The Ferryman

The trouble with horror films these days are they are no longer really scary and that is more a reflection of the audience's ambivalence more than the filmmakers' lack of imagination. In fact, the filmmakers are pushing their ideas to extremes to try and get reactions from the punters by resorting to more gore and torture rather than relying on fear of the unknown to get the adrenaline flowing. Forgetting those SAW and HOSTEL type movies one of the last movies that got me jumping in my seat was SE7EN, an although it had a reputation for the brutality of the crimes there was very little shown in terms of blood and gore but it was certainly inferred, which left most of it to the viewers imagination. And although THE classic horror film of all time THE EXORCIST left very little to the imagination the threat seemed very real.

THE FERRYMAN, which had its UK premiere at SFL6 last year then disappeared like a fog on a hot sunny day, tries to recapture the mood of the classic 70s style horror flicks. Think of it as DEAD CALM meets THE THING meets THE SHINING. A group of young tourists charter a yacht, captained by Tamer Hassan, for trip of a lifetime into the South Pacific. As a fog suddenly descends on the yacht they find a stricken yacht adrift with dying man on board. The Greek (John Rhys-Davies) is taken on board and they soon find that he is the passenger from hell. He has been cheating death for centuries by exchanging old bodies for new with the help of a mystical weapon called The Shifting Blade. With plenty of new flesh to choose from things get pretty messy, especially as the Ferryman is coming to collect his due.

Being set on board a ship there is plenty of room for claustrophobic thrills as the malevolent spirit jumps from host to host. It also allows for some humour as it adjusts to the new bodies, especially when it has to change gender. And of course it has its fair share of blood that will satisfy most horror fans.

It doesn't break new ground, but it is not trying to. It is just a good, old-fashioned horror flick that does what it is supposed to.