Ghost Ship

Remember that scene in The Mark of Zorro when Tyrone Power and Basil Rathbone are about to face off and Rathbone takes a swipe at a candle with his sword and the candle splits in half and falls to the ground. Then Power takes a swipe at another candle and nothing happens. Rathbone quips, "You missed." Then Power gently taps the candle and it falls over -- he had split it in half but with such precision that it didn't even fall. Now imagine that scene only with a metal wire and a bunch of people dancing and you have the opening of this film. I have to admit that seeing so many people cut in half at the waist and only falling apart after they have a few moments to react to the fact that they've been cut in half had me cheering over the ridiculous audacity of the scene. Too bad the rest of the movie was not as equally audacious. It basically just becomes a typical modern ghost story, though set on a creepy, excellently designed ocean liner that has been missing for 30 years. The setting is its major saving grace, but it could have been so much more. Too bad.