“The sea and the people who sail it are an endless source of mystery and fascination,” observes renowned producer Joel Silver, who along with his Dark Castle Entertainment partner Robert Zemeckis originated HBO’s classic late-night-fright series Tales of the Crypt and produced the hit feature films House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts. “Similarly, ghost stories are perennially captivating, but there has never been a satisfying marriage of the two. Ghost Ship appeals to the dark side of our nature that loves the thrill of being scared, that craves that adrenaline rush, and it also fuels our enduring curiosity about the mysterious and the unexplained.”
Indeed, Ghost Ship combines breathtaking high seas action with a sinister supernatural story set aboard the Antonia Graza, an errant luxury liner thought lost for more than 40 years.
“With Thirteen Ghosts, we put a twist on the conventional haunted house narrative and heightened the tension by setting the film in a structure made almost entirely of glass,” Silver explains. “In Ghost Ship, the structure in question is a derelict cruise liner that was reported missing in 1962 and is recovered by an ambitious salvage team. Not only does the audience take a harrowing journey through this haunted vessel with our heroes, but they experience the same terrifying claustrophobia as the characters because escape is not an option. They’re out in the middle of the ocean where there’s nowhere to run and no place to hide.”
Add a cargo hold containing a fortune in unmarked gold bullion and eerie visions of the doomed ship’s original passengers and crew…and the stakes are raised to chilling depths for a land-starved cast of characters whose judgment is increasingly clouded by temptation.
Informed by legends like that of the Marie Celeste – described in the film as a twin-masted brigantine that departed Charleston, South Carolina bound for London only to be discovered 59 days later, abandoned and sailing off the coast of Tripoli with no one at the helm, no sign of distress and its cargo intact – Ghost Ship delves into thematic territory explored in both House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts: the effect of greed on ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances.
“In Ghost Ship, House on Haunted Hill and Thirteen Ghosts, the characters are ultimately undone by their own desire for some form of material gain,” Silver notes. “In one sense they’re the victims of the evil they encounter, but at the same time, it’s their own avarice that conjures up that evil and empowers it to destroy them.”
When the salvage team aboard the Arctic Warrior recovers the hulking remains of the once-magnificent Antonia Graza, they appear to have hit a potential jackpot. If they can repair and tow her back to shore, the ship could bring in the biggest payday they’ve ever seen. Although the crew had been headed for Anchorage after six months at sea, the possibilities are too rich to ignore…especially when they discover that the ship holds a priceless secret.
Movie Database
In Theaters
