Ghost Ship

Not to be confused with "The Ghost Ship," one of four (!) classic Val Lewton films from 1943, OR the 2002 horror fest "Ghost Ship," 1952's "Ghost Ship" is an obscure little British picture that should just manage to please. In it, real-life husband and wife Dermot Walsh and Hazel Court play Guy and Margaret Thornton, a Canadian couple living in England, who buy the Cyclops, a 40-year-old steamer yacht, and realize, after a series of freakish incidents, that the darn thing really might be haunted. An aged biddy of a medium (a pale knockoff of the marvelous character brought to indelible life by Margaret Rutherford in 1945's "Blithe Spirit") holds a seance on board and, via a series of flashbacks, the viewer is allowed to witness the events that led to the ship's current state, culminating in a surprise ending of sorts. A fast-paced 72 minutes, "Ghost Ship"'s major lure for modern-day audiences is perhaps Hazel Court, who over the next 10 years would become one of British cinema's reigning queens of horror. With a perfectly shaped mouth that might make Angelina Jolie envious and a pair of zygomatic bones that could turn Deborah Harry green with envy, Hazel was indeed luscious to look at on screen, especially in this relatively early role; sadly, her striking red hair and green eyes cannot be appreciated in this B&W film. The picture in question is a lighthearted affair that is not a bit scary (even an initial glimpse of the ship's ghost fails to raise any hackles) but always engaging, thanks to some pleasant performances, a crackling, no-nonsense script from director Vernon Sewell, and a sprightly score by Eric Spear. In all, a minor affair, but an entertaining one, presented here on a surprisingly crisp-looking DVD courtesy of Wham! USA.

At sea on a haunted boat sounds terrifying. Nowhere to go except overboard!

This isn't a scary film at all but it does have an interesting story and there are good segments, especially once paranormal expert Hugh Burden (Dr Fawcett) appears. He has a good scene explaining sound vibrations with his collection of tuning forks. Did you know that a sound pitch inaudible to the human ear can be heard by drinking a glass of water which acts as a conductor for the sound. This is fascinating stuff! Once medium Mignon O'Doherty turns up we get to the crux of the story as things unravel.

Unfortunately, the story takes a while to get going and more use should have been made of general spookiness. We needed some scares and more ghostly shenanigans. The film lacked that spooky atmosphere and ended rather abruptly. Still, it is an ok film - a ghost story that isn't scary but is still an interesting watch.

Minor British movie about a young couple who buy a boat called "Cyclops" despite being warned that it is haunted. There is very little haunting going on here, most of it is in the form of an unexplainable smell on board of cigar smoke. It is heavy on dialogue but very little action, bit of a bore. The only notable thing for me is that it stars Hazel Court, who went on to become a British 1960's scream queen. Missed opportunity here; they should have put a bit more spookiness into it, or perhaps gone down the comedy route.

Love old movies and this one is a classic for being so absured.

The acting couple give their best with a sluggish script.

There is about 5 min of actual action and the rest is dialogue through out.

The ending is weird and not what I was expecting but was an enjoyable movie on a nolgastic watch trip.

Ghost Ship features one of the least threatening ghosts in movie history - he appears, smoking a cigar, and then vanishes - and yet those in the know are still so scared of him that they refuse to step foot on the steamer yacht that he haunts. Despite learning of the vessel's supernatural inhabitant, married couple Guy and Margaret Thornton (Dermot Walsh and Hazel Court) buy the boat and spruce it up, unconvinced by stories of the cigar-smoking spook. However, when Guy actually sees the ghost in the ship's engine room (standing and smoking his Havana), his wife calls in some experts to help find out why the boat is haunted.

This has got to be one of the most tepid horror movies I have ever seen: it's not in the least bit scary, the film too bright and breezy to conjure up any atmosphere or chills. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the film - leads Walsh and Court are just too darn chipper not to like and the film has that affable post-war positivity and charm that typified many films of the era. As a horror, Ghost Ship sinks like a stone, but as an easy-going slice of British B-movie entertainment, it's plain sailing all the way.