The Ferryman (2007) User Reviews (36)

i have seen that face before

[andrea-burche · 5/10 · 29 August 2007]

I must say that I did like this movie,and especially the ending, BUT my opinion is that I've seen some idea some where before in other movies and the face of a character it has been used in other movies like this.

I've only got the main idea at the ending of it when it gives the explanations and the reasons. There is a funny moment too at the beginning when the fishing is taking place, it's rather about what they catch :)).

I say that the movie has a lack of originality, but I did like the acting after all! Anyway I say it's a good easy movie after all, but if you look for getting scared an horrified, if you are one of the kind that loves the thrill when watching a good horror movie, well there isn't much in this one but, like I said it's a good easy movie.

All in all I say..Have fun while watching!

Missed the boat

[matt-ross-1 · 4/10 · 24 April 2008]

I've just got in from watching The Ferryman and felt I had to vent my frustration. This film had the potential to be excellent, I think, but it's badly let down by quite a few key points. Based on the mythic character of the Ferryman from Greek legend, who's only task was to carry people across from the land of the living to the land of the dead (was it the river Styx?), the premise was that someone who had 'died', and so was bound to 'cross over', had found a way to cheat death and stay on this side of 'the river'. He hadn't, in essence, paid the ferryman. So far so good, and a great set-up for a film - the character was essentially on the run from death and had been for hundreds (or was it thousands?) of years. He could've made a killing on property, either way. Anyway, the plot device to drive this story, though, was a dagger that allowed the bearer to 'switch' bodies, and thus stay one step ahead of the punting ghoul with the invoice of the title. This dagger had NO connection whatsoever, as far as I could see, to the Greek myth. Fair enough if you're expecting the audience to buy into one 'fantastical' concept, but TWO,totally unrelated ones? Is there a dagger that transfers souls in Greek mythology? I don't know of one... I'm prepared to be corrected though. And don't get me started on where that coin came from, either. Or the kid... That's not even my main gripe though. Here's where I think the film really let itself down: as the characters stab each other with the knife, and so transfer the evil soul from body to body (Wes Craven's Shocker?), some of these incidents occur off camera. Brilliant idea. So you don't really know which character is the baddie, right? Wrong. But it's still a brilliantly tense situation where the audience is thinking 'is she just cracking under the strain of seeing someone get stabbed/being trapped on a boat in the fog/not knowing what's going on?' or is she in fact the evil entity, right? WRONG again. The baddie is flagged up every single time cos there's a ruddy great tattoo that appears on their back when they're possessed. Nice one, Mr Director. Why not just put them in a Hi-Vis vest with a rotating bow-tie? Apart from this, the acting from the high-maintenance blonde is titanically bad, as is the work from the Maori chap who's as wooden as the decking. The Ferryman himself gets about 5 minutes screen time, and seeing as how he's quite a terrifying looking chap, that's a Darth Maul-esqe waste. The direction in general is not dynamic enough, and some scenes linger a couple of painful seconds too long.. reminding me of the classically bad soap opera, Sunset Beach... but the music, and the performance of the bolshie Cock-er-ney captain were quite enjoyable. All in all, if you're after body-swapping horror, go for Denzel Washington in Fallen. That's got better music, too... Ti-i-i-ime, is on my siiide, yes it is....

Average

[dschmeding · 6/10 · 26 August 2007]

This movie has been advertised as being pretty bloody. I don't know if my version was cut down, but at least mine wasn't by any of todays standards. The movie revolts around 2 couples taking a boat trip on the yacht of another couple (so you start off with 6 potential victims, he he). After introducing the characters with 1 annoying blonde and the angel in form of an ex-nurse with a back story they stumble across an abandoned boat where they pick up an old sailor who soon starts the countdown from 6 down. By stabbing people with an ancient knife he is able to switch bodies and seems to have done so for a while angering death (here of course in form of the ferryman who is implemented into the movie as halfhearted as the nurses past). So the body-hopping starts pretty fast and the way it is executed is the most interesting thing which keeps the movie entertaining. Its more about that subject than about the kills which happen rather secondary and the uncertainty of who is who and people trapped in other bodies seemed fresh to me.

