuff, it uses the gore sparingly for the most part and builds up to things well. In the end it may go just where you expect it to and not do anything that special but I found it quite enjoyable for what it was and, in the words of the advert, does exactly what it says on the tin.

Half and half

[zetes · 5/10 · 4 April 2003]

Now this I would call exactly an average film. For me, it landed precisely at the very center of imdb's 10 point scale, right at 5.5. This means that I found exactly as much to like as I did to dislike. There is a bit of inspiration here, but just as much that's stolen from other better horror movies. If it had opted for tone and real fear instead of cheap shocks, the movie could have been great. The story is good enough that it could have been great if handled well. But we do live in these times, and, although there are scholars of the modern era who would try to have us believe that the current generation consists of a bunch of kids who get everything instantly and process it on a billion levels at once, the truth is indeed the exact opposite. No, there is no subtlety here. It would go over your average teenager's head in a heartbeat. Nope, better play it safe and provide us with a gruesome scene up front where a couple of dozen people are sliced in half by a loose cable during a ball. Gore is not scary. I did however produce a dry heave during this sequence, which is more than I can say for any other gore scene that I've viewed lately. As the gore accumulates, I began to appreciate the artistry that was put into the enormous number of deaths. These are some sickeningly creative people, let me tell you. Unfortunately, the director (or screenwriters or whoever) ruins any real potential by revealing every detail about what happened on the titular boat in a fast-motion sequence accompanied by techno music! It's the kind of moment where you just slap your head for the lack of talent involved. And then there was more stuff I liked. For example, the art direction is very impressive. The revelation of one character's identity, while not particularly surprising, is at least somewhat new. I give this film a 5/10, rounding down because I felt the final moment was a bit groan-inducing.

an honest horror movie. Starring Gabriel Byrne

[dbdumonteil · 6/10 · 10 December 2004]

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".

Atmospheric

[preppy-3 · 5/10 · 15 May 2006]

OK ghost story. The movie starts off with a VERY gruesome bloody opening with a whole ship full of people being killed in 1962. It then cuts to present day (well--2002) where a salvage crew is led to a deserted vessel (the same one from the beginning) and find there's something inside that wants them. Dead bodies are discovered, doors open and close (and lock) by themselves and a creepy girl ghost watches over all of it.

So-so. The movie LOOKS good (the deserted vessel is impressive) but the story is slow and the characters are never fully realized. Also top billed Gabriel Byrne (giving a terrible performance) is hardly in the movie. On the plus side Julianna Margulies is good and a strong female character (unusual in any horror movie) and Alix Dimitriades and Ron Eldard are good as members of the crew. Desmond Harrington also has a few good moments. But the slow pace and a predictable and stupid ending sinks this (sorry). I can only give this a 5.

Does enough, could be better

[davidwarner_za · 7/10 · 29 August 2006]

Well, not bad. Not great, but not bad. I am a big fan of horror movies that aren't all about the horror but are more about a good, well thought out storyline. Think "Sixth Sense". While Ghost Ship pales in comparison, it has enough elements in it that satisfies me for me to give it a thumbs up, albeit a hesitant one.

Set and production design ... brilliant. It's incredibly difficult to not believe it's being filmed on location on a real decrepit, falling-apart ship. Inside and outside, it's filled with lush visuals that draw you into the movie. But i'm jumping ahead of myself.

The beginning is awesome. I love it. Never before have I been so impressed by the first couple of minutes of a movie, like I have been with Ghost Ship. Although the 'dramatic pause' after the event goes on for a bit too long (it doesn't really build up tension because you know what happened) the effect still works well overall and the special effects and acting are pretty damn good. Very nice. As is all the gory stuff in the movie.

Katie is brilliant. The first close-up we get of her, she looks cold and wet and although not frightening, she looks seriously spooky. Initially, I was mentally preparing myself for her to be heavily involved in the 'scares' of the movie, but was pleasantly surprised at her innocence throughout the movie, revealing later on exactly why she is the way she is.

The acting is solid enough - not brilliant (with exception of Katie, who does a very good job of tensing things up again - more so than any scare tactics) and the direction is pretty good, with the focus being on the right things and the pace of the movie consistent.

