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Ghost Ship (Full Screen Edition)

Ghost Ship (Full Screen Edition)

List Price: $14.96
Your Price: $10.47
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If you love good horror, avoid Ghost Ship!
Review: It never fails, just when I start to become optimistic that good horror films still get made (e.g., The Ring, The Others, Frailty), my optimism is quickly deflated with such ... offerings as Ghost Ship. Although the first few minutes of this film actually show promise, it's all downhill from there. Ghost Ship does not contain a single scare or frightening image. The cast is awful (e.g., I'll never understand the appeal of that dysthymic E.R. woman), the music is awful, there is no tension, the characters are unlikable, and the entire film is fright-free. When I saw this film there was a 13-year old girl in the audience who kept screaming at all the predictable attempts to scare us and I remember thinking, "It must be so nice to be able to enjoy such a piece of ...." The best part of this film is the movie poster. If you love good horror, avoid this film like the plague, it's simply awful.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Cast Try to Survive Clithe But the Only Winner Is the Ship
Review: Dark Castle Entertainment's third film is, thankfully, not a remake of Willaim Castle horror classisc as they did in the previous two films. That is an admirable decision, I would say without any irony, because not-so-advantageous comparison is inevitable. So, the producers Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis turned to a popular theme of horror genre, "ghost ship." So far, so good.

But the result is just awful. First, I must say that the film begins with one of the worst jokes committed on the celroid -- that is, old-fashioned Warner logo and title backs that might have been used for old romantic films appear (and the titles are in pink ... what should I say about that?), and, you know what? the film jumps into a killing scene with most gruesome gore. All we can do is perhaps grin or shrug our shoulders, like the guests at a wedding party hearing the most terrible jokes or not-so-funny-or-witty speeches your boss might be giving. And the tagline of the film is ... "Sea Evil" (please).

And then, the film flash-forwards, introducing the characters including Julianna Margulies, Gabriel Byrne, Isaiah Washington, Ron Eldard and others, and all of them are specialists for discovering and retrieving deserted ships. Here comes Desmond Harrington with photoes, who says that he found a drifting ocean liner in the Berling Sea while he was flying over the area. Of course, they first refuse the offer of job; and of course, they accept it, not thinking how come such a big ship cound have floated for a long time without being noticed by the coastguards or local fishermen.

Anyway, these characters go to the ship by their tagboat, to find that the ship has been abandoned for 40 years. But one of them happens to see something like a girl who keeps on approaching to her, as if she wanted to say something to her, and after that, strange things start to happen.... Do you need more? I don't think so.

The point is not that the characters are paper-thin (that is ok in this kind of film); but that they look tremendouly stupid in everything they do. Would you drink or eat any food made 40 years ago even if they still look good? Would you believe your eye when you see a woman in red clean fancy dress (and later naked) in a deserted boat? And chase her? Or love her? First of all, would you believe in the whole story from the beginning?

Sure, I can stop disbelief if only the film gives a good amount of scare, but the tricks run out soon, so everything starts to look predictable. In fact, the good production designs of the boat is much more creepy and scary than the "shock" the director Steve Beck (who was also responsible for "13 Ghosts") is eager to give, and in this sense "Ghost Ship" is really an appropriate title. Two stars for the ship.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: 'The Shining'-junkies: all aboard !
Review: Ghost Ship is unoriginal but good entertainment at the same time. Not deep, not innovative but a nice time in the theatre (or on the couch, with a big fat plate of snacks) nonetheless. A movie that packs just the atmosphere to keep it from becoming humorous, like most of nowadays horror-movies are. Although that last element could still have been worked out better, it keeps Ghost Ship just one step ahead of the ordinary 'now-horror flick'.

When I first saw the trailer I had the feeling this movie would be a 'The Shining' rip-off ... and during the real thing I never lost that feeling. The Jack Nicholson scene where he talks to a long dead bartender, the scene were he acts on the flirtations of a beautiful woman, who in the viewers eyes is a corpse, it's all there. Slightly altered but unmistakably 'inspired' by the Kubrick production. Even the on and off appearing dead twins from The Shining are copied, now being one little girl who bears an incredible likeness to said twins. She even wears the same dress. Nevertheless, better a good steal than a bad idea. It makes at least 75% of the movie worth the while.

