As I have previously mentioned in my reviews for The House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, I have a soft spot for the Dark Castle films. In the early '00's, they would release a new horror flick around Halloween each year and while they weren't great they were fun, if undemanding, popcorn entertainment. The third offering from Dark Castle was Ghost Ship and while probably being the worst of the bunch still has it's moments, especially a memorably gruesome opening sequence.
A ragtag salvage crew led by Captain Sean Murphy (played by Gabriel Byrne) and including Maureen Epps (played by Julianna Margulies), Greer (played by Isaiah Washington), Dodge (played by Ron Eldard), Munder (played by Karl Urban) and Santos (played by Alex Dimitriades) are approached by Jack Ferriman (played by Desmond Harrington), a weather pilot who stumbled across a seemingly abandoned ghost ship drifting in the ocean and offers a partnership in salvaging the large ship. Sensing a huge payday, the entire crew quickly agrees and set out to find the ship. Upon discovering the drifting ship, they discover it is the lost Ocean Liner Antonia Graza. Upon boarding the ship, they are surprised to see no signs of life on the board. No bodies of passengers or anything. It is completely abandoned, apparently in the middle of a party. As the explore the ship and take stock of it's current state to see if it's seaworthy, the ghosts that occupy the ship begin to make their presence known. A little girl named Katie (played by Emily Browning) starts trying to make contact with Epps to warn her about the evil forces occupying the ship while other, more sinister spirits start to work on her fellow crew members, including a seductive singer, Francesca (played by Francesca Rettondini).
The film was directed by Steve Beck from a script from Mark Hanlon and John Pogue. The film does start off with a bang with a memorable opening sequence and I have to say I have not seen a movie before or since this one that peaks as early as this one. Once we get into the main story, the film settles rather comfortably into a very familiar ghost story with the novelty of being set on a decaying mid-20th century luxury liner. The writers do add in a few twists and turns to the story to keep things interesting, but you can also see that the filmmakers are getting influences from a lot of previous haunted house films of the past as well as well as Beck's own rendition of Thirteen Ghosts. Much like that film, the production design of the titular ship is one of the most interesting aspects of the film, capturing perfectly the time period of when the ship first went missing, as well as the effects that time and the unforgiving sea has had on it over the several decades it's been drifting. The filmmakers also manage to pull off some nifty effects, including a sequence where an old and decaying ballroom on the ship quickly begins springing back to life and restoring itself around Greer as he watches in surprise and awe.
The film has assembled a fairly game cast for the film. Gabriel Byrne may not be doing his best work but still gives a decent performance as the captain of the crew. He really gives the sense that he's a guy his crew respects and trusts, which helps sell them agreeing to follow him on this new expedition. Juliana Margulies functions well as the heroine of the film and the action oriented role suits her quite well actually. It's the same sort of role that Sigourney Weaver played in the Alien films, but Margulies does well in the film as a character we can root for. Desmond Harrington captures his character's inexperience and awkwardness among the more experienced characters quite well, while also hinting there may be more to his character than at first appears. Emily Browning does well as Katie, managing to make her character both sympathetic and yet a bit creepy, as a ghost should be.
Overall, Ghost Ship is not as good as one would hope. But the unique location, matched with impressive art direction, does set the mood for a classic ghost story quite well with plenty of atmosphere. It certainly has it's moments and can be a fun watch that doesn't over stay it's welcome with a game cast that is trying their best to make it all work. It may feel all too familiar at the same time, but that's not always a bad thing either. If you've enjoyed the other, similarly themed Dark Castle films then this is very much in that same vein here as well.
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