I do feel not enough attention was paid to the history behind the back-story of the ship's strange events (i.e. the "Lusitania" and how the gold came to be on the ghost ship itself) as well as a suspiciously obvious lack of character background for some of the characters, although the lack of it doesn't really detract from the movie itself, but makes you realize how important these details can be after watching the movie.

Emotionally I swayed through the movie. Many times I was thoroughly engaged to it, and you feel like a part of the world. At other times I felt totally disconnected as the actors didn't do enough to keep my attention. But then, something would happen that would raise my eyebrows just a bit.

Speaking of that, the scene where Katie takes Epps 'back' and shows her what happened - wow! I must say that I love that scene ... the camera work is awesome and the acting from the many extras is outstanding. But once again, it is what happens to Katie that is utterly harrowing. It's not often that I utter "Oh my God ..." in a soft shocked whisper as my mouth refuses to close. That scene packed a punch that lasted a long time.

On the other hand, the scene near the end with the people in the cargo room was totally rushed, with just too much happening and too many switches and deaths and, well, the message is obvious but it occurs with seemingly minor character such as Francesca that didn't seem to (at the time) make any significant contribution to the story. Having said that, after re-watching, I see how Francesca fits into it, based on the motive of the characters and the flow of the story. But it just seems a bit over-the-top ... not in violence, but in concept.

The thing that killed it ... the ending. Awful. Did they run out of money? Time? I just didn't get why it had to end like that. Sequels aside (how can there be a successful sequel? The 'Antonio Graza' sunk ... so would there be a different boat? Hmmmm...) the ending feels totally pointless. I didn't get it, and I didn't like it either. Do the bad souls leave the ship and go to another ship in the near future??

Having said that, I think the whole 'souls' thing is a bit ridiculous, because despite it tying in with the movie's concept, it seems to justify having strange occurrences on the ship, rather than having the strange occurrences justify the reason for the ghosts. I hope that makes some sense.

At the risk of looking at this too deeply for a horror flick, I think that there's more to the gold than just being 'stolen gold' - in my mind, the movie is not about the ghosts, or the gold, or the ship. It's mostly about pure greed - which the gold represents, and the evil in people which will never die. Which is the only reason why the ending could be as it is, in my eyes, since 'evil' walks out with the gold, to trap some more people into 'being evil' and therefore 'selling his soul' - note that the gold has no markings AT ALL and the tracing numbers have been 'filed down' - does the gold even exist??? After all, it was pure greed that got the crew out there in the first place, even though there was a good chance that they'd leave with nothing of significant value despite the attached investment of time and money but without being 'intentionally' greedy.

Anyway, those are some questions that I wasn't too sure about after watching the movie, even after another viewing. So, overall, pretty decent. But more work needed to be put into the ending and the character development ... even if it added an extra 15 minutes. It would turn a goodish movie into a solidly good movie.

6/10 is too low, 7/10 is too high. 6.5 but promoted to 7 because of that awesome opening and 'flashback' scene.

Uneventful Ghost Movie

[matthurst-60645 · 5/10 · 9 October 2020]

A salvage crew discovers an abandoned cruise liner in the middle of the ocean and hop aboard, meeting all sorts of not-so-friendly ghosts and ghouls inside.

Ghost Ship obviously had a lot of money poured into its production, but the script feels pretty flat with only the flashbacks to what happened on the cruise ship in the 60's generating any excitement. Like most Dark Castle movies, the production design and casting are impressive and a few rungs above average, but the story itself feels like 500 other ghost movies we've seen before. The opening scene is the only major scene worth seeing.

Not quite a sinking ship

[CharltonBoy · 6/10 · 29 March 2004]

Ghost Ship is by no means the worst horror i have ever seen in fact some parts of this film are quite entertaining, the problem seems to be some of the poor digital computer special affect that make this film look like a bit of a B Movie. Some of the affects are good expecially the opening scene where we see the crewe of the ship killed by a steel rope.The acting is ok and the characters are good so that when they are picked off one by one ,you care. There are a lot of question left unanswered though and in stages the scenes apear to have been put in any old order . If you like Horror and dont want a film you have to think about too much then i sugest you give this a go. 6 out of 10.