I liked the premise of immortality by shifting bodies. Beside that there was some aspects reminding me of The Fog mixed in with modern Teenage-Slasher Films. But as much as I liked the premise there was some real annoying parts in "The Ferryman". The different stories and ideas were rather loosely tied together which made the script look like a fast shot. Also the women in this movie were clichéd and annoying in their permanent hysterical screaming... since it was both blondes who got that attribute its yet another cliché.

I think the movie could have gone somewhere, especially since I liked the ending but its too halfhearted in implementing its influences from here and there. That makes "The ferryman" a little more than average since it still manages to keep the attention until the end.

The Ferryman

[Scarecrow-88 · 6 October 2007]

Crew on a yacht voyage from New Zealand to Figi run into a creepy fog that never seems to lift and find a mysterious ship adrift with an equally strange survivor on board. This mysterious survivor(John Rhys-Davies)is actually merely a human host for this benevolent male spirit who moves from body to body to escape the Ferryman using this unusual knife as passage. We watch as members of the crew fall one by one as the spirit flees one individual into another to escape possible harm..the chilling part of the film is how this person treats those he harms, seemingly enjoying his handiwork as others die not knowing who is the one invaded. The evil spirit is cunning and devious and uses his element of surprise(like a pod alien, he can leap into a new human host tricking those around him)for a violent advantage.

When the male spirit switches bodies with vacationer Zane(Julian Arahanga), he tosses the cancer-ridden Greek overboard. Zane will swim to the other ship and his expertise in driving and maintaining water vessels will come in handy as he follows close behind the yacht. He has a wife on board, Kathy(Amber Sainsbury)who is suffering horrifying memories regarding the death of a badly facially scarred girl and this drives Zane to continue. Meanwhile, his body is being used and dumped by the spirit as body-switching occurs until there are few characters left in the film.

If one can get past the silly premise of the Ferryman, coin, and knife that causes body exchange, then there's some intense entertainment in store. I felt as I watched it that there will undoubtedly be a few rolling their eyes and shrugging their shoulders at the whole film. But, the spirit is pure evil and seeing the cast change personalities as the body switching takes place(adopting the "Ten Little Indians" theme)is kind of fun. We see the violent carnage that occurs as he enjoys destroying others both physically and psychologically.

Nope

[tatianapouncy · 1/10 · 23 January 2019]

Has one of my favorite actors in it but the dog died...which ruined the entire movie.

Worst horror movie

[yazanabusad · 2/10 · 20 October 2008]

This is my first comment on IMDb, so excuse my "n00biness". The reason I decided to post this is the utter failure of the movie.

The theater was actually laughing at scary scenes. This is NOT GOOD! I was looking right and left at people smiling and laughing.

In horror movies you expect to get at least taken by surprise a couple of times, but beside the twist in the end of the movie, it's basically a very simple tale that has nothing to do with a horror movie.

The "scary scenes" are just disgusting bloody scenes, that if a doctor otherwise is watching would be "feelingless" towards. Perhaps the fact that everything took place on the ferry made it impossible for audience to be surprised. I mean, we all knew the monster is there, and we were waiting for his next kill. That my friends is called boring! The acting was very bad, i think the director made it too hard on the actors. they just couldn't be each other.

The "dumb American girl" they inserted was pretty weird, he attempts to kill her, then she defends him? This is pathological, and i don't believe the director or the script writers wanted her to be so.

Did I see the same move as the other reviewers??

[innocuous · 1/10 · 7 November 2007]

I'm confused. Several other reviewers have written fawningly of how great the plot concept of this movie is. Say what? Yes, several cultures have a "ferryman mythos", wherein souls are ferried across a river in return for a coin or piece of gold. But this movie has nothing whatsoever to do with that mythic element. Instead, this "Ferryman" apparently just takes over the bodies of others in order to avoid having to be ferried at all.

The idea of a basically immortal entity taking over other bodies in order to survive for centuries is simply too old of a plot element to be worth noting. This movie fails on several levels...one of which is an absolute lack of originality.

Other than that...the acting is bad, the dialogue is absurd, and there is no tension or suspense.

Not worth renting.

