When it comes to violent horror movies, everyone in the film is a potential victim, and somebody’s gotta be the first to go. Still, our jaws were on the floor when these victims bit the dust…
3Pretty Much Everyone (Ghost Ship)
Directed by Steve Beck, the 2002 horror film Ghost Ship certainly has one of the most shocking opening scenes in the history of the genre. While the rest of the movie focuses on a salvage crew encountering a haunted ship in the ocean, it was what happens in the opening minutes of the film that really stuck with people, even 17 years later.
Ghost Ship begins on an Italian ocean liner, with the passengers and crew dancing to the song “Senza Fine.” The captain offers to dance with Katie, a small child sitting alone, so she doesn’t feel left out. Moments later, a man’s arm is shown pulling a lever, causing a thin metal wire to quickly unravel from a spool. In the blink of an eye, the cord snaps and whips straight through the entire dance floor, cutting every adult on board in two. Only young Katie survives the tragedy, saved only because of her height.
The level of brutality in this scene was not what people were expecting so early into what seemed to be a simple ghost story. So many people were killed very violently and graphically in just a matter of seconds, and it was hard not to feel for the horrified little girl.
Related Article: Geek Double Feature: Ghost Ship and Death Ship