Ghost Ship: 5/10

[movieguy1021 · 5/10 · 13 August 2004]

Finally, a breath of fresh air. There's been downpours of such "horror" films like Darkness Falls, They, and Secret Window, and it's nice to see a movie that sets up its characters in a chilling manner, slowly letting us get to like them, and then the horror turning on us in a subtle yet horrifying manner that gives us nightmares. The movie I'm talking about hasn't actually come out yet, and will probably never be released. I'll bet you thought I was talking about Ghost Ship, right? Ghost Ship is not a movie like that; in fact, it's the complete opposite of what horror films were in their peak in the 70s and 80s. That doesn't automatically mean it's a terrible film. It's just not great.

A salvage crew at sea spots a 40 year old cruise ship out in the middle of nowhere. The b-list and z-list actors go aboard to search for whatever treasures may be aboard. But it's a ghost ship, so various horror-related things occur to them, as they die (you guessed it) one by one.

The opening scene is a great one-setting the mood (which is quickly broken) and then some gore that isn't over-the-top. In fact, it's pretty funny, and I was amazed that they didn't go all out. But then it becomes typical new millennium horror fare. The characters are all underdeveloped, there's the bad-ass woman, there's the captain of some Western European descent, there's the two buffoons, there's the person trying to hit on the bad-ass woman, and there's the mole/traitor in the midst. You can combine those, if you want. The misadventures of these characters are strictly by-the-books, with some creepy surroundings and a few jump scares, but nothing really more. The special effects are generic, and everything comes down to some silly conclusion that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Wait, was I describing Ghost Ship, or was I describing every other horror movie that has come out recently?

On the other hand, the movie has some cheesy fun to it. You wait to see what sort of improbable happenstances occur, with some sort of schadenfraude to it. You don't care about the characters, so you wait to see how they're going to be killed next. It's fun, for the most part, if you can leave all of the nautical mumbo jumbo behind and just go for an atmospheric if hardly scary ride through the ghost ship. Incidentally, the scariest part of the movie is actress Julianna Margulies's eyebrows. But, why not give Ghost Ship a try? It's enjoyable, and you might actually be scared by it (well, probably not).

My ratings: 5/10

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

Atmospheric awesome horror that I love a lot!

[UniqueParticle · 9/10 · 13 November 2019]

The cast is so great and so is the style of cinematography; lots of murky gross scenery to appreciate! Karl Urban and Gabriel Byrne are a delight. So much of the bulk of the film is definitely horror I don't know why a few said it's not. I really like the scene when a couple of the guys eat and unlike others I really like the ending - Ghost Ship is fantastic for what it is! Has some of the best horror sequences in my opinion highly effective!

Good ghost story!

[prolelol · 7/10 · 3 October 2017]

OK, ghost story. Not great movie, but it's enough solid that could have been great if it has a good script and I think this film looks like a bit of a B movie. The story and twist are good enough. I loved the opening scene, it was unexpectedly good. That scene was the only good thing about it and it's almost like they used their entire budget in that scene. The acting is OK and I didn't care for any characters except Emily Browning's ghost character which she was really likable. But overall, it was just an okay film with good story. I'd give it a 6.5/10.

Wetter than a fish's bathing costume.

[hitchcockthelegend · 3/10 · 24 July 2014]

It's a pretty unadventurous title that matches the content of the film. Directed by Steve Beck and starring Gabriel Byrne, Desmond Harrington, Ron Eldard and Julianna Margulies, plot finds a salvage crew discovering a long lost passenger liner out in the remote Bering Sea. With the laws of the sea stating that they can keep what they find, they are delighted to find gold on board. But it's not long before strange things start to happen.

It starts of real well with a bloody and gruesome prelude, the production design is super and everything is in place for a chiller out there in the foggy waters. Unfortunately what we actually get is a predictable series of clichés cribbed from better movies of the past, none of which capable of eliciting a genuine scare. The makers think that having a bombastic techno score accompanying the dramatic moments will make them appear more shocking. It doesn't, while the cast are ill served by direction and writing.

