Fine.Ghost Rig came out before BSG. And, BSG was just a miniseries at the time, there were no guarantees. It was possible that it would never become a highly acclaimed TV series. How could you know? You aren't a fortune teller. So, there was Ghost Rig. Real, honest to god acting work. No reason not to take it, right?
I mean...just read the synopsis and then tell me how anyone could pass on it?
When a group of environmental activists board an oil rig to broadcast their protest to the outside world, they find the entire rig abandoned. A hidden video camera is discovered revealing that the entire rig’s workforce has been gradually wiped out by an evil entity, which uses the bodies of the living and moves from person to person, leaving the host dead. Locked in a battle of survival, they begin their search for the spirit. What they don’t know is that this spirit is now one of them…
It's like The Thing meets Event Horizon...but on an oil rig! See! It's brilliant! I mean, if there were ever two movies to rip off...those are the ones.
Apollo is a spy of some sort. Infiltrating the group like it was a vegan potluck. The group has taken over the rig to protest...um...something. Sorry, I wasn't paying much attention at the beginning. The...spirit thing-a-ma-jig is taking them over, one by one. Apparently, the previous crew had been doing some wacky voodoo bullshit. There's a circle in the...hmm...do oil rigs have basements? It was a basement-y area, lets go with that.
See that...the entire fraking plot in like 7 seconds. Again, BRILLIANT.
It would be hard to deny that Ghost Rig borrows heavily from both The Thing and Event Horizon. And...let's be honest, heavily might be an understatement. But, what's more surprising is that it does it pretty well, taking the best of both and churning out something altogether...well, if not unique, at least interesting. Ghost Rig starts kind of slow (ok. REALLY slowly), but it builds like a good haunting should. The tension and the suspense keep increasing. To say it was surprisingly good would be a huge understatement. While a little cheesy, it's an incredibly well executed movie. With an ending that...well, I just wouldn't have predicted.
As low budget horror goes, Ghost Ship is among the cream. Maybe Pulse 2 was an aberration in Apollo's career. Let's hope so anyways.
*For proper effect, please understand that in my mind, I said W-T-F, the actual letters. Not 'what the fuck'.
