Ghost Rig

2003 "Evil has found a new home"
4.5| 1h30m| R| en| More Info
Released: 01 July 2003 Released
Producted By: Scottish Screen
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

A group of Greenpeace youths board an oil rig that's about to be sunk, planning to prevent it. Once on board they discover that they are not alone, something on board is making people act very strange... and what relationship do the rigs previous occupants have with the occult?

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Director

Julian Kean

Production Companies

Scottish Screen

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Ghost Rig Audience Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews
InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
slayrrr666 "Ghost Rig" is an exceedingly frustrating and dull body-possession story.**SPOILERS**Arriving at a drilling rig, activists Tom, (Jaime Bamber) Vincent, (Jaason Simmons) Annie, (Kerry Norton) Iona, (Heather Peace) Will, (Bryan Carney) Eric, (Rory McCann) Kay, (Richard Norton) Sophie, (Juliet Diamond) and Mole, (David Rae) along with ex-worker Crawford, (Noel Fitzpatrick) prepare to stop it from being sunk into the sea to turn it into a reef. Going about their jobs, they find the supposedly-manned building abandoned and completely empty, which allows them to do their job. After a number of accidents and strange events on-board, they start to think something's wrong, and when dead bodies start turning up, they become even more nervous about what's going on. Finally realizing that the viral outbreak which caused it to become abandoned to begin with has turned them all into psychotic maniacs as it jumps from person to person, they must find a way to get out of the situation alive.The Good News: There was some good stuff to this one at times. One of the better elements is the film's location, which is quite suitable for this kind of film. It's got a perfect type of placement, with the cold concrete feel of the place looking quite spectacular and offering up a claustrophobic placement that settles in really well with several other big parts, including the exceptionally long, darkened hallways, twisting and distorted layout, completely confusing rooms and more which are just perfectly mixed with how the film builds it's scares because there's a series of creepy scenes set in a great location. These scares aren't that bad, with the film's rather fun series of encounters here from the possessed beings attacking everybody, which are some of the best parts to this one. The attack on the monitors with the hammer is absolutely spectacular and brutal, and done through the security camera is a great touch that really makes it quite fun. There's a big attack while the group is stuck inside a protective pentagram, which has a lot of rather big parts about it, from the suspense of who's who, the surprise when it's revealed who, and from the final moment of pure chaos, it makes for an overall satisfying sequence. The last plus is the finale, which has a lot to like. From the gory double murders to the outright spectacular twist that makes for some fantastic back-tracking in the plot, this one ends on a high-note. These here are what work for the film.The Bad News: There was a couple points in here that really brought this one down. One of the main factors is the fact that this one just doesn't have a fast-enough pace to sustain it's suspense-packed story. This one would definitely go over better had this one picked up the pace and threw some adrenaline into the proceedings, as this one tends to feel so much longer than it should due to the fact that the film is so dreary that just about any excitement to be pulled from this will just be sucked out completely. The sad fact is that there's plenty of potential for this one to rise above and actually get going, due to it's really fun premise, but it never capitalizes and doesn't really have that one big scene that really pushes the film over-the-edge. That is really exacerbated by the fact that this one doesn't have much of anything happening beyond the aforementioned scenes, leading this one to have just endless scene after scene of the group running around the rig simply yelling about the situation to each other, which isn't all that much fin to sit through. This is just utterly boring to go through and it makes for some really slow-going scenes, which when mixed with the overall slow-burning pace of everything makes this one such a downer that there's not much it can do about it. Also not working out right is the fact that this one manages to rip-off a quite famous scene from a classic in the blood-testing scene, which should really give it away and it ends up being quite unneeded in the film. The last flaw to this one is the fact that this one doesn't really have any answers for what it's strange accident really is. There's nothing about what it really is or how it got there, and the bit about it entering through the bites is all that's known. These here are what's wrong with this one.The Final Verdict: It's not that this is all that bad of a film, it's just filled with too many scenes that take it down, severely bringing this one down. Really only recommended to those who enjoy these kind of films or find them interesting, while those that will be turned off by the flaws should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence
Paul Andrews The Devil's Tattoo is set in the North sea just off the coast of Scotland & starts as ten members of an environmental protection group called Action Planet land on an abandoned oil rig called Janus which is due to be sunk & left as a natural reef, the activists lead by Vincent (Jaason Simmons) disagree with the plans & feel it will pollute the sea. The group find the rig totally abandoned & can only muster a limited power supply, while looking around Eric (Rory McCann) is bitten by a rat & he then kills his mate Kay (Richard Norton). Things get strange when it is in fact Eric who is found dead by the other's & Kay destroys the radio, the only way the group had to contact the outside world. Then bizarrely Kay is found dead, as the group investigate they find video recordings made by the oil rig workers that claim an evil body jumping spirit is on the loose. No-one is able to trust anyone else as the evil spirit jumps from body to body...This English production is perhaps better known under it's widely released working title of Ghost Rig & was co-written, co-produced & directed by Julian Kean, the best way to describe The Devil's Tattoo is to think of a cross between The Thing (1982) & Ghost Ship (2002) which doesn't exactly sound like a match made in heaven but I thought The Devil's Tattoo had some good aspects but at the the same time it has some bad ones which overall let it down. I suppose what it boils down to is whether you can overcome the bad & enjoy the good because if you can't then you will have a hard time watching The Devil's Tattoo. The script by Kean, Sally Charlton along with producers Bill Dale & Greame Clapperton takes the well used horror film storyline of some sort of bodily possession as seen so effectively in The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Hidden (1987) & Fallen (1998) to name but a few the only difference here is that it's an evil ghost rather than an alien invader but the principal is still the same. This aspect of the film isn't used as effectively as it could have been, the audience is almost always made aware of who is possessed & therefore a lot of potential intrigue & tension is lost. Then there's the bunch of survivors running around the dark corridors of an isolated location trying to survive angle to the story, I'm sorry but to me scene after scene after scene of people wandering around near pitch black corridors just becomes tedious & annoying. Then there's the really left of center strange twist ending which I doubt anyone will see coming but is just so odd & not entirely satisfying. To it's credit it's just a complete surprise & fairly cleverly thought out but I didn't think it was an appropriate way to finish the film & didn't work. The character's are alright although at the start there are maybe slightly too many to keep track of but as they are killed off it becomes less of a problem.Director Kean does OK here, he makes the most out of his locations although as I have said there's too much walking around dark corridors. There are a few problems with the story too, for instance if anyone possessed is healed why at the end when Mole is cut does his wound not heal? When he gets shot why doesn't he heal? It contradicts everything that has happened before surely? Also we never find out what this evil demon thing is, there is some vague reference to the oil rig workers messing around with Voodoo (yeah because most North sea oil rig workers perform evil Voodoo rituals on the platform during their time off don't they?) but nothing beyond that. There isn't even any reason given as to why it needs to jump from body to body, I mean does it do it just for fun? To my eyes there didn't seem to be a lot of point to it. The gore is limited to a few stab wounds & a bit of blood as The Devil's Tattoo goes for psychological horror which is only partially successful since it reveals who is possessed to easily. There's a reasonably good atmosphere though with the dark rundown & abandoned oil rig making for an effectively sinister & isolated setting.Technically the film is good & it seems to have decent production values, I'm not sure if this was shot on a real oil rig but it wouldn't surprise me if it was. The end credits claim it was shot in Scotland & London, that it was funded at least in part by the National Lottery & The Devil's Tattoo is maybe the only film I have seen which has a 'Portable Toilets Supplied By' credit! The acting is alright to be fair although I didn't recognise anyone in it.The Devil's Tattoo could have been a good creepy psychological horror film but is actually a relatively slow film with some good ideas but too much wandering around in the dark doing nothing in particular. I wouldn't call it a bad film just one with a lot more potential, I am in two minds really as I liked some aspects of it but disliked other's.
Soju King Pay no attention to the stupid ramblings of myzyri who could only lecture about the poor acting and low budget graphics. If, like myzyri, you'd rather have a Hollywood big budgeted, tons of graphics crapfest like The Haunting, then by all means skip past this one. But if you enjoy indie films made for the genre rather than filling the studios coffers, then give this one a try.The Devil's Tattoo borrows much from John Carpenter's The Thing but it adds a supernatural twist to keep things interesting. Neither the cast nor crew will win any Oscars, but who really cares? These kinds of movies are about cheap thrills and keeping things interesting for 90 minutes and this film delivers on both fronts. A very pleasant surprise that only the most cynical or arrogant (myzyri) of silly fanboys won't enjoy.
BennyM In the realm of group-of-people-trapped-with-something-picking-them-off-one-by-one films, there has not been a lot of innovation since Alien and Evil Dead.Not surprisingly, this film does not offer much you have not seen already (at least if you are like me and watch all the thrillers, splatter and horror films you can). Direction and acting could be better, but are satisfactory in most respects within the given limits.Surprisingly however, this one hits the nail on the head in every aspect of the story.The snags in this kind of story has always been these three questions: Why are they in the monster's lair, why don't they leave, and why do they split up? When these questions are not answered to my satisfaction, my suspension of disbelief fails. Then it is obviously just a question of producing a popcorn movie for 15-year-olds to snigger at and forget immediately.But here, the basic premise works, and each question is answered logically: the ten protagonists are eco-activists who board an oil rig to stop it from being toppled. Farfetched as this may sound, it could happen, and I have no doubt Greenpeace activists entertained a similar thought with Brent Spar in those days. Since they need to find the crew of the rig (but expect no problems beyond being told to bugger off), they search the place, and when they find nobody there, they are in a fix, as their very presence is what prevents the oil company from sinking the rig. So they have to stay. (The "weather closing in" excuse preventing the helicopter from returning is ridiculous though, as all the exterior shots of the rig show calm weather with barely any wind at all).In addition to this initial premise, the rest of the story (and the twist-in-the-tale in particular) holds water in a way I had not expected. A rare sight these days, when even Stephen King expects us to believe that local police suspecting a divorced husband of murdering his ex-wife and her lover will not even dig up his back yard fifteen feet from the house (not to mention the fact that as he lived in another state, it would become an FBI case with all the additional resources this would entail).