If the idea behind director John Beck's nautical frightfest isn't exactly new--long-lost ship is mysteriously found floating at sea--the filmmaker invests it with a smart sense of style and tension that lifts it above its horror-exploitation roots. The brooding orchestral score from composer John Frizzell (13 Ghosts, Beautiful, Alien Resurrection) conjures up the appropriate atmosphere of foreboding and unease, while largely steering clear of the genre's inherent cheese quotient. Indeed, the composer invokes an often surprising sense of emotional strain and weariness, injecting some welcome human dimensions amid the expected shrieking strings and rumbling brass and percussion. While certain genre clichés are paid heed, Frizzell's efforts here often as not eschew orchestral thunder for more subtle, intimate music that lifts the film from mere floating haunted-house gambit into something more emotionally gripping. --Jerry McCulley
