Ghost Voyage (2008)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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 European females, starting with the girl-next-door brunette protagonist, played by Deanna Russo, followed by the blond ghost seductress, played by Jasmina Toshkova.The possibility of redemption for those who have ears to hear is hinted at early on and, believe it or not, the culmination of this aspect brought tears to my eyes. Excellent! GRADE: B+

Ghost Voyage: 5 out of 10: This is a SyFy Channel movie so I am grading on a curve here. Ghost voyage starts of a bit slow but quickly builds to a surprisingly suspenseful ending.The movies plot is a little like the superior Ghost Ship. A bunch of strangers wakes up on an abandoned cargo ship with no idea where they are. A creepy and ghostly Steward gives them the rules and then fades into the background. Like some aquatic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the guests break the rules and meet various fates.Ghost Voyage overall is straightforward with okay CGI and limited gore. Director James Oxford however squeezes some decent performances and a surprising amount of tension out of the otherwise by the numbers script.The movies other strength is its eye-candy. For the ladies there is a former Calvin Klein Model (Antonio Sabato Jr.) for the gentlemen there is a troika of beauties.Lead actress Deanna Russo and ghost girl Zhasmina Toskova certainly entertain enough but my money is on Julian Berlin as the blond, husband stealing flapper. Despite a lack of nudity the ladies certainly help hold a viewers interest during a slow first half.Overall Ghost Voyage gets better as it moves along, and is entertaining enough diversion for those interested in the genre.

Ghost Voyage starts with a group of strangers awakening to find them selves stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean with no idea where they are and how they got there. A mysterious figure known only as the Steward gives them a set of guidelines on how to behave and then disappears. Naturally in best horror film fashion they start wandering around the ship and the fun begins. The SciFi Channel is well known for making unbelievably bad movies. Ghost Voyage is one step above as it is believable that someone could make a movie this bad. Why is the question. The premise has potential. The forgotten classic Outward Bound was probably an inspiration for this dreck. I assume the people at the SciFi Channel who are in charge of lousy movies came across Outward Bound and decided to remake it as a slasher movie with. Really at this point it's clear that the SciFi Channel isn't even trying. I don't know how their economics work but garbage like this is not going to bring in viewers or advertisers. They could have done a faithful remake or even rerun Outward Bound and done better. Would have cost less (even lousy CGI cost money) and gotten better ratings.

Underwear model Antonio Sabato Jr. stars as one of a group of disoriented stereotypes...er....passengers who awaken aboard a strange cargo ship in the middle of the ocean with no recollection of how they got there or where the ship is heading. Gosh, who is that strange Asian steward quoting strange rules to them? Where are they going? Where could the rest of the crew be? Why do they keep disappearing one by one? Odd advertising for this one, though. It indicates that 7 people awaken on the ship, when there are actually 9 (at the start, anyway). A few good scares, but the ending is telegraphed a mile away. Not the worst of the Sci-Fi Channel movies of the week, but certainly not the best.