Ghost ship rant

[hammerhead]

After learning about Ghost Galleon I got to thinking...

I love ghost ships. I don't know anyone who doesn't like ghost ships. Ships are scary. They're scary to look at (especially up close) and scary to be on. They roar, they shake, they moan, they creak. If you're in the water, they might run you over; if you're riding them, they might just spring a leak and take you down into the dark. Horror stories have been a part of the lore of the sea since people figured out they could drown.

So why are there so few horror movies set on ships???

More importantly, why are there so few good ones?

I can count exactly two: Below and Triangle. And I'm being generous calling both good. It really does boggle the mind.

[bigmac]

Won't call it scary, but Deep Rising is a rollicking monster movie set on a disabled luxury cruise ship. And the final act of Jaws takes place on a boat.

I suspect the problem filming boat sequences is that it's hard to capture on film the feeling of being on a boat, or being hunted by one, on film. No matter how talented the filmmaker, the audience might not be able to suspend their disbelief enough, especially if they've never been on a boat themselves.

I suspect another problem is that it takes traveling through a special layer of hell to make a set as claustrophobic as a boat. It would be a logistical nightmare to keep the sets as tight as they should be, so most filmmakers don't bother trying and hope most of the audience wouldn't know the difference.

Well, some of us do, damn it.

[bishop746]

I agree with BigMac and there is also cost to consider. A cabin in the wood is cheap and easier to film in than a ship of any size.

Wanted to add two movies to your list. Haven't seen either one but here they are.

Death Ship with George Kennedy and Colonel Troutman:
www.imdb.com/title/tt0080603/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Ghost Rig aka. The Devil's Tattoo
www.imdb.com/title/tt0297853/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Yes, its about a haunted oil rig.

Interestingly, when I looked up all of these movies they all have something in common. The poster is always a ship with a skull in the background or foreground. Even the oil rig movie.

Not a ghost ship movie but don't forget Dead Calm with Sam Neil and Billy Zane.

[johnjohnny]

How about 'Shock Waves'? There is a ghost ship, but it doesn't take center role in the film. But it's pretty damn creepy.

This is a stretch, but the animated ' Tales of the Black Freighter' based on a segment from Alan Moore's Watchmen. The Black Frieghter may be considered something of a ghost ship, but the main character makes a raft out of bodies of the dead.