Ghost Ship

From the makers of The House on Haunted Hill and Thir13een Ghosts comes Ghost Ship, the next in their series of Halloween films.

In 1962, the Italian ocean liner Antonia Graza mysteriously disappears while carrying some of society’s most powerful and privileged passengers. There has been no sign of survivors or evidence as to whether the ship has actually sunk. Jack Ferriman (Desmond Harrington), who has uncovered what appears to be a drifting ship, approaches a salvage crew led by Murphy (Gabriel Byrne). He agrees to show the team the location for a percentage of whatever they find. The crew is made up of Epps (Julianna ER Margulies), Dodge (Ron Black Hawk Down Eldard), Greer (Isaiah Romeo Must Die Washington), Munder (Karl Lord of the Rings Urban) and Santos (Alex Head On Dimitriades).

They discover it is in fact the lost Antonia Graza. While searching the ship for evidence of what happened, they discover several crates of gold. There is an absolute fortune, they decide the ship is not worth salvaging and that they shall take the gold and leave. When their tugboat is sunk after a freak accident they are stuck aboard the ship and decide to repair the leak and rudder in an attempt to try to stay afloat until rescued. This must be achieved before the ship hits a small group of islands it is being swept towards – oh the tension!

"We’re all trapped here"

Strange things begin to happen on the ship and one by one the crew meet their fate. Are these accidents, or is something more sinister afoot? A ghostly figure appears to Epps trying to warn her - it's Katie, the only child aboard the ship when it met its fate. What follows is the crew's battle to stay alive. The perfect scenario would be to escape with the gold, but will greed get the better of them?

The opening sequence of this film sets the tone and if you are not ready for it then be warned. It begins on the ship in 1962 and shows what happened to the passengers and crew. A tragic accident sees the entire occupants of the ballroom sliced in half by a cable – was it an accident though? This opening scene is extremely graphic and violent and demonstrates some terrific visual effects from Australian company Photon.

Ghost Ship didn’t set the box office on fire during its cinematic release and many people I have spoken to did not rate it at all highly. Taking into account all of these factors I didn’t hold high expectations of either a quality story or many scares, however thankfully I was pleasantly surprised to see a film that not only looks good, but also has many twists and turns along with some decent scares. Quite simply, this film is best enjoyed knowing as little as possible beforehand. A basic knowledge of a haunted ship will leave the viewer armed with all they need to know. The fact that people will die is a given, but Ghost Ship offers a lot more. There are many twists throughout and although a lot of them are ludicrous, they do show a great insight from the producers to try for something different.

The lead character of Epps is basically a replica of Ripley from Aliens and this is not necessarily a bad thing. There is definitely a need for a strong woman and whether the character is an intentional copy or not, it works. The entire cast does what is required, however there are no Academy Award performances here. The stars of this film are the story and the effects, with the actors doing an able job. There are several plot holes, but as long as you are not a stickler for factual detail or reality, you should find enough in this film for a good fright night.

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and 16:9 enhanced, this transfer is about as flawless as they come. Picture is sharp throughout and colours are terrific. There is no evidence of bleeding or grain whatsoever. Blacks are deep and detail is spot on. There are no signs of other nasties such as film artefacts and edge enhancement on this fine transfer. Subtitles are supplied in English for the hearing impaired while the layer change occurs at 49:01 and although this causes an obvious pause, it is still placed well.

Audio is supplied in English Dolby Digital 5.1 and this is of equal quality to the video transfer. The first notable aspect of the sound is the nice rumble from the subwoofer. This really gives the film a spooky feel and creates great atmosphere. Separation is also a highlight, with some terrific use of the rear speakers for directional effect. All speakers are constantly active and range from subtle wind noises to full blown door slamming sounds. The music used is well suited, with creepy airs used to build tension before a fright and some good use of heavier compositions to create a mood. Overall this is a wonderful audio mix which is of reference quality.

There are quite a few extras included with this release and the majority of them are quite informative.

Cast & Crew Biographies
Simply a series of text pages looking at the main cast members and crew.

Documentary
This mini documentary titled Max On Set runs for 15:06 and includes interviews with cast and crew along with on-set footage. It is interesting and entertaining and includes some good background to the making of this film.

Secrets of fhe Antonia Graza
By solving a word puzzle, the viewer must find the four hidden featurettes contained here. Each featurette contains some background footage not seen in the film and is a nice extra specific to the DVD release. The featurettes have running times of 1:14, 1:59, 1:37 and 1:15 and are not too hard to find.

Visual FX Featurette
This featurette looks at the visual FX used in the film and is hosted by the visual designers from Photon, the Australian company responsible. It is an interesting featurette that looks at all aspects of effects used and runs for a brief 6:03.

A Closer Look at the Gore
Running for 5:34, this featurette looks at the creation of the blood and guts effects used in the film. It is informative and gives an insight into how some of these effects were created.

Designing the Ghost Ship
Obviously this film looks at how the ship was designed. It runs for 5:43 and shows set design and information such as what ship the Antonia Graza was based on.

Music Video - Not Falling
Running for 3:12, this video clip from Mudvayne contains scenes from the film only and not the band themselves. It is presented in the same aspect ratio as the film and audio is supplied in DD 2.0 stereo.

Theatrical Trailer
Running for 2:10 with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and DD 2.0 Surround sound, this is an entertaining trailer and is best seen after the film as it may give away too many aspects of the plot.

Overall this is an enjoyable horror film that most should get into, as long as there's a preparedness to leave reality at the door. The effects are impressive and the many twists keep it interesting. The video and audio are superb, while there's a decent choice of extras, making this a worthy purchase.