‘Ghost Ship’: From a Nautical ‘The Shining’ to a Supernatural ‘The Poseidon Adventure’

【影评】《吓破胆》:从海上版《鬼店》到灵异版《海神号》首图

Since their inaugural project, "House on Haunted Hill," in 1999, producer Joel Silver and director Robert Zemeckis's Dark Castle Entertainment has been dedicated to creating horror films. The name Dark Castle is a nod to the legendary horror filmmaker William Castle, reflecting their ambition to elevate the genre.

黑暗城堡娱乐商标。

As self-proclaimed torchbearers of Castle's legacy, Dark Castle Entertainment has boldly remade classics from William Castle and others, alongside producing original films. These remakes performed well at the box office but often needed more memorable highlights beyond enhanced visual effects and gore.

「黑暗城堡娱乐」的老片新拍作品:《猛鬼屋》、《恶灵 13》、《吓破胆》与《恐怖蜡像馆》

However, one film, even among non-horror fans, gained widespread recognition—2002's "Ghost Ship." The film's opening scene is among the most gruesome in cinematic history, not for its abundance of violent imagery but for the sheer brutality and efficiency of its killings. Using just a few runaway steel cables, the perpetrator manages to slice through half of the ship's passengers in a matter of moments.

《吓破胆》剧照。

Most ghost ship movies rely heavily on atmosphere, but "Ghost Ship" grabs attention with its visceral, attention-grabbing start. This method effectively piqued audience interest and expectations, even prompting "MythBusters" to test the feasibility of such a scenario (they found it implausible).

电影《吓破胆》剧照。

However, from this shocking opening, the film's momentum gradually declines. Its attention-grabbing hook created a misleading expectation. Appearing as a haunted house at sea, "Ghost Ship" is a slow-paced, suspense-driven supernatural thriller. Once the mastermind is revealed, the film shifts into a demonic whodunit, where the evil spirits on the ship become sympathetic victims. This inconsistency can partly be attributed to producer Joel Silver's dominant influence.

Technically, "Ghost Ship" is not a standard remake. While it draws inspiration from the 1980 horror film "Deathship," it is officially based on Mark Hanlon's screenplay "Chimera."

《吓破胆》与《幽灵船》的海报设计十分相像。

In Hanlon's original script, the protagonists discover the drifting ocean liner Chimera and find a vast stash of gold on board. Unbeknownst to them, the ghost ship feeds on human greed, luring them into deadly traps. Hanlon's version leaned towards psychological horror, where the characters realize their minds are their worst enemies. The ghosts in the ship are illusions, but their comrades, driven mad by the ship's influence, pose real threats.

电影《吓破胆》剧照。

The Chimera's evil power might not exist; the gold-inciting greed is the true villain.

饰演幽灵凯蒂(右)的艾蜜莉布朗宁,九年后在《陪睡女孩》(左)、《杀客同盟》(中)等片大放异彩。

However, Joel Silver sought more marketable and entertaining elements, so he enlisted John Pogue to rewrite the script. Pogue introduced the steel cable massacre and other violent scenes, filling in the suspense gaps left intentionally by "Chimera" to explain the passengers' disappearance. Despite these additions, "Ghost Ship" fails to explain why the ship's crew, intent on stealing the gold, chose the unnecessarily convoluted method of killing all the passengers, leading to significant plot holes.

电影《吓破胆》剧照。

Additionally, the revised script emphasizes a clear-cut battle between good and evil, unlike the original story, in which evil stems from within. Gabriel Byrne's captain and the other crew members become rare heroes in a ghost ship movie, not targeted for their flaws but inadvertently trapped by the antagonist. The story shifts focus from exploring human darkness to a survival adventure of escaping the ghost ship.

电影《吓破胆》剧照。

The film attempts to recreate the unease and anxiety of "The Shining" (1980) by portraying ghostly visions. Still, it ends up resembling a supernatural "The Poseidon Adventure (1980)." As a horror adventure, "Ghost Ship's" strategy of revealing twists and truths at the end makes the first half drag on too long; as a psychological thriller, it is too simplistic and lacks in-depth character development. This hasty assembly of new and old scripts results in an awkward outcome.

电影《吓破胆》剧照。

Despite its shortcomings, "Ghost Ship" remains one of the most polished and entertaining horror films set on the high seas. While Dark Castle Entertainment has since moved away from the horror genre after successes like "Orphan (2009)," "Splice (2009)," and "The Hills Run Red (2009)," "Ghost Ship's" infamous steel cable scene continues to spark discussions, reminding fans of the company's ambitious past. Though not particularly outstanding, this peculiar film has become a trademark legend in the horror genre.

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