Underrated Horror Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 21 January 2010]

In New Zealand, the couples Tate (Sally Stockwell) and Chris (Craig Hall) and Kathy (Amber Sainsbury) and Zane (Julian Arahanga) come to the yacht Dionysus to sail to Fiji Islands in a romantic trip. The skipper Big Dave (Tamer Hassan) and his girlfriend Suze (Kerry Fox) welcome the quartet with their beloved dog Rolex. On the second day, the Dionysus receives a distress signal in Morse code and Dave head to a mysterious fog to help the ship. They find a fishing boat adrift and Chris and Zane row a small boat to the vessel to avoid reefs. They find a crew member (John Rhys-Davies) near death and they bring him to Dionysus. Sooner they discover that the man is possessed of a demon and he uses a dagger to cheat death and switch bodies with his victims.

"The Ferryman" is an underrated horror movie based on the legend of the Greek mythology of Charon or Kharon, the ferryman of Hades that carried the souls across the River Acheron to reach the world of the dead. His payment was a coin in or on the mouth of the dead person. In the introduction of "The Ferryman", there is a narration in off telling that "in ancient times there was the legend of the Ferryman. He took the dead to be judged into the afterlife and his prize was a coin in their mouth. If anyone tried to cheat death, they would also be cheating the Ferryman and they could never escape for the Ferryman would hunt them forever." The screenplay combines the foregoing legend with "Dead Calm" and "Fallen" and the result is a good gore film. In the end, I was surprised since I had the lowest expectations based on the IMDb Rating. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Vingança do Demônio" ("The Revenge of the Demon")

The Fog

[kosmasp · 5/10 · 25 July 2007]

There are quite a few good ideas here and the actors involved must have a great time when they shot the movie. But that's not all I can review, otherwise the movie would have ranked higher. Talking about the actors: Although we have at least one great actor here, the overall performance is sometimes not really good. And by the way, any kind of nudity that might be or might not be in the movie, didn't make any difference in my rating/review. (a nod to a friend of mine, in case he's reading! ;o)

But apart from the (sometimes) overacting, the other two flaws are the (holes in the) script and the odd editing! So it's not too bad (there a few really good scares here), but overall it's not more than mediocre!

One hellish boat-trip to the Other Side!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 12 April 2007]

Reasonably good and old-fashioned scary demonic horror from New Zealand, "The Ferryman" occasionally succeeds in combining the claustrophobic atmosphere of "Dead Calm" with the 'do not even trust your loved ones'-suspense factor of "The Shining". This film features one of the most solid basic horror-premises in years, as it revolves on the ancient Greek myth of the ferryman who – according to the legend – needs to be paid in order to guide newly deceased souls over to the other side. For centuries already, one man always managed to escape death by constantly shifting into the bodies of unsuspecting tourists and seamen crossing the waters surrounding the New Zealand islands. He uses an uncanny old dagger to transfer his spirit into a new host and his unfortunate victims die in the old body. When a tourist yacht with six passengers on board rescues and old and sickly man during a storm, they don't realize their lives are endangered as he now has six vital and healthy bodies to choose from. The first 40 minutes of "The Ferryman" are a bit slow and uneventful, mainly because director Chris Graham spends too much time on the overly detailed and slightly redundant character drawings. We're getting rather useless information regarding the three couples' backgrounds and history. A good thing, however, is that none of the characters is your average slasher-stereotype. They're all realistic and likable (at least, most of them) people and not just dumb high-school students on their way to an island-party, or something. As soon as the eerie old man – another great role for John Rhys-Davis – plants his dagger in the chest of his first victim, "The Ferryman" turns into an exciting and spectacular horror film. Some of the death sequences regretfully take place off screen, but others are pretty gruesome and cruel. The titular ferryman only appears briefly at the beginning and the end of the film, but he's a traditionally nasty-looking monster with a rotting face and a hoarse voice. The inescapable location of a yacht in the middle of the open sea and often stuck in thick fog banks adds a great deal the atmosphere and the photography is beautiful. The last sequences on board the yacht, and particularly the ingenious epilogue, will undoubtedly please even the most skeptical horror fan. Recommended.