Horror 101 for beginners. 3/10

Ship Of Fools

[Lechuguilla · 18 January 2006]

With visions of riches spinning in their heads, a group of irritating boat salvagers set out to explore what's left of a luxurious passenger ship lost for over forty years on the high seas. Given that this film is a horror flick, the viewer understands from the beginning that the ship has an array of spooky surprises waiting for our adventurous fools.

The initial problem with this film is the salvagers themselves. They are not remotely interesting. They are stereotyped, stick-figure characters inserted to advance the preconceived horror plot.

As a ghost story, "Ghost Ship" lacked suspense, at least to me. The film's gore and hokey supernatural element were overdone, too obvious and direct. To create suspense, the filmmaker needs merely to hint at the presence of a lurking terror, and to slowly build anticipation, on behalf of characters we know and care about. This film thus suffers the same problems that plague so many modern films ... lack of character development and lack of subtlety. The unfortunate irony here is that the film's huge budget allowed the filmmaker to spend money on explosions, stunts, and other elements that actually lowered the suspense.

On the other hand, the set pieces were impressive, giving the ocean liner and the tug boat a sense of visual authenticity. And I liked the plot twist toward the end.

In summary, the film's concept was intriguing and the story had potential. But an absence of sympathetic characters and an overemphasis on expensive cinematic gimmicks combined to lower the suspense, and render a film that was fat and impersonal.

Poor, gory horror film

[DhruvRao15 · 4/10 · 6 July 2020]

Looking for a movie to watch on Friday night we stumbled upon this one, and suddenly it feels like there aren't any more good horror films anymore. Featuring a relatively well known cast this movie just went wrong in so many ways. The only way that the movie delivered thrills was through gore. The direction by Steve Beck was quite poor, he pulls many things from other movies to add in to make this mess! The story was just so messy and the only reason that this story isn't getting 1 star is because there is a reasonable twist in the end...that was messed up in the final scene. Even 4/10 seems like I let the movie off easy.

Too bad about those last 30 minutes.

[philip_vanderveken · 6/10 · 24 April 2005]

The oceans of this world still keep a lot of secrets for themselves. We are able to fly to the moon, but we don't know everything about our own planet yet. This is of course also the reason why there are so many mysterious stories and legends about ships, airplanes... that have vanished in the thin air (think of the Bermuda triangle). Is anything about those stories true? Perhaps, but probably not. But that doesn't mean of course that this can't be a good source of inspiration for a new movie.

And that's exactly what the makers of "Ghost Ship" must have thought. It's about a salvage crew that has claimed the Antonia Graza, an Italian luxury liner that has been missing since 1962 and has been floating adrift since then. But the ship isn't as uninhabited as you might expect after more than 40 years. Before they can begin repairing and towing the ghost ship towards harbor, a series of bizarre things starts to happen to the crew and they get trapped in the ship, as the prisoners of a demonic creature...

During the first hour this movie really gave me a good time. I'm not saying it was the best movie ever, but it sure was some good entertainment. The only problem was that it didn't stay with that one hour. The last thirty minutes weren't any good, making me loose much of my interest. And that's too bad, because the concept of the movie really could work. The story is nice and even though this is yet another horror movie in a series of many, it has a more original approach to offer (a ghost ship isn't something that you see in every movie). But I'm afraid they messed it up pretty bad at the end of the movie and that's why I can only give it a 6/10.

It's All Downhill From Here

[bettybenzone · 5/10 · 2 April 2019]

Ghost Ship is a bland, predictable haunted house movie that just happens to take place on an abandoned cruise ship. It does have a whopper of an opening, though. The minute the opening sequence ended, I immediately thought "how are they going to top that?" Well, they didn't.

The cast is better than usual for a film like this and there's a nice studio shine to the whole film, letting us know that there was definitely a hefty budget in place for this movie, but there's not a lot of interesting things going on in here.

Besides the opening sequence (and the flashback to the same events later on in the film), there's not much of a reason to recommend this movie. It's not horrible, but it's mostly middle of the road.

Set sail for terror.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 7 September 2009]

It's all aboard for spooky thrills and gory spills in Ghost Ship, a slick supernatural horror from director Steve Beck (who brought us the equally polished Thir13en Ghosts) that launches itself at full steam ahead with a particularly memorable opening scene—an entire room of cruise-ship passengers are graphically sliced in half when a metal cable whips across the dance-floor.

