The Ferryman

An individual migrates from body to body (usually when the going get's rough) by stabbing his/her/it's future host with a super duper hexed up knife. Once the transfer has been made, the wounds he/she/it inflicted heals and our body-jacker is back in business having escaped trouble and cheated death once again.

Interesting idea, I guess, though the execution could have been better. Notwithstanding, it's not a total waste of your time. I was conscious from beginning to end, so that's saying something. It made me think: What would I do if I had a knife like that? Would I use it? -Would you? These are deep questions, folks. Deep, troubling questions (Please keep a straight face). All you have to do when your body is no longer usable is stab the sh*t out of your fellow man or woman (Does it work with animals?) with your special knife and "Wallah!" -You have a new body.

The Ferryman may just boil down to personal taste which basically needs no rhyme or reason; you either like something, or you don't. I found the infatuation with the dog in the movie a bit annoying. I wanted to scream "Enough, already! -I know you love your little doggie, but give me a break!" If you had 10 mil, we know where it's going. -Sheesh! Guess I'm not a dog-person. Love, Boloxxxi.

I've read some pretty scathing reviews of 'The Ferryman' online; most actually have quite clever titles like 'Don't pay The Ferryman,' 'Ferry Awful' and 'Throw it overboard.' Despite finding those titles amusing, I have to disagree.

The Ferryman doesn't exactly rewrite the horror genre; its place lies firmly in that massive middle ground of a billion other low budget horror movies that the average horror fan watches when there's nothing else on TV in the hope that this one might actually be quite good. Most aren't, but, in my opinion, The Ferryman is at least watchable enough to keep the average horror film entertained for an hour and a half.

It's about a small boat, containing six twenty-somethings, sailing to Fiji. Sadly, the pleasant holiday ambiance is cut short when they rescue a mysterious strange from a stricken boat - and, as we all know, picking up mysterious strangers is never a good idea.

I won't go into too much details about the plot as you may not know which direction the film will take, but, like I say, although The Ferryman is nothing spectacular, it's not as bad as some people seem to be making out.

I have enjoyed limited movie offerings from New Zealand, with the likes of the romantic comedy Sione's Wedding and horror comedy Black Sheep, and for my horror double bill this weekend, I wouldn't have wanted to miss The Ferryman.

In western folklore, the Ferryman is the one responsible for transporting the dead to the nether realms, where souls would be judged (so you'd better start chalking up those brownie points). Ferrymen had been depicted in movies before, be they just a background character like in Woody Allen's Scoop, or becoming a point of contention in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies with crew of The Flying Dutchman. Think of it as the equivalent to the Chinese folklore characters of "Cow Head" and "Horse Face", where they will visit the body at the point of deaths to escort the soul to the depths of Hell for judgement.

2 couples (two of whom are Craig Hall and Amber Sainsbury whom we will get to see again in 30 Days of Night, in which Ben Fransham who plays The Ferryman will also appear) signs up for an adventure sail from New Zealand to Fiji, where a luxurious spa awaits their tired bodies after their "homestay on the sea" stint. Before everyone, including the captain his wife and their pet dog, can get chummy with one another, their ship receives a distress signal, and the laws of the sea dictates they get themselves into unknown trouble by picking up a survivor from a non-working vessel. And like all hitchhiker styled movies, there's always something strange about the hitcher (played by John Rhys-Davis) you pick up, especially when the weather's all foggy and he starts to give everyone the creeps.

The Ferryman turned out to be a rather interesting concept movie rather than outright horror with shock and awe moments. It doesn't scare, nor does it follow the recent trends in gore and with torture porn. What it's more akin to is a good old fashioned thriller with supernatural elements thrown in for good measure. Some might complain that nothing much really happens, with the usual hack and slash, but I'd argue that it had a very novel take on the theme of longevity, especially when it starts to play out in full. While it certainly isn't something new, the way it was executed (pardon the pun) mattered, and its ending will undoubtedly leave a wicked smile on your face, at what had transpired, and the loads of potential should you possess such capability.

Not without loopholes though, but I thought it could be glossed over given its supernatural slant, unless you choose to harp on it, especially when it didn't get developed properly. In short, The Ferryman still qualifies for an entertaining afternoon matinée when ticket prices are cheaper.

This was a strange flick to watch. It all started as a normal flick and it really took a while before things go wrong. Even when the fog comes in you have to wait a bit before the 'knife' will do what it does, killing.

It's not a common horror because it contains all kind of stories. We do have a part of possession and we do have some supernatural stuff going on. In the beginning I was a bit confused what was going on but once you know what the knife does due watching closely to the tattoo you will get it and rather enjoy it. The acting was believable but I must say that John Rhys-Davies (The Greek) wasn't convincing at all.

But it's the creepy atmosphere in the last half hour that keep you watching and you want to know what is going to happen next. It isn't gory or messy but the red stuff do flows a few times.

A bit confusing the first 40 minutes but keep watching until the end for the reason already explained and for nudity you just couldn't see coming.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I've had the DVD of THE FERRYMAN sitting in my pile of must sees for some time, for some unknown reason I've been putting it off. But finally got round to seeing it...and I really liked it! It's got a decent cast, the most familiar face to me was Tamer Hassan - from THE BUSINESS, and Julian Arahanga from ONCE WERE WARRIORS, but the acting was good all round I thought.

The film itself was way above average for a DTV movie, it looked like it had a few quid chucked at it, and was extremely well made.

It was quite creepy in parts, the setting on a yacht stuck in the fog in the middle of the ocean - at night, had the desired effect.

I'm not going to go into to much detail about the synopsis (thats available at the top of the title page), but if I had to compare it to something I would say it reminded me of THE HIDDEN... on a boat!

Im not sure of the UK release date, it was due out October time, but was withdrawn and hasn't had a re-release date, but keep an eye out for it.

If you've had enough of the countless remakes and slasher flicks that keep getting churned out - give this a try, you will do a lot worse i guarantee it.