What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Monday, January 26, 2026

Phantom Ship (The Mystery of the Mary Celeste) - 1935

Well, the list I'd been using for our weekly movies has disappeared, so I was forced to look elsewhere for our horror film. I found a different list and picked this one. It went back to the 30's, but it starred our man, Bela Lugosi.

This movie is giving a potential explanation for the fate of the Mary Celeste. In case you're wondering, that ship was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872 with no crew aboard. No explanation was ever found for the fate of the crew.

In this tale, Bela is a bitter man who was shanghaied in the past and ends up on the same ship. He watches as one by one, men are going missing and others are getting murdered. Until there are only a few left, and the murderer is revealed.

SPOILERS! There are a number of issues with this movie. Bela is taking revenge on the men who shanghaied him, but some of the other men have been shanghaied as well. Why does he want to kill them? Why did that one guy try to kill the captain? Why didn't they try to kill the accordion man sooner? His music and singing was irritating. The end was just weird. Bela kills the last guy, then looks for the guy he just killed (I mean, he did just get hit on the head, but still), then he just jumps over the side?

This movie was just strange. The ship was pretty awesome if you are prone to seasickness. That thing didn't move no matter how bad a storm they were in. Not a wave to be felt below deck! Most of the deaths happened off screen, so they was less impactful. And I don't know who did Bela's hair for this movie, but they didn't do him any favors. Overall, this movie was entertaining enough, but I wouldn't really recommend it without friends to enjoy the absurdity with you. Too much happens off screen.

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