Ghost Rig (2003)

Very well executed

Purely Joyful Movie!

Memorable, crazy movie

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

A group of environmental whiners occupy an abandoned rig in hopes of preventing it from being toppled over to make an artificial reef which would be bad for...the fish? Okay I'm still working on that one. Due to weather concerns, their helicopter leaves them stranded there on a rig with no lights and a missing crew (it would just be a skeleton crew anyway).When Eric (Rory McCann) dies from a steroid heart attack, or maybe murder, some in the group want to abandon project "Occupy Abandoned Rig." Vincent (Jaason Simmons) the unlikeable leader of the group doesn't want to let a death or two get in the way of this world saving occupation.Then the ghosts show up...well no. There are no ghosts on ghost rig. But if there were, I am sure they would be blue and scary like the DVD cover. The most shocking aspect of this film was the fact they made a sequel.Parental Guide: F-bomb. No sex or nudity.

I began watching this film with the lowest expectations possible. It looks like just another supernatural horror story in which `evil' is that what you cannot see. Films like this are always set in abandoned places – an oil-rig this time – where a group of people gets attacked by higher forces. This kind of movies are a trend nowadays, certainly in Britain, as there are multiple similar movies like it such as `Below', `The Bunker' and `Deathwatch'. Generally speaking, these films try to be more intelligent than they actually are and the plots twist and turn so much that it becomes pitiful. Ghost Rig (the slightly less goofy a.k.a for the Devil's Tattoo) fits perfectly in this category, only it receives a little more sympathy from me, since it's a modest and slightly creative production. A group of environmental activists occupy an oil-rig and to their surprise, the whole place is entirely deserted. It seems like the workmen have simply vanished. Fear increases as the activists – surprise surprise – start to die as well. The place seems to be possessed by the presence of pure evil and it goes from body to body, using the activists as hosts. There are constant good efforts to build up a claustrophobic tension and, despite of a few obvious holes, the script is rather solid. The ending is really good and made me appreciate the entire film a lot more. As far as I'm concerned…Ghost Rig is okay, but I've seen it by now! It could have used more excitement and a generally better character study. I sincerely hope scriptwriters will stop portraying evil as being invisible and exclusively supernatural in the future…they're not scaring anybody.

A small group of environmental activists land on and take over an oil rig that seems to have been left vacant. No crew members can be found, but odd things start to happen nonetheless. Sound familiar? It should, as the same formula has been used in horror movies before, over and over. Isolation, internal conflicts between crew members...'Alien' turned it into a franchise, and 'Ghost Ship' wasn't half bad either. This low-budget Brit flick however is no 'Alien'.You can tell it's director Julian Kean's first time on the wheel of a project of this magnitude. The camera work is simple, minimal. Short clips of the crew keeping a video journal try to establish a documentary-like feel, adding a sense of realism...or trying to, anyway. The acting is for the most part actually surprisingly good. However, where the movie is really lacking, is the writing. There's no credible dialogue, and while the movie takes forever to really get going, there isn't enough character development or emphasis on any one event to actually provide the audience with an interest in what is happening. Nothing happens at first, then a lot happens at once, and you are left wondering what the point was.There's serious effort here, especially from the cast, but the material they are working with just doesn't amount to much.

Honestly, I picked this up with hopes of it being entertaining but fully expecting a lame movie. Not a lot of decent horror flicks anymore, so I usually will reach further with that particular genre.Anywho, this film was a pleasant surprise. The story seems a bit on shaky ground in the beginning but picks up steam for a good second half of the movie. No spoilers here, but I was definitely intrigued by the ending. Quite an interesting turn.The acting was fair to middlin' with no one giving a particularly memorable role but none sinking the rig, so to speak. Have to give mad props to the writer for naming the enviros Action Planet. No worries about trademark infringement there.Ok so this movie definitely wasn't great. I do recommend on the basis of if you're looking for a decent movie that finishes strong give it a shot.