For years the cursed, haunted retired ocean liner RMS Queen Mary has remained permanently docked in Long Beach, California as a controversial figure. This week, come with me as we take a look at the RMS Queen Mary; said to be one of the most haunted places on Earth and has not only captured imaginations for decades but have also done some seriously chilling things. In 2023 ‘Haunting of the Queen Mary’ is a terrifying horror flick told across two worlds and set against an otherworldly backdrop.
The 1938 Massacre
It takes us to 1938 in the first timeline of the film as a passenger ship Queen Mary was still occupied with passengers. On Halloween night, a family of grifters– DS WAR Veteran David Ratch; his fortune teller wife Gwen and their young daughter Jackie — make the mistake of trying to work an angle in the ship’s first-class dining saloon.
What follows after their luck runs out is a litany of atrocities. Under the influence of some malevolent entity, David Ratch goes on a violent killing spree and slaughters quite possibly over 100 passengers plus crew. Milliseconds later, as the corpses continue to mount and Caradine comes to understand that something supernatural has taken over several of his passengers (and David, acting all possessed), he sets forth on stopping them from allowing their insanity aboard the vessel.
And it all comes to a climax when Caradine manages to shoot and fatally wound the possessed David but not before we also learn that looks like they almost killed/made sure of bringin’ up ANGRY! RATCH family…onboard with THEM TOO.. Gwen is promptly killed, and Jackie remains a ghost trapped on the ship watching her parents both die.
The Present-Day Haunting
Second timeline: Meanwhile, in the present Anne Calder, her boyfriend Patrick and their young son Lukas board the Queen Mary to talk about a project of modernization with another family. But their plans are quickly upended when strange, bizarre supernatural events unfold around them.
Jackie, the girl from the 1938 timeline–we learn escaped project Maestrom in Lukas. Anne, desperate to find a way to save her only son and reclaim the life that was taken from them both, returns to kill what she has become… Not of this world.
Anne and Patrick are led through dark corner after dark bedroom by old photographs down the abandoned hallways of RMS Queen Mary, becoming haunted by the souls who died there (including vengeful ghost children David & Gwen Ratch), [4] The film concludes on an even more shocking note that sees Anne and Patrick falling victim to the same evil entities which claimed the Ratch family, as it is revealed by doctors in a discussion with Cain they had been possessed all along playing host merely allowing their original owners- The parents of r Sequential Killers(tracking Y ambigram)-to take permanent residence.
Unraveling the Tragedy
The Haunting of the Queen Mary weaves a complex and multi-layered tale that digs deep into the tragic shipwreck, as well as families who were forever changed by its haunted history. This uneasy mystery is the result of two well-balanced timelines weaving together to keep the viewer questioning how one story relates to another.
The life and death struggle of motherhood: how far is a mom willing to go to save her baby? More than 80 years apart, the matriarchs – Gwen Ratch and Anne Calder feel fighting to rescue their children from forces beyond this world is never a question.
Especially harrowing are Gwen’s frantic efforts to protect her daughter Jackie from the malevolence that has taken over her husband David, as well as when she too is unable to prevent fate from fully playing out. Anne (on the other hand) journeying inside Queen Mary to save her child, Lukas whom she loves dearly – this is heartbreaking as well for it’s a mother willing to face the void where all but darkness leads.
Also crucial to the plot is a thematic excavation of what it means for someone to be possessed. This links to another really important part of the story, which is how that evil spirit with historical spirits attaches itself and survives as a virus into our lives in 2020 by both possessing David Ratch (Hugo Muir) back in 1938 before transferring his soul to George again. The idea that those who passed on can remain a malignant presence in the present sends shivers down the back of it and drapes each sequence in an eerie tint.
The Haunting’s Lasting Impact
The Haunting of the Queen Mary is a very thoughtful film that stays with you long after the credits have rolled. EERIE | The labyrinthine narrative, heavy on historical fact and paranormal fiction can have such a disquieting effect that feels at times impossible to exit the maze of twists.
The exclusive dedication to using the same language and atmosphere of Queen Mary’s legendary incidents and then coherent innovative elements in this movie results in a true refreshment adaptation with Congruent resources by admitting its source. The merging of the two timelines (with their visual styles and narrative threads) is a testament to the filmmakers’ incredible talent in building an overall cohesive cinematic experience that proves both emersion AND engaging.
If there is one bold aspect of the film that must touch others, it would have to be his dilemma to not give Makes a plain resolution or an ending on a silver platter. The haunting demise of the Ratch and Calder families, parse ad infinitum through the queen Mary’s malevolent spirits leaves you with a level of uncertainty that lingers on post-final-frame. That lack of a Disney darling conclusion is both bold and disturbing, an unforgiving testament to the dark lesson at the core of this narrative — that spiritual energy never dies, always finding some way home……but with its midpoint climax being as heavy-handed as it sounds above (any prior mystery eating itself alive in broad daylight) you find yourself directly longing for more subtextual punch from Winter’s fretful blueprint.
Ultimately, The Haunting of the Queen Mary is an eerie thriller that asks some real questions about when at our best, humans we are conquerors or collaborators. With a complicated storyline full of tragedy, maternal love and lingering thoughts on the existent or non-existent supernatural forces that may still haunt the RMS Queen Mary; it is one to check out if you call yourself a horror fan.