The film then slows to a more leisurely speed to introduce Captain Sean Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) and his salvage crew (Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Isaiah Washington, Alex Dimitriades and Karl Urban), who return home after six months at sea to be offered the opportunity of a lifetime by pilot Jack Ferriman (Desmond Harrington): the recovery of an Italian liner, the Antonia Graza, which mysteriously disappeared at sea forty years earlier.

Once on board the ship—a rusting, abandoned hulk adrift in international waters—our plucky seafarers stumble across a fortune in gold bullion, but soon get that sinking feeling when they discover that the boat is haunted and it looks unlikely that any of them will ever set foot on dry land again.

Despite almost being scuppered by a plot that takes a little too much swallowing at times, and suffering from a rather uneventful middle act, Ghost Ship is still a very entertaining popcorn horror: the cast all acquit themselves well, with Margulies proving to be a particularly capable lead; the set design, gore and digital effects are all top notch; there is some welcome nudity from hottie Francesca Rettondini, who plays a very sexy ghost; and director Beck successfully steers the film back on course for an exciting and surprisingly uplifting climax, followed by a pretty neat twist ending.

We nicknamed it Ghost S@#t

[theatremaven · 1/10 · 6 October 2020]

I was (un)ortunate enough to pay to see this with friends. Including the 3 of us, there were maybe 10 people in the audience. One guy was on his phone the entire movie. I have to say, other than the opening sequence which was promising, everybody in the theater was more involved in his call than this mess of a movie.

I've tried to watch it since and my opinion has changed. It's worse than remembered.

Horrible!

[rosscinema · 1/10 · 5 November 2002]

Totally un-scary film that really is a waste of time. Here is a movie that is supposedly a ghost story and is made with absolutely no creativity or imagination. When you think something is going to happen it does. No surprises at all! It's just gross with severed torso's and eating maggots. Gabriel Byrne is a very good actor but he's been in so many bad films. Who's his agent? I heard Julianna Margulies got a bad case of foot fungus while filming this turkey. I hope she was compensated well!

The Soul Collector

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 11 November 2003]

The savage team of a tug is ready to rest after the transportation of a platform. When they are celebrating in a bar, the plane pilot Jack Ferriman (Desmond Harrington) offers them the chance of rescuing a passenger vessel vanished in the oceans in 1962. Captain Sean Murphy (Gabriel Byrne), Maureen Epps (Julianna Margulies) and the rest of the crew, tempted by the possibility of a great reward, decides to risk one more rescue operation before going home. Their greed leads them, of course, to a ghost ship, where they are spooked and threatened by ghosts. One of them, a little girl, shows Epps what happened to the passengers and crew during the voyage in 1962. A horrible unraveled secret will haunt the rest of the crew.

Ghost stories usually take place in a haunted house. This one is in a passenger ship. This movie is not in the same level of 'The Others', 'The Shining' or 'The Sixth Sense', but is also good film. The screenplay play has some clichés and is predictable, but the cast, direction and special effects work well. Probably, the fans of romances will not like it, but those who like a ghost story will appreciate this film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Navio Fantasma" ("Ghost Ship")

Note: On 02 June 2017, I saw this film again.

Doesn't entirely sink but doesn't completely float either

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 3 September 2012]

Ghost Ship is not a terrible movie, far from it. It opens very strongly with a brutal and scary opening sequence. It does look good, with a good and atmospheric vessel setting and the effects are much better than the cheap and over-used ones I was actually expecting. The ghost is sexy yet quite frightening as well, there are definitely some nice jumpy and suspenseful moments. As well as some good photography, decent direction and a spooky but not obvious music score. The acting overall is better than average, Julianna Margoyles has the most interesting character and she is very good here. The support cast support her solidly, especially Karl Urban, Issiah Washington and Alex Dimitriades. Ron Eldard is also good though he does have some of Ghost Ship's worst lines, while Desmond Harrington has a brooding presence if occasionally a too obvious.

