A szellemhajó

Csapatnyi unalmas szereplő rohangál a hajóban és kellemetlen dolgokat él át. Nem elég, hogy mindent már százszor láttuk, de percről percre egyre abszurdabb és ostobább fordulatokkal van tele. A nyitófeliratok alatt nyugodt voltam, zárófeliratok alatt pedig dühös. Ezt nevezem érzelmi fokozódásnak! Egy csillag csak az A-kategóriás színészekért és nagyobb költségvetésért, mint amilyen a hasonlóan rossz filmeknek van. (2003.01.30)

Ghost Ship can serve as a reflection on how the opinions of others influence our judgment, as well as on how deceptive such judgments can be. This stands out especially when compared to the Spanish horror film Rec. In the end, I gave both films almost the same percentage rating. Rec received excellent reviews and praise that fueled my high expectations, which were ultimately not completely fulfilled, whereas Ghost Ship had very critical and venomous reviews that cooled my expectations to a minimum. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised because I really didn't expect anything from it. Ghost Ship is obviously not great art; viewers must look elsewhere for that, and it does not represent a genre peak in any way. It is just an average, routine ghost story that can boast of having a few decent scenes, such as the execution of the passengers or the gradual discovery of the interior of the abandoned wreck. However, it is also limited by mediocre directing and screenplay. Compared to Rec, it does have a more decent cast, especially someone like Gabriel Byrne, who demonstrates why he is a respected actor even in a film like this. Undoubtedly, more could have been extracted from it, and undoubtedly, there are a number of clichés in the film, but let's be honest, I found more of them in Rec. Moreover, practically no other genre, perhaps with the exception of space opera, has as many horror series sequels as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Children of the Corn, Halloween, etc., which are squeezed to absurdity. Those directors and screenwriters use clichéd scenes precisely because they know they work very well on horror audiences. All in all, it is an average, but sometimes quite entertaining B-movie: 50% overall impression. (2009.05.13)

While the prologue with the chopping on a parquet board and the clip about what really happened headed towards parody, the characters decided to induce lethargy. Then come the jump scares, competing with the twist revealing the identity of one of the characters competes for who can be cheaper, and interactions with ghosts on the level of an Eddie Murphy comedy. Ever since The Usual Suspects, we know that having Gabriel Byrne aboard a ship is like clinking glasses during a toast while having bananas in your pockets. That's what Steve Beck gets for ignoring those sailor superstitions. (2022.09.13)

If you want to watch Ghost Ship, I recommend especially the opening scene, which is very well-shot, and there are also great contrasts and an excellent finale. However, the rest definitely doesn't live up to expectations, it's just a drawn-out treasure hunt featuring one lunatic. The characters aren't particularly well-developed and are somewhat predictable given that most of the action takes place on the ship. (2015.06.16)

A horror film for not very demanding viewers. A really great and memorable scene comes right at the beginning, then the film stumbles until it reaches the end. The story is a classic B-movie ghost story, a slightly modernized version of a famous tale that has been told by salted-to-the-bone sea wolves in various variations for God knows how many generations. And to make matters worse, it is in the naive spirit (hehe) of the series I don’t like called Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. It has some promising moments (the aforementioned opening can't be topped, though) and it goes by quickly, so in the end why not. Two and a half. (2014.03.16)