Ghost Voyage

I was surprised how good "Ghost Voyage" (2008) is. The plot concerns a group of nine people, mostly strangers, who suddenly awaken on a mysterious ship in the middle of the ocean. An enigmatic Asian steward appears and instructs them to follow the rules. Some do, and some don't, to their own peril.

Although quite a bit of the CGI is questionable and the plot is predictable from the get-go (think "Carnival of Souls" or "Purgatory"), the emphasis on character wins the day. At about 90 minutes the film moves right along, maintaining your attention, with a nice increase of suspense toward the end.

Shot in Bulgaria, the film features a nice smörgåsbord of worthy Euro females, starting with the girl-next-door brunette protagonist, played by Deanna Russo, followed by the blonde ghostly seductress, played by Jasmina Toshkova.

The possibility of redemption for those who have ears to hear is hinted at early on and the culmination of this aspect is actually kinda moving.

GRADE: B

Film stars Antonio Sabato Jr with an ensemble of characters who all mysteriously wake up on a ship with no idea how they got there. Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa mysteriously appears as the steward who gives the rules. Horror ensues for the crew members as they learn why they are on the only passengers on this mysterious voyage. Very Stereotypical casting with Sabato as the eventual leader, Russo as the strong female lead, Berlin as the bombshell and the male supporting as either thugs, arrogant son of a wealthy family, sort of a middle age type and the youngster who has drug problems. Poor to average CGI and poor to average acting performance mar this film

This is not the worst I've seen from SyFy, but it was a movie that was sorely lacking in my view. Its redeeming values are some good ideas, some nice eerie interiors(if never really convincing authenticity-wise) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa trying his best with a character that is really beneath him. However, the special effects while not horrible are clunky at best, while Antonio Sabbato and Deanna Russo are bland in the leads, the story is sluggish and predictable with a twist that manages to fare even worse and next to no thrills or memorable death scenes, the characters are never engaging and are very stereotypical, the direction is dreary and the script never feels as though it is flowing naturally, all feeling clichéd and stilted with nothing much surprising. Overall, had some good ideas but as said already, the sluggish story, hackneyed script, bland acting and the whole forgettable feel of the movie stop it from being anything more than that, and at the end of the day it just doesn't come together. 3/10 Bethany Cox

Has some nice ideas here but nothing ever comes together. The story, the actors, the special effects, all way below the industry standard. Speaking of the actors, wow, they were terrible. The accents are so over the top it is almost painful to talk and I was glad to see many of them go. The special effects, dreadful for a movie made now a days. Everything looked so fake and like someone made it on their laptop. And for the story...it started off decent with a kind of cool premise but it just gets way to drawn out and turns into pointless dribble throughout the movie. Do yourself a favor and avoid this...unless you enjoy a good laugh at a terrible "horror" movie.

The opening with a group of strangers awakening to find themselves aboard an old broken down cargo vessel is sufficiently eerie enough, and the oddball spectre-like "steward" who gives the confused passengers a list of ship rules is menacing. None of them knows how they got there, or why.

It's not a bad premise, sort of a Twilight Zone approach. The movie at first looks like it's going to rip off "Death Ship" and some others, but actually finds its own direction. It manages to present the mystery of what is going on, who is behind it, etc. It avoids giving up too much information too soon and guides the audience along with well-timed expository dialog and some weird discoveries aboard the spooky vessel. It throws in some ghost-like apparitions, ancient ritualistic behavior, and a "test" which is graded coldly and positively. Not bad stuff, really.

But the longer the movie goes on, the weaker it gets. Many characters are so cliché and obviously marked for unpleasant fates, that it's laughable. Some of the special effects look like they were done with an Etch-a-Sketch toy. Most of the cast (fortunately those who make early exits) act at about the kindergarten play level. However, the longer-lasting people act better; and their characters have some dimension. The resolution actually shows some thought was put into it.

A decent flick for a rainy weekend afternoon.