20 years of ‘Ghost Ship’: The best horror opening of all time?
In life and in cinema, first impressions are everything. Such a notion makes the start of any horror movie one of the most critical moments of the feature-length presentation. Whether a filmmaker is trying to envelop the viewer into the thematic world of their creation or attempting to give an early impression of the film’s complex characters, there are many different ways a compelling introduction can welcome us into the world of the film.
Of course, different films will attack their introduction in different ways. Wes Craven chose to hark back to the terror of Alfred Hitchcock with Scream in 1996, killing off his marketable lead star to state that fact that his subversive film would not be playing by the rules of the horror genre. Having revolutionised the genre on two occasions, the late horror icon certainly knew how to toy with his audience.
Or, take the introduction of Ari Aster’s 2019 favourite Midsommar, a brutal nightmare of an opening scene that perfectly sets the tone for his terrifying break-up movie. Starring Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor and Will Poulter, the start of the film sees the protagonist, Dani, break down in total disrepair after discovering the suicide/murder of several of her family members, with Aster floating the camera around the murder scene like an ethereal spectre.
Though, neither of these introductions may compare to the shock and style that filmmaker Steve Beck put on a show in 2002 with the release of his violent ghost story, Ghost Ship.
Currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, Beck’s Ghost Ship may not hold the best critical or commercial reviews online, but it remains a beloved title for one scene and one scene only. The moment comes right at the very start, when the film, which tells the story of a salvage crew who discovers a long-lost 1962 passenger ship floating lifeless in a remote region of the Bering Sea, opens with a truly disturbing BANG.
Like a romantic movie of the 1960s, Beck’s film opens like a chick flick, with swelling melodramatic music, pink cursive credits and the glittering sight of a cruise ship lit up with glittering fairy lights. Purposefully trying to wrong-foot the viewer, much how Craven deceived his audience in 1996’s Scream, Beck smashes the facade of the film’s romantic veneer with a Saw-esque mass murder sequence.
With the same intricacy as one of Jigsaw’s curious traps and even the same violent editing as James Wan’s influential 2004 film, the moment sees a thin wire, stretching from port to starboard, decapitate a whole dancefloor of guests, including the captain himself. Where many filmmakers might shy away from the moment of gruesome brutality, Beck focuses on each and every detail as heads roll off necks and legs lose their torsos.
Though it is the detail of this scene that makes it so memorable, most significantly, the silence of the crowd who have not yet fully realised the true extent of their injuries. Floating across the scene, we see a crowd of blank faces that fail to take each other into account as they slowly peel away and fall to the floor.
It’s a chilling opening scene that will undoubtedly carve itself into your mind for all eternity from the moment you see it.
