The Ferryman

An individual migrates from body to body (usually when the going get's rough) by stabbing his/her/it's future host with a super duper hexed up knife. Once the transfer has been made, the wounds he/she/it inflicted heals and our body-jacker is back in business having escaped trouble and cheated death once again.

Interesting idea, I guess, though the execution could have been better. Notwithstanding, it's not a total waste of your time. I was conscious from beginning to end, so that's saying something. It made me think: What would I do if I had a knife like that? Would I use it? -Would you? These are deep questions, folks. Deep, troubling questions (Please keep a straight face). All you have to do when your body is no longer usable is stab the sh*t out of your fellow man or woman (Does it work with animals?) with your special knife and "Wallah!" -You have a new body.

The Ferryman may just boil down to personal taste which basically needs no rhyme or reason; you either like something, or you don't. I found the infatuation with the dog in the movie a bit annoying. I wanted to scream "Enough, already! -I know you love your little doggie, but give me a break!" If you had 10 mil, we know where it's going. -Sheesh! Guess I'm not a dog-person. Love, Boloxxxi.

I've read some pretty scathing reviews of 'The Ferryman' online; most actually have quite clever titles like 'Don't pay The Ferryman,' 'Ferry Awful' and 'Throw it overboard.' Despite finding those titles amusing, I have to disagree.

The Ferryman doesn't exactly rewrite the horror genre; its place lies firmly in that massive middle ground of a billion other low budget horror movies that the average horror fan watches when there's nothing else on TV in the hope that this one might actually be quite good. Most aren't, but, in my opinion, The Ferryman is at least watchable enough to keep the average horror film entertained for an hour and a half.

It's about a small boat, containing six twenty-somethings, sailing to Fiji. Sadly, the pleasant holiday ambiance is cut short when they rescue a mysterious strange from a stricken boat - and, as we all know, picking up mysterious strangers is never a good idea.

I won't go into too much details about the plot as you may not know which direction the film will take, but, like I say, although The Ferryman is nothing spectacular, it's not as bad as some people seem to be making out.

There are quite a few good ideas here and the actors involved must have a great time when they shot the movie. But that's not all I can review, otherwise the movie would have ranked higher. Talking about the actors: Although we have at least one great actor here, the overall performance is sometimes not really good. And by the way, any kind of nudity that might be or might not be in the movie, didn't make any difference in my rating/review. (a nod to a friend of mine, in case he's reading! ;o)

But apart from the (sometimes) overacting, the other two flaws are the (holes in the) script and the odd editing! So it's not too bad (there a few really good scares here), but overall it's not more than mediocre!

In New Zealand, the couples Tate (Sally Stockwell) and Chris (Craig Hall) and Kathy (Amber Sainsbury) and Zane (Julian Arahanga) come to the yacht Dionysus to sail to Fiji Islands in a romantic trip. The skipper Big Dave (Tamer Hassan) and his girlfriend Suze (Kerry Fox) welcome the quartet with their beloved dog Rolex. On the second day, the Dionysus receives a distress signal in Morse code and Dave head to a mysterious fog to help the ship. They find a fishing boat adrift and Chris and Zane row a small boat to the vessel to avoid reefs. They find a crew member (John Rhys-Davies) near death and they bring him to Dionysus. Sooner they discover that the man is possessed of a demon and he uses a dagger to cheat death and switch bodies with his victims.

"The Ferryman" is an underrated horror movie based on the legend of the Greek mythology of Charon or Kharon, the ferryman of Hades that carried the souls across the River Acheron to reach the world of the dead. His payment was a coin in or on the mouth of the dead person. In the introduction of "The Ferryman", there is a narration in off telling that "in ancient times there was the legend of the Ferryman. He took the dead to be judged into the afterlife and his prize was a coin in their mouth. If anyone tried to cheat death, they would also be cheating the Ferryman and they could never escape for the Ferryman would hunt them forever." The screenplay combines the foregoing legend with "Dead Calm" and "Fallen" and the result is a good gore film. In the end, I was surprised since I had the lowest expectations based on the IMDb Rating. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Vingança do Demônio" ("The Revenge of the Demon")

This was a strange flick to watch. It all started as a normal flick and it really took a while before things go wrong. Even when the fog comes in you have to wait a bit before the 'knife' will do what it does, killing.

It's not a common horror because it contains all kind of stories. We do have a part of possession and we do have some supernatural stuff going on. In the beginning I was a bit confused what was going on but once you know what the knife does due watching closely to the tattoo you will get it and rather enjoy it. The acting was believable but I must say that John Rhys-Davies (The Greek) wasn't convincing at all.

But it's the creepy atmosphere in the last half hour that keep you watching and you want to know what is going to happen next. It isn't gory or messy but the red stuff do flows a few times.

A bit confusing the first 40 minutes but keep watching until the end for the reason already explained and for nudity you just couldn't see coming.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5