Defending 'Ghost Ship'

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So, after watching Ghost Ship, it came across my mind that there weren’t that many people that liked this movie… in fact, people hated this movie. I saw it in the theaters with my dumbass stepbrother and I am proud to say that I really enjoyed this movie, then and now. But I am here to defend this movie for what it is; a horror movie. Note: this is not a review of the movie.

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1. This is a HORROR movie and I am sure there are several people that did get scared from this movie. If so, then this movie accomplished its goal to scare the audience. It’s a traditional ghost ship story but with a twist… not a plot twist but rather a content twist. Most ghost stories, the ghosts are bad and that’s what you are led to believe but that majority of the ghosts are good and only a few are bad. It’s a twist of sorts.

2. For a horror movie that looks like it focused all of it’s art direction the rusty design of the ship, it had good makeup and gore. I watched the ‘making of’ and I saw how much they spent on the make up and some of the ghosts looked pretty good. Take for example the Italian singer; they really did a good a job making her look old and corpsy. But what I can’t understand is why would a ghost age? The burnt corpse of Santos looks pretty real and very well done. The flashback scene when you see everybody get killed had great gory effects… though these effects are not in abundance it still delivers. Plus, don’t forget the infamous deck scene, which had great bloody effects.

3. Some people say the plot was uneven… what was uneven about it? Aside from continuity errors, the plot seemed fine. Hell, even the idea that the busboys and the butlers rebel in such a short time isn’t really that unfathomable. They didn’t seem like they had a real set plan but rather an all balls out attack. I don’t think there were any uneven parts of the plot. I don’t think continuity errors fall under plot development, that is a whole other category and sure, there is the fact that there are English words on an Italian boat but I think that’s only there to avoid subtitles… because, after all, it would look even weirder.

4. The acting in this movie was pretty good. I understand that the movie was trying to make you feel for the characters but it wasn’t successful, so the character development wasn’t as good but the acting wasn’t bad either. It was pretty good and I really wish Gabriel’s character had a bigger role. There were some sad points and I think the little girl did a fantastic acting job.

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5. I really enjoyed the semi closure ending. As rare as horror movie have, the ending didn’t give closure the when all the ghosts were released from the ship to return to heaven… it really was kind of awe-inspiring and heartwarming. To see all of those poor innocent trapped souls finally released and they were all happy. It gives me shivers to see this old, dark, rusty boat sink while these bright ghosts swirl across it to heaven. Even when the antagonist says about the little girl makes me smile: ‘souls without sin are harder to control.’ Pretty much saying, that the little girl is the epitome of innocents.

6. If you don’t like this movie for any of the above reasons, then you have to like it for one of the opening scenes where the wire slices through all the people on the front deck of the boat. That is one of the best kill scenes in horror history.

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Now, I am not saying that this movie is the best movie ever made, nor am I saying that this movie is one of the best ghost stories but for what it is, a simple little horror movie, it is worth it. It was a box office hit and I think that this movie deserves a chance.