Everyone has to pay.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 8 November 2007]

Based on the Greek mythology of Charon, the ferryman of Hades. Not exactly a free ride; but getting more than you bargain for. Two couples are on a vacation paying for a yacht ride to Fiji. Everyone is just getting to know each other when the captain, Big Dave(Tamer Hassan)and his wife Suze(Kerry Fox), receive a distress signal across the South Pacific Ocean. Through the misty fog an ailing Greek(John Rhys-Davies)is rescued. Soon one by one, those on board meet a savage death; before learning that the Greek is actually a monster who's been cheating death for centuries by body swapping. The dialog is boring and the swapping bodies easily causes some confusion. The violence is brutal and some senseless. The gore is not exactly disturbing. Other players include: Amber Sainsbury, Julian Arahanga, Sally Stockwell and Craig Hall.

Fab Film

[drivewatch · 8/10 · 2 September 2007]

Having watched heaps of horror films, I suppose I have become a little nonchalant about most. However, this one has inspired me to write a review.

I truly enjoyed this movie. The acting was probably 8/10 as a whole, and there were a few surprises, with some truly superb direction, and production. I particularly enjoyed the slow motion direction of one particular scene.

I enjoyed the humour, and I have to say, I loved the soundtrack. All in all, a film with some difference. Thumbs up! Congrats to a New Zealand flick, the best IMHO, since "Once Were Warriors."

A Nutshell Review: The Ferrryman

[DICK STEEL · 7/10 · 28 October 2007]

I have enjoyed limited movie offerings from New Zealand, with the likes of the romantic comedy Sione's Wedding and horror comedy Black Sheep, and for my horror double bill this weekend, I wouldn't have wanted to miss The Ferryman.

In western folklore, the Ferryman is the one responsible for transporting the dead to the nether realms, where souls would be judged (so you'd better start chalking up those brownie points). Ferrymen had been depicted in movies before, be they just a background character like in Woody Allen's Scoop, or becoming a point of contention in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with crew of The Flying Dutchman. Think of it as the equivalent to the Chinese folklore characters of "Cow Head" and "Horse Face", where they will visit the body at the point of deaths to escort the soul to the depths of Hell for judgement.

2 couples (two of whom are Craig Hall and Amber Sainsbury whom we will get to see again in 30 Days of Night, in which Ben Fransham who plays The Ferryman will also appear) signs up for an adventure sail from New Zealand to Fiji, where a luxurious spa awaits their tired bodies after their "homestay on the sea" stint. Before everyone, including the captain his wife and their pet dog, can get chummy with one another, their ship receives a distress signal, and the laws of the sea dictates they get themselves into unknown trouble by picking up a survivor from a non-working vessel. And like all hitchhiker styled movies, there's always something strange about the hitcher (played by John Rhys-Davis) you pick up, especially when the weather's all foggy and he starts to give everyone the creeps.

The Ferryman turned out to be a rather interesting concept movie rather than outright horror with shock and awe moments. It doesn't scare, nor does it follow the recent trends in gore and with torture porn. What it's more akin to is a good old fashioned thriller with supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. Some might complain that nothing much really happens, with the usual hack and slash, but I'd argue that it had a very novel take on the theme of longevity, especially when it starts to play out in full. While it certainly isn't something new, the way it was executed (pardon the pun) mattered, and its ending will undoubtedly leave a wicked smile on your face, at what had transpired, and the loads of potential should you possess such capability.

Not without loopholes though, but I thought it could be glossed over given its supernatural slant, unless you choose to harp on it, especially when it didn't get developed properly. In short, The Ferryman still qualifies for an entertaining afternoon matinée when ticket prices are cheaper.

It was OK

[dustinhunter707 · 5/10 · 27 September 2007]

OK well I was expecting a little bit of entertainment from this movie but not much because after all it is a straight to DVD horror film and I watch a lot of those and I am often disappointed all the same but I watch them anyways just to know if they are good or not. But this one was rather good compared to some of the other garbage that I have seen, I enjoyed the horror elements even though they were rather brutal and uncalled for at times. The ending was sort of confusing, but I liked seeing the face of the real ferryman rather than just a knife through the whole movie. Overall I gave it a 5 out of 10 because it was sort of entertaining, but some parts were just weird and unnecessary. I wouldn't recommend it, but if you're bored then go ahead.