Gabriel Byrne is somewhat of a disappointment though, he seems to be aware that his character isn't in a lot of the movie and he doesn't seem to be making of an effort as a result. The script does have poor moments, coming across as stilted and clichéd, while apart from Margoyles the characters are never realised fully. The story gave me a mixed reaction, it does have a great tense atmosphere and some nice creepy moments, plus it does deserve plaudits for not being completely predictable, but it is sluggishly paced a little too often and while creepy apart from the opening sequence there is never anything particularly scary. The last 30 minutes are underwhelmingly silly and the only scene really that I'd consider predictable.

Ghost Ship does have its faults, but overall it is a decent movie with a good atmosphere, decent acting and a great opening sequence. I just wish the pace, script and ending were better and that I learnt more about the characters. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Instantly forgettable

[Stevieboy666 · 4/10 · 12 March 2020]

40 years after an Italian cruise ship goes missing a salvage team discover it in the ocean and hop on board. They discover gold, lots of it, but the ship's ghost won't let them leave. Ghost Ship has sat in my DVD cupboard, unwatched for probably about 10 years. Was it worth the wait? Sadly no. After a well staged, very gruesome opening scene it was all down hill from there. I thought that the CGI effects looked weak, the scares weren't scary and it was generally very mediocre. It is BBFC rated 18, which seems somewhat harsh, I've seen gorier and far more frightening 15 movies than this one.

B grade horror flick for kids

[sasamijurai · 18 September 2004]

***SPOILERS***

An Italian cruise liner is found adrift near the Bering Strait after it's crew and passengers are killed off. A group of salvagers is hired to recover the ship who promptly discover that it is haunted and predictably they are killed off one by one, until only the woman remains.

The only scary and horrible scene of this film was when the original killers march the crying and screaming little girl to her room (as if they knew which cabin was hers) to murder her, which they accomplish by hanging her in her closet. This is the only sad part of the film for me. The rest is pretty much nonsense really and you don't care who will die next or how they will die as it is all irrelevant.

The premise for the film is that this group called The Management (Satan and Co or whatever or maybe Horus) is laying a trap to exploit peoples' greed and allow people to murder each other in an effort to collect souls for hell or wherever The Management may be... I mean come on, would a ship be the best place for that, how about all these wars all over the world wouldn't that be a better source for souls? The little girl ghost on the ship is however able to show the lead female protagonist what happened because she has a 'pure' soul and cannot be controlled by the devil (presumably) who is running the ship and enticing others to board it - as he did with the crew of this ship. I never trusted the guy who hired the salvagers from the first moment but expected him to be a mere criminal instead he turns out to be the instigator of the original massacre on the ship - and we are lead on to believe that 40 years previously he was picked up from another ship which presumably met the same fate. If hell is gathering souls on ocean liners than that means we must all be pretty good people across the board, pardon the pun. The plot is very illogical, notwithstanding the fake death sequences of the passengers during the film's opening - if you are sliced in half and your AORTA and SPINAL CORD are severed you will not look on stunned at everyone around you for a few seconds before falling over, neither will you use your arms to try to reattach yourself lower torso to your upper body while you are supine on the ground and your intestines are spilling out. Sorry but someone should have done some research. The real lack of logic in the plot comes from the fact that the devil or whoever the supernatural Management guy really is hires a crew to refloat the vessel because it has undergone a leak and instead of allowing them to refloat her he allows the ghosts and ghouls on the ship to murder them off one by one. He brags that he has control over the ghosts on the ship which actually reveal his identity to the captain - there are both good and bad ghosts on the ship - the Captain and the little girl are good while the sexy chick in the red dress is obviously bad, we see her in the MTV murder video as siding with the group of killers who use WW2 German submachine guns and rat poison to kill off the crew and passengers (rat poison by the way will make you bleed and not vomit up soap bubbles, it also takes many hours for that effect to start as people on the drug Warfarin probably know).

Others have already mentioned the relative warmth of the ship and the sea despite the high latitude.

Overall this is a film full of plot holes, with unreal death scenes and lots of nonsense added on. This film is not Aliens and it's not Titanic either. I cannot say what it is but can only advise you to avoid this movie and watch a real horror film instead like the Ring, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing.