Phantom Ship

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Audience Member Bela LUGOSI stars (and overacts) in this movie about rugged sailors working on a ship on which there is a mysterious killer. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review andy f Just about tolerable movie supposedly telling the story of the Mary Celeste. Bela Lugosi is by miles the best thing about this film, which aside from the odd bit of seafaring atmosphere is pretty dull and tedious. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Uneven, but gritty and effectively grim, tale based on an actual "ghost ship" legend--Lugosi In A Great, Though Atypical Role!! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Bela Lugosi steals the show in âTaxi for Twoâ? director Denison Cliftâ(TM)s atmospheric sea-faring yarn âThe Phantom Ship.â? This British-produced, what-if epic appropriates the ill-fated, real-life tragedy of the sailing vessel the Mary Celeste as its subject matter. The elements revolving around the Mary Celeste, which was found in the Atlantic Ocean, near Portugal, without a single member of its crew on board and no indication about their fate lends itself to a scary saga. Nobody has ever figured out the fate of the crew, but several films have been lensed about this strange incident. Clift and freshman scenarist Charles Larkworthy exercise maximum use of dramatic license as they suggest what might have occurred. The claustrophobic setting-the action primarily takes place aboard the shipâ"and the paranoia that this static setting evokes as too many corpses pile up generates a modicum of atmosphere. Once a motley crew has been assembled for the Mary Celeste, the ensuing voyage turns into an Agatha Christie murder mystery as one crewman after another is killed in cold blood or commits suicide. Indeed, the plot foreshadows all those slasher chillers of the 1970s and 1980s where one individual stalks and kills a number of helpless victims. Revenge plays a prime motive in Cliftâ(TM)s film, and Lugosi is cast as the wronged man who exacts his pound of flesh. Mind you, as one-armed sailor Anton Lorenzen, Lugosi has the plum role, while an above-average cast of convincing looking maritimers surround him with their brawny looks. One briny fellow is covered in tattoos that reflect the time of the story in the 1870s, particularly his Queen Victoria tat. Unfortunately, despite the eerie setting and subject matter as well as Lugosi bravura performance, âThe Phantom Shipâ? could straighten the hairs on your forearms. Of course, it doesnâ(TM)t hurt matters that this was an early example of Hammer horror. In all probability, anything that might have sent a chill down your spine was excised by the British Board of Censors. If it proves nothing else, âThe Phantom Shipâ? proves that a man with one-arm can be a challenging adversary. Lugosi lunatic here has suffered from too many years at sea under horrible circumstances. He regales his fellow seamen with the story about how a shark got his arm. Meantime, Clift and Larkworthy retain some bits of history; the skipper takes his wife on the voyage because he plans to marry her. Nevertheless, he runs a taut ship and empowers his subordinates to make believers out of his coercised crew. Aside from the sailor sent to obtain a crew, the Lugosi character appears to be the only man who wants to be onboard. Happily, Clift keeps everything down to 62 minutes, but the revelation that âPhantom Shipâ? existed at one time as âThe Mystery of the Mary Celesteâ? with a running time of 80 minutes. The scenes aboard the ship look credible and filmmakers maintain the mystery right up to the final moments before another ship finds the Mary Celeste and they sell her for salvage. Along with the Lugosi characterâ(TM)s appetite for revenge, the only other notable complication is the romantic rivalry between Captain Benjamin Briggs (Arthur Margetson of âRandom Harvestâ?) and Captain Jim Morehead (Clifford McLaglen of âCall of the Sea) over Sarah (Shirley Grey) who winds up wedding Briggs rather than Morehead. Bad blood erupts over this turn of events and Morehead dispatches a sailor to sail for Briggs who will see that a little harm comes to him. âThe Phantom Shipâ? is more hardcore Bela Lugosi completists and Hammer fans Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member "Overlooking some of the film's faults, for Hammer's second endeavor Phantom Ship is an interesting film and definitely a recommendation for those who are into early "classics", and even though I can't bring myself to give it extremely high marks it's still worth checking out." Full review at: http://www.commonsensemoviereviews.com/2010/11/phantom-ship-1935.html Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Phantom Ship

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