My first taste of the Spanish 'Blind Dead' franchise happened to be the third entry of director Amando de Ossorio's saga. 'The Ghost Galleon' is a creaky and spotty ultra low-budget presentation with plenty of limitations that only hold it back. While it had a thick confined atmospheric setting and an original (and crazy) story concept, eventually the simplicity of it all became lacklustre and threadbare kitsch. However its cheap nature is its charm.
Two swimsuit models on a publicity stunt go missing at sea when they radio in that they have encountered an ancient looking ghost-ship. Their employer a sporting goods promoter uses his own yacht and gathers a group (a scientist who believes they could enter another dimension) to search for them, and comes across the same ghost-ship covered with fog. Unknown to them the Templars reside below deck.
The laboured pace only seems to bog it down, where the suspense is drawn-out and the script is flimsily put-together. For most part the execution is patchy and material thin, but there are few moments that come off (one ghastly damaging death scene caught on screen) and spooky visuals that impress (like the claustrophobic gallon covered with blue filtering fog and of course that unforgettably doomed closing). The air has an eerie build-up, as the authentic sound effects work overtime (howling wind, boat rocking, and water splashing) and the music score has a brittle, shady chime to its cues that causes goose-bumps. Camera-work can be murky during the darker passages and the special effects are lame (mainly surrounding the ridiculous use of a model boat), but the hypnotically chilling make-up for the rotting Blind Dead keeps the macabre, potent features in mind. Too bad they spend too little time on screen. Sure they're slow and slouch after their victims, but in their glory they're an effective sight to see. Flooding the screen are leaden actors (and some bikini-clad models too) with little to do but wander and whine. Jack Taylor and Maria Perschy show up for the boating ride.
Credit for trying, but it's merely a so-so affair with the sea-bound undead.
Two swimsuit models on a publicity stunt go missing at sea when they radio in that they have encountered an ancient looking ghost-ship. Their employer a sporting goods promoter uses his own yacht and gathers a group (a scientist who believes they could enter another dimension) to search for them, and comes across the same ghost-ship covered with fog. Unknown to them the Templars reside below deck.
The laboured pace only seems to bog it down, where the suspense is drawn-out and the script is flimsily put-together. For most part the execution is patchy and material thin, but there are few moments that come off (one ghastly damaging death scene caught on screen) and spooky visuals that impress (like the claustrophobic gallon covered with blue filtering fog and of course that unforgettably doomed closing). The air has an eerie build-up, as the authentic sound effects work overtime (howling wind, boat rocking, and water splashing) and the music score has a brittle, shady chime to its cues that causes goose-bumps. Camera-work can be murky during the darker passages and the special effects are lame (mainly surrounding the ridiculous use of a model boat), but the hypnotically chilling make-up for the rotting Blind Dead keeps the macabre, potent features in mind. Too bad they spend too little time on screen. Sure they're slow and slouch after their victims, but in their glory they're an effective sight to see. Flooding the screen are leaden actors (and some bikini-clad models too) with little to do but wander and whine. Jack Taylor and Maria Perschy show up for the boating ride.
Credit for trying, but it's merely a so-so affair with the sea-bound undead.