Body-hopping with my little knifey.

[Someguysomwhere · 5/10 · 3 September 2007]

An individual migrates from body to body (usually when the going get's rough) by stabbing his/her/it's future host with a super duper hexed up knife. Once the transfer has been made, the wounds he/she/it inflicted heals and our body-jacker is back in business having escaped trouble and cheated death once again.

Interesting idea, I guess, though the execution could have been better. Notwithstanding, it's not a total waste of your time. I was conscious from beginning to end, so that's saying something. It made me think: What would I do if I had a knife like that? Would I use it? -Would you? These are deep questions, folks. Deep, troubling questions (Please keep a straight face). All you have to do when your body is no longer usable is stab the sh*t out of your fellow man or woman (Does it work with animals?) with your special knife and "Wallah!" -You have a new body.

The Ferryman may just boil down to personal taste which basically needs no rhyme or reason; you either like something, or you don't. I found the infatuation with the dog in the movie a bit annoying. I wanted to scream "Enough, already! -I know you love your little doggie, but give me a break!" If you had 10 mil, we know where it's going. -Sheesh! Guess I'm not a dog-person. Love, Boloxxxi.

Not good at all.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 24 November 2008]

The Ferryman starts on the New Zealand coast as four holidaying teens board a yacht for hire to enjoy a relaxing six day cruise to Fiji, once aboard the Captain & his wife set sail & the journey begins. However the cruise hits problems when they hear a Morse code SOS & in trying to find it's source end up in a huge bank of thick fog, eventually they find a stranded boat & a lone surviving Greek sailor (John Rhys-Davies) whom they rescue & take back to the yacht. Back on-board the yacht the sailor seems alright & a decent laugh but things turn nasty when he finds out that he has cancer since there is in fact a thousands of years old evil demonic spirit inside the sailors body & since the body will soon die from cancer it needs to find a new body & a way to get back to dry land & have a little fun in the process...

This British New Zealand co-production was directed by Chris Graham & I have to say that I pretty much despised The Ferryman, reading some of the positive reviews on the IMDb I wonder both if I saw the same film & just how people's opinions can differ so much. The Ferryman takes several concepts & ideas ripped-off from much better films & throws them all together in a rather boring & poorly written fashion, there are elements from The Fog (1980) with the constant fog obviously, the basic set-up & much of the plot feels like it has been lifted from Dead Calm (1989) with the isolated boat in the open ocean & it's passengers being terrorised & the whole body swapping possession angle feels like it could have come from any number of 80's horror films like The Thing (1982) or The Hidden (1987). The character's are such an unlikable lot that all the development & build-up felt like I was having teeth pulled & the profanity riddled dialogue sounds exactly like a cheap horror flick. The whole body possession angle is totally wasted too, in a film like The Thing the tension & mystery elements are pushed to the limit but here the filmmakers always make it clear who is possessed so there's never any paranoia, mistrust, surprises or twist's which makes the film somewhat of a predictable precession. The so-called plot is also very sparse, no background is given whatsoever to the demon or it's origins or even how it was on the boat to start with, the eventual solution given to the survivor to defeat the demon is given to her by a ghost girl in her dream for no apparent reason & to add to the ridiculousness of it she pretty much defeats the demon with a lesbian kiss! If this demon was so clever why did it murder & molest people all the time? Surely that's going to attract unwanted attention? Why not possess a body, keep it's mouth shut & just wait until the yacht hit dry land? The pacing is slow, it felt like The Ferryman went on for hours & I just found it a very unlikable viewing experience.

Set almost entirely on the open Ocean on a yacht The Ferryman is a quite boring looking film actually & the dark dull foggy background doesn't help. I mean unlike in The Fog the fog in The Ferryman isn't used for any sort of atmospheric effect. I am not sure why this is actually called The Ferryman, is it referring to the Ferryman of Charon from Greek mythology? If so I can't see any specific links, the plot plays more like the body possession horror of The Thing rather than a story of a mythological being. There's some blood splatter but not much gore (this is only rated '15' here in the UK), there's a severed hand, a cut open Shark, someone is glassed in the face & neck & there are a few quick stabbings. There is supposedly a sex scene here but the guy is clearly seen to be wearing underwear & the girl was wearing a bra so there's no nudity whatsoever.

