Film Reviews

Ghost Ship

• Rating:
• Director: Steve Beck
• Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Ron Eldard, Desmond Harrington, Isaiah Washington, Alex Dimitriades, Karl Urban.
• Details: US / 88 mins / (18).

Not content with wheeling out one of last year's worst horror movies with Thirteen Ghosts, director Steve Beck attempts to outdo himself with Ghost Ship. With the most nominal riff on the old haunted house formula, Ghost Ship follows what happens to a salvage crew, led by ould seadog Murphy (Gabriel Byrne doing his best Captain Birdseye impression), who encounter a mysterious, abandoned and long thought to be lost ocean liner called the Antonia Graza. The boat disappeared in 1962 and what the salvage crew don't know is the spirits of its dead passengers are not really at peace. Yawn. Brimming with reasonable special effects and not a whole lot else, the most merciful critique of Ghost Ship is that it is a limited endeavour. Very limited. The staples of the horror genre are strictly adhered to, with characters barely registering a blip on the radar. It's fine if you like your horror movies to go strictly by the book, but if you're looking for something with a little more verve and dimension, steer this one a wide berth.

Review by Garreth Murphy