Ghost Ship (Widescreen Edition)

SALVAGE CREWS NEXT BIG JOB SEEMS LIKE BUSINESS AS USUAL, TOWING IN A SUNKEN VESSEL. BUT THE TRIP IN FROM THE BERING SEA TURNS EVIL AS THE SHIP IS HAUNTED.

While it offers nothing new for horror buffs, Ghost Ship relocates its haunted house clichés to an eerily effective setting. The Italian luxury liner Antonia Graza, its fate a mystery for 40 years, has suddenly reappeared in the chilly Bering Sea. Lured by a seemingly harmless proposition, Gabriel Byrne and Julianna Margulies lead a salvage crew (including Ron Eldard, Margulies's offscreen partner and fellow ER alumnus) to claim the wreck. But a grisly prologue--in which we witness the horrific fate of the ship's crew and passengers--makes it clear that bad things are going to happen. And they do... with the predictability of tomorrow's sunrise. The supporting cast is routinely dispatched, but their fates are determined amid outstanding art direction, slick cinematography, and judicious digital trickery, all primed to maximize the doom-laden atmosphere. Director Steve Beck (who remade 13 Ghosts a year earlier) won't win any awards for ingenuity, but Ghost Ship offers a few good chills for a dark and stormy night. --Jeff Shannon