Production wise the film is alright, it has reasonable production values but it has a bland look about it. Actually shot in New Zealand. Another aspect of The Ferryman I disliked was the terrible acting, there's so much over the top crying, shouting & exaggerating it actually starts to become cringe-worthy.

The Ferryman is a film that I didn't really know anything about going in to watch it & I wish I still didn't know anything about it as it was a pretty painful viewing experience for me although there are some out there who seem to like it for whatever reason.

Lost me when they killed the Dog

[JoeB131 · 3/10 · 3 July 2012]

Any movie that has to kill a dog to tell us the bad guy is a bad guy really isn't very good.

the real problem with this movie is that you figure this whole thing out before the characters do.. and it makes you wonder how dumb the characters are.

The plot is that a guy has lived thousands of years cheating death by transferring his consciousness into other bodies. It starts off with stealing the body of John Rhys-Davies, an otherwise good actor who is just collecting a check here. bad sign when your name actor is barely qualifying for "cameos" like a day player.

Anyway, a group of six people on a yacht pick up a distress call from JRD, who then proceeds to jump from one body to another, and killing folks for no real good reason. And the dog. because killing a dog always makes your movie more enjoyable.

Oh, the ending, the two surviving character decide to steal the bad guy's magic so they can live forever. because obviously, the horrific events of the film didn't get the point across.

Not bad of its sort

[neil-476 · 7/10 · 26 May 2013]

A group of mature young people charter a yacht and pick up a mysterious stranger. He turns out to be hosting some ancient spirit who has been seeking to avoid paying the Ferryman to the Underworld for millenia, by means of shifting his spirit into the bodies of unwitting mariners by way of a sacrificial dagger. Cue bloody mayhem.

A neat (but somewhat underdeveloped) idea, executed with a slow start but otherwise satisfactorily. It features a largely antipodean cast (including the pleasingly pneumatic Amber Sainsbury, more recently seen in 30 Days Of Night) with the mysterious stranger played by John Rhys-Davies, returning to mortgage-paying schlock after the glories of Lord Of The Rings. Clearly, he likes New Zealand! It's a shame the basic idea wasn't developed more fully, because the latter half - a "last man standing" bloodbath - has been seen many times, most recently in Donkey Punch, although Dead Calm is probably higher profile.

Boring

[rghitulescu · 2/10 · 10 September 2007]

That was one of the most boring films I have ever seen. Stupid acting, stupid plot, stupid directing, this was a fat slow so called scary-horror movie. And that small magic knife with the look of a child toy. Save your time don't look, you will never get scared but way beyond bored. And the dog, what a waste of time with a dog for about 10 minutes everybody and everything is around a dog with a broken spine(the evil spirit did it. The start is long the so called tension moments are way to far one of each other. Than the knife ploch ploch ploch and we are back. You got no explanation for the finish of the movie but it looks like they want to make a ferryman 2, God help us...

very slow and confusing but the last 30 minutes deliver

[trashgang · 7/10 · 9 February 2013]

This was a strange flick to watch. It all started as a normal flick and it really took a while before things go wrong. Even when the fog comes in you have to wait a bit before the 'knife' will do what it does, killing.

It's not a common horror because it contains all kind of stories. We do have a part of possession and we do have some supernatural stuff going on. In the beginning I was a bit confused what was going on but once you know what the knife does due watching closely to the tattoo you will get it and rather enjoy it. The acting was believable but I must say that John Rhys-Davies (The Greek) wasn't convincing at all.

But it's the creepy atmosphere in the last half hour that keep you watching and you want to know what is going to happen next. It isn't gory or messy but the red stuff do flows a few times.

