Friday, September 4, 2009

September 2, 2009

Ghost Ship (2002)
Let me just say right off the bat that the whole concept of a ghost ship is creepy enough. The tone is set right from the opening scene, where dozens of richly dressed passengers on an Italian cruise liner, including a young girl (the daughter from Lemony Snicket), are dancing the night away only for a metal wire to come loose and slice them all into pieces. It's a truly cringe-worthy, gory scene. Skip forward to a modern-day salvaging crew, including Gabriel Byrne, Dr. Burke from Grey's Anatomy, Eomer from Lord of the Rings and the pilot from Black Hawk Down, as they're approached by a man who has found a huge ship free-floating in the Bering Strait. The ship is of course that from the beginning, only it's now completely empty and derelict, coated in 40 years worth of rust. Or are those splatters blood? It's a dark and rainy night, a la Hitchcock, and it isn't long before the crew are killed off one by one. A lot of people wrote this off as a stupid horror movie, but I actually think it's pretty intelligent, especially when you consider the possibility of the seven deadly sins being a part of the theme. The end is surprisingly moving and the little girl, whether as a human or a ghost, is by far the best part of the movie.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

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