Haunting of the Mary Celeste

 

Of all the genres that Hollywood has produced is that of horror/ghost stories. Going way back to "Frankenstein" '31 and "Dracula" '31, a plethora of films along with sequels and remakes have graced the screen. Now we have "Haunting of the Mary Celeste" in the offing to sink our teeth into. 

Rachel Simmons (Emily Swallow), and her team, Grant (Dominic Devore) and Cassandra (Alice Hunter) hire a reluctant captain, Tulls (Richard Roundtree) to set out to sea to prove that the disappearance of a family and crew from a merchant ship was for reasons having to do with the supernatural. Her theory that those on the Mary Celeste vanished into a 'rift' between dimensions proves true as the boat breaks down and the crew begins to vanish one by one.

Others to complete the cast are Pierre Adele as Aldo and Ava Acres as Jennifer/Sophia.

This was eerily directed by Shana Betz ("Girls! Girls! Girls!" '11, "Free Ride" '13) plus a short. Certainly the emotions these actors exuded were effective and kept its audience on the edge of their seats, and this definitely calls for talented directing. She doesn't have a plethora of experience, but was effective in her execution of pacing and staging her actors well. Where this film falls short is with the writing by David Ross ("The Woods" '06, "The Babysitters" '07), based on a story by Jerome Olivier and Ross. I like a good ghost story, and the premise of this certainly was intriguing, however it simply got bogged down with inconsistencies and jumped around too much. Then the film just dropped at the end like the writer wasn't sure how to wrap up the movie. One of the best 'ghost story' films I've ever seen was "The Others" '01 with Nicole Kidman. What made that so fresh and original was that the ones that thought they were being haunted were actually the ghosts themselves--one just didn't see it coming. Possibly, if Ross had a bit more experience under his belt, this might have been more intriguing. It simply needed more polish. 

This film being made for VOD (Video On Demand) might have been part of the reason why the movie wasn't as captivating as it could've been, but it needed more closure. Directing and acting was effective, so it wasn't a total loss. This was released on 10-23-20, but apparently was sold to VOD. Maybe you'll like it. You be the judge.

Out of 4 Stars: 1.5                                             Rated: Not Rated                                           74mins.