A bit confusing the first 40 minutes but keep watching until the end for the reason already explained and for nudity you just couldn't see coming.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Awful

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 23 November 2018]

THE FERRYMAN is a long-forgotten British horror film set on a yacht, where six people about to have a party have their fun thwarted by the arrival of a shipwrecked stranger. Before you can say DEAD CALM the film has turned into a low rent FALLEN rip-off, with a demon swapping bodies like nobody's business and all manner of bloodshed playing out in the restricted confines of the vessel. Sadly, this is the kind of film that makes you want to tear your hair out. After an unimpressive first half, the second gives way to endless screaming, heavy emoting, and overacting from the entire cast. The director doesn't understand the meaning of restraint so it quickly gets noisy and overwhelming and extremely tiresome. There's no horror content here are all, just characters acting in the dumbest ways imaginable and failing to ever get to grips with their situation. I found it a complete bore, and pitied John Rhys-Davies for appearing.

You know those really bad horror films...

[edwinkwoke · 10/10 · 5 December 2007]

...well I can happily say that this is not one of them :)

The concept of body swapping by stabbing someone with the knife actually provides this film with a fairly decent narrative. And, although being a straight to DVD film release, this film avoids from appearing as a cheap knock-off horror. The only thing in the film I could really criticise is the extremely short time the "ferryman" features in the film; he is basically reduced to a cameo role at the end where he just pops in to take

In all, I thoroughly recommend watching this, especially in you are tired of all the boring generic slasher/gore films with a lame plot. If I am totally honest: I would even go so far to name this as one of my favourite films of 2007.

The Ferryman is coming and payment is due...

Solid horror flick based on Greek myth of Charon.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 2 March 2009]

Three couples embark on a six day romantic boat journey to Fiji and their differences ensure that personality clashes abound.However all that is put to one side when they encounter a seemingly abandoned boat in dense fog.They find a living stranger on board and rescue him,however the terrifying consequences lead to plenty of gore.It seems that the ship is deserted apart from the mysterious sailor lying half-dead under a tarpaulin(played by horror regular John Rhys Davies).Rhys-Davies' body is actually home to a being who can shift between bodies swapping souls.This soul-swapping is achieved with the aid of the magic dagger-if he stabs somebody with it,he instantly becomes the victim.He's doing this to avoid a demonic entity called 'the Ferryman' who has been chasing him through thousands of bodies over many years.In "The Ferryman" each victim in turn becomes the killer.The killer always has a snakelike tattoo on their back,which is the symbol of infinity.During the first 40 minutes the action moves slowly and the legend of Ferryman is slightly confusing.Still I enjoyed this quite exciting,gripping and bloody horror flick.7 out of 10.

One ride I wish I hadn't taken...

[jandrika · 3/10 · 15 March 2019]

So on paper I thought this would be similar to "Ghost Ship". Surprisingly it was alot more brutal. The Ferryman character only has so much of a half life. He must kill and possess each character to fill his quota. What turned me off about the film is how mean spirited it is. Really for no reason.

The plot isn't advanced by the baddie picking up a Dog and breaking it's spine. Nor is it by taunting the Dog and hearing it cry in pain before it goes overboard. Lousy writing. The movie doesn't really get any better. It tries to make the most of it's cramped quarters.

One thing I will give the film props for is it's international cast of characters. Instead of a group of dumb Teens on a party Boat we have adults. Refreshing to say the least. I will say I felt bad for the characters for being in such dire circumstances. So the acting is convincing.

The movie is just too dark for it's own good. Mean spirited and bleak. The movie ends in predictable fashion... I wanted to like this movie. But the prolonged torture of the Dog and no light at the end of the Tunnel for anyone really brings it down.

You could say that's the point of a horror movie. To make one feel uncomfortable. But it's just too much. I wasn't expecting a horror comedy. But I wasn't expecting to be depressed. I'm sure someone will enjoy it. It just wasn't for me... Happy hunting.

The entire premise was kind of ridiculous to be begin with

[jordondave-28085 · 2/10 · 11 December 2023]

(2007) The Ferryman HORROR

New Zealand passengers of three couples with the skipper, Big Dave (Tamer Hassan) his girlfriend, Suze (Kerry Fox) and their dog agreeing to go on a boating trip heading toward Fiji. Only to cross paths with a deadly possessed knife from a single survivor from a spotted boat adrift afar, forces unsuspecting passengers to whomever touches it to kill each other at will.

The entire premise is uninteresting once you know about the object itself, for it could have been anything for that matter like a paper clip or a measly pencil for instance. I have to say possessed houses are more interesting than inanimate objects.