New Course: Ghost Ship (2002)
My dear readers, though life has prescribed a studious course for me, one of scholarly viewings and critical expression, I sometimes find myself pondering an existence more tied to the elements. I have always seen an immense appeal in nautical pursuits and besides the handsome wardrobe options open to those who achieve the rank of captain, I find an inexorable intellectual draw to the black and briny depths. Part of my fascination can be attributed to the Hauntedhouses having long possessed a financial stake in a New England-based fishing operation that provides aquatic victuals for the true connoisseur. The cost of transportation from Innsmouth has risen considerably over the years but the clientele find that their selection of eldritch edibles is worth the extra penny or two.
A man who has yet to grasp his fate
Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) and Epps (Julianna Margulies) are no strangers to reaping oceanic rewards. As co-owners of a thalassic scavenging operation, they manage a crew of outcasts who know nothing but the freedom of seafaring and the financial rewards to be found in infinite stretches of blue, modern day buccaneers with little concern for any law besides the law of the sea. And so their adventuring sprits are inflamed by a doe-eyed stranger (Desmond Harrington) who urges them to inspect an absolute behemoth of a ship he’s spotted floating about without a sign of life either starboard or port.
The vessel in question is the Antonia Graza, a storied ship that a grizzled old “salt” like Murphy has heard tale of in his time. Missing since May of 1962 and last seen off the coast of Labrador, the ship itself is a prize of considerable proportions but not as portable as one might like. And so the crew is quite pleased to find that the Antonia Graza is also home to a notable quantity of gold bricks. Unfortunately, the sudden loss of their own vessel indefinitely postpones their departure and a bit of nosing around reveals that they are far from the first to board this buoyant palace in search of treasure. More troubling, though, are signs of a violent supernatural presence that increasingly curtails their odds of survival.
In an emergency spirits may be used as a flotation device
Despite all my attempts to maintain a rigid sort of objectivity, I am still susceptible to violent fits of nostalgia and I must confess to you, my worthy public, that and I am met with an unprofessional swell of pleasant associations whenever I glimpse the Dark Castle Entertainment logo. Ghost Ship was their third production and the first to stray from reimagined William Castle films. The film admittedly does not have the concentrated spooks of Thir13en Ghosts (2001), nor does it possess visual richness of House on Haunted Hill (1999) but what it does feature is the same reckless production value that had been injected into remakes of movies that were originally quite downmarket. Having already established a fairly bold course for the company, it is impressive that they steered so quickly into uncharted territory and despite my aforementioned lapse in neutrality, I would still maintain that it is worth enduring these rockier waters in support of the journey as a whole.
Ghost Ship runs 91 minutes and is rated R for strong violence, gore, language and sexuality.
