The tale of the Mary Celeste surfaces quite quickly in this story of a salvage crew who find an abandoned ship. But as the rather grizzly prologue to this film suggests, this is more than just a ghost ship. It holds secrets that are slowly unlocked as the film proceeds. It is no secret, however, to anyone who watches Hollywood horror that when a character says they’re happy or looking to the future or show signs of being over confident or content, they are for it. And the salvage crew in this film certainly tick the boxes. So it is a relief to find there are slightly more twists and turns to the plot that just their inevitable demise.
This is a great film for Halloween if you’re a fan of Triangle with hints of The Shining, though it can occasionally be slightly too heavy on the cliches. For me, the secret to good suspense horror story is to give a taster and leave the rest to the imagination. There’s nothing more off putting than a story too eager to please and explain. That said, whilst it did occasionally do that, this film is superb on production atmosphere. The empty ship is just spine chillingly striking and whilst the actors maybe occasionally over the top, their environment speaks volumes.
Buy on DVD
[rating=4]