The last fifteen minutes are not copied. Sadly, that's also the worst part of the movie. The upside is that the very last scene makes up a little by surprising the viewer with a possible open ending, but the found conclusion is a little farfetched, although promising at first. A non-moviemonster ending would in my opinion have been better than the chosen conclusion.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Ghost Ship
Review: This review is for the people who said this movie "blows". I found this movie to be very good. I went in expecting it to be scary. As it turned out it was more a thriller than an horror film. All in all I thought this was a great movie. I would recommend anyone to go see it. Just don't be expecting to be scared out of your seat.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Ghost Ship blows!
Review: Be warned folks! This film is the epitome of Hollywood screenplay 're-cycling'. 100 minutes of completely unoriginal content. The screenwriters must have watched EVENT HORIZON(1997)and decided to use the same concept with variable changes. Trust me, rent E.HORIZON and you'll see what I'm talking about.
While I watched this movie I found myself laughing at scenes which were shamelessly ripped off from THE SHINING/DEAD CALM/ALIEN and more.
It's one thing to be influenced by other films and definitely another to 'recycle' scenes and plot concepts.
So folks, I recommend saving your $20 bucks(for two) and instead renting EVENT HORIZON at your video store. It's much scarier and less generic and you'll still have enough cash for 3 other flicks.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This Ship Crashes
Review: Dark Castle's last and first two attempts at feature length horror films were entertaining and provided the audience with some jaw dropping moments accompained with nice plot twists and great acting. They weren't the most stellar films around, but they did leave you mostly satisfied and not craving the last hour and a half of your time back. However, Ghost Ship fails to reach this. I left the theater in major dissapointment.

The plot is simple. A salvage crew bumps into a deserted ocean liner from the 60s floating mysteriously at sea. With the vision of dollar signs in their head, the crew decides to attempt to save this doomed ship instead of just leaving it at sea like they should. Of course, things quickly turn out not as they seem as the crew begins to see and hear rumblings of ghosts. Sounds interesting, yes? Well, it's not. It feels like the film is trying to reach a certain level of suspense, but it never gets there. It fails to build up enough suspense to keep the audience satisfied until the end.

Not all is bad with Ghost Ship though. Besides the many flaws, there are a few joyous scenes which include the very beginning, and the very end. Unfortunately, the first scene and the last 15 minutes are the only decent scenes in the entire film. And these scenes, as brilliant as they are, aren't enough to save the rest of the movie.

Dark Castle films are also notorious for revealing surprising and shocking plot twists that you aren't aware of until they're revealed. Ghost Ship does have this, but the scenes leading up to this are so bad that the shocker itself doesn't save this film from it's doom. Ghost Ship crashes on mostly all levels. I suggest waiting until this film comes to video, or going to see something entirely different.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: gruesome gorefest
Review: In "Ghost Ship", the only TRUE disappointment is the end. I really expected something more from a Dark Castle production since its 2001's "Thir13en Ghosts" was great.

Some of the gore scenes in this movie will really make you want to turn away from the screen, including a very sick barbwire trap at the beginning. Not a fan of gore? Stay away from this movie.

Just one let-down of 2002. I mean, with a great tagline (SEA EVIL) and great theatrical tailer, I was hoping to see a great movie. So, if you want to go ahead and see "Ghost Ship", do it. When I was walking out of the theater, I heard someone saying that they thought it was good. (Guess it just depends on what type of movies you like.)

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Ocean adventure on ghost ship...
Review: On an ocean liner there is someone who has effectively murdered the whole crew brutally. Years later there is a weather pilot who stumbles across this ship drifting in the Bering Sea, and he contacts a salvage crew lead by Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) to retrieve the ship for a hefty recovery sum. In the mist the crew drives the tug boat straight into the liner, and this is a beginning for some very peculiar and creepy events. The Ghost Ship is a flat horror film with some scares and chilly moments that will leave the audience disappointed at the end.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It had a good shot, but fell short.
Review: I have to say I was dissapointed by this movie. I had read several good reviews and maybe I went in expecting a little more than I got. The acting was very good, the special effects were also very good, not overly gory, and the story was pretty good too (could have been a little better), but there was just something missing, it just wasn't scary. Some of the scenes were expected and I can't say that I was ever really startled, well maybe once. I would recommend folks wait for video and rent this one. It might be a bit more scary if you are at home with your significant other or alone in the dark.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The cursed ship sales again.
Review: Ghost Ship is the most recent offering from Dark Castle and the production team responsible for HBO's successful Tale from the Crypt, and it shows. Awash in the EC horror comic traditional moralism, good is rewarded while evil is gorily punished. A salvage crew takes on an assignment they wish they hadn't when the ship in question turns out to be the Italian cruise liner Antonia Grassa, which vanished in 1962. Now just a molding, rusted out spectre, the salvagers soon learn that the ship is a death trap seeking fresh victims. As far as the haunted ocean liner genre goes, Ghost Ship is one of the better offerings. Then again, with one star wonders like Virus and Death Ship as companions, it's easy to shine. Crypt fans will find this good for a Saturday night rental, nothing more.


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