Review of Ghost Ship (2002) by David G — 31 May 2010

Fast-paced horror which sees Gabriel Byrne's salvage crew (apparently the "best in the business" despite their blatant unprofessionalism and borderline incompetence) on a mission to claim an ocean liner which disappeared under mysterious circumstances 40 years ago and remained that way until now.

Naturally our heroes find themselves up shit creek without a paddle as the ship holds more than a few deadly supernatural surprises. The first half of the film is quite effective with an opening volley of gore to grab your attention before settling down to deliver more subtle scares, but then what happens? They go and explain what's happening.

Suffice to say it's a lot harder to take seriously after that and for every question that's answered another half dozen are raised. Who is he exactly? Why are they doing that? How does that work? What the fuck's going on?! The cast's OK (including the always-awesome Karl Urban in an early role) and it's enjoyable in places but there's no getting past the fact that it all get's very, very naff.