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The Daily Tar Heel

Hokey "Ghost Ship" Sinks Under Stereotypes

"Ghost Ship"

To get the premise of "Ghost Ship," take "Titanic" and pretend the souls of its less-fortunate passengers (i.e. the dead ones) decided to forego the Big Shiny Ballroom in the Sky and stay on the ship -- scaring the living bejeezus out of anyone who disturbed their rest.

Kind of gives a whole different meaning to "My Heart Will Go On."

"Ghost Ship" is a scary movie with aspirations to be more than just a genre flick. At times it succeeds, displaying a macabre whimsy and comic self-awareness that make you hope it will rise above its scary movie status, but in the end, "Ghost Ship" sinks from too many plot holes and the sort of cliched finale that makes you concede that all your high hopes were for naught.

A glitzy, lavishly shot opening introduces us to the ocean liner Antonia Graza and its equally glitzy passengers. Everything is so glittering and happy, in fact, that there is only one solution in the realm of horror movies: People must die. And gruesomely, if it all possible.

Cut to modern day, when a ragtag group of salvagers (evidently this is an actual profession) led by Murphy (Gabriel Byrne) and Epps (Julianna Margulies) are led to the remnants of the once-mighty ship by an Air Force pilot named Ferriman (Desmond Harrington). If you happened to notice the title of the movie in the credits, on your ticket stub or any number of other prominent places, you probably have no doubt as to just what's lurking on the ship.

Rocket science "Ghost Ship" is not. In fact, this film follows the rules of horror movie frights and deaths so methodically that you'll be able to spot every major plot progression about five minutes after the characters are introduced. So long, Hot-Blooded Rebellious Dude. Sayonara, Guilt-Ridden Leader.

With all the stylized glitz and gore around them, it's easy to forget that there are actors involved in this visual feast -- legitimate ones, even, like Byrne and "ER" expatriate Margulies. Their characters are little more than stereotypes with death sentences, but Byrne and Margulies bring a human warmth to their roles that make you wish they could stick around a little longer before their appointments with imminent death.

To the movie's credit, just because you can see the whole thing coming doesn't mean the ride isn't fun. Lines like, "Did (the titular boat) hit an iceberg or something?" show an awareness on director Steve Beck's behalf that yes, the premise is hokey, but sometimes hokey can lend horror movies their heart. Such is the case when the ragtag crew belts the theme from "The Love Boat" upon boarding ship. Hokey, yes, but winning as well.

Also impressive is the directoral savvy Beck demonstrates with an extended flashback in which the ghost of a little girl (proving once again, incidentally, that little girls make the eeriest residents in the land of spooky) reveals to Epps how the Ghost Ship became just so ghostly.

"Ghost Ship" proceeds swimmingly -- predictably, but swimmingly -- until its final act, which features the sort of roll-your-eyes, "Planet of the Apes"-style close that makes you question why you ever believed this movie could be something more than the norm.

Nonetheless, the film "Ghost Ship" resembles the famed ocean liner of its title: highly stylized, borderline scary and ultimately doomed to sink.

The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk@unc.edu.

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