The Ghost Galleon (1974)

This is a really convoluted plot so stick with me here.  A publicity stunt goes terribly wrong as a local politician and owner of a sporting goods store loses an actress and a model.  See in an effort to drum up good publicity for a speedboat his company sells he set them adrift in the ocean to be rescued.  This of course will show everyone how safe the boat is because it didn’t sink on them.  The fact the boat quit on them in the middle of the ocean I guess isn’t an issue.  There is a long convoluted plot with the model’s girl friend showing up, which leads to a group heading out to look for them.  They find a ghost ship full of the Blind Dead who wake up and start killing them off.

You might be able to tell by my synopsis that I’m not thrilled with this movie.  The story is really uneven and has several slow spots that are sleep inducing.  The beginning of the movie with the model being kidnapped is just dumb.  Plus the way the movie jumps between the first two girls and those on shore is cut together awkwardly which kills the pacing and never allows the story to build any momentum.  I also have to say that the setting of the ghost ship had some potential, but failed to build any of the atmosphere that made the other movies in the series so enjoyable.  Now when everyone finally gets to the ship things begin to pickup a bit and the movie does have a great finish.  But the movie spends too much time on shore and not enough time with the Blind Dead for it to measure up with the rest of the series.  Another thing that bugged me is that while it was annoying for the back-story of the Blind Dead to change every movie the lack of one here is even worse.  The movie never establishes what they are up to and why the kill. 

For the most part this is a technically solid movie.  The camera work and lighting are solid, but don’t seem to manage to help build any atmosphere for the film.  Everything seems too well light and sharp.  I think that this and some mediocre makeup account for the fact that for the first time some of the puppets really look like puppets.  I mean they never were that realistic, but there are times that they look really fake and silly, which spoils the mood.  But then at the same time there are some old reliable effect shots that remind me of how cool the series can be.  And I know they were on a ship, but you couldn’t add one single zombie horse?  Really bummed out over that.  Oh and the movie boasts some of the worst model work that I’ve ever seen as the ship catches fire and sinks towards the end.

This is the weakest of the four Blind Dead movies, but even then it is only mediocre and not bad.  By itself I wouldn’t recommend it, but as part of the series you might want to check it out.  Plus I’m a collector so I sort of need to have it in my collection with the other three.  The Ghost Galleon is the third of the four Blind Dead films.   It is preceded by the Tombs of the Blind Dead and Return of the Evil Dead and is followed by Night of the Seagulls.  For more information these movies check out the Blue Underground website at www.blue-underground.com/

2 out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer