Full confession I got the trailer for Haunting of the Queen Mary literally a week ago, after being asked to honor the embargo. So, I waited and waited and nothing, I thought well maybe they didn’t send it, flash forward to me finally cleaning my spam folder and there she was sitting there since the 1st. Sigh, better late than never. But since I’m late to the boat, pun intended I’m sure you’ve seen it by now, but in case you haven’t – drop an anchor here, pun intended, and we can discuss. And I have a ghost story for ya!
The film, previously titled The Queen Mary, is a psychological horror which explores the mysterious and violent events surrounding one family’s voyage on Halloween night (1938) and their interwoven destiny with another family onboard the infamous ocean liner present day.
The screenplay is by Gary Shore and Stephen Oliver; with the story is by Stephen Oliver and Tom Vaughan.
Shooting of the film took place aboard the actual Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. A luxury ocean-liner graced by generations of the rich and famous, HMS Queen Mary is now celebrated – and feared – as “One of the World’s Most Haunted Places” (Time Magazine). In the early twentieth century, shipping lines competed to be the fastest to complete a transatlantic crossing. But among the most famous record-holders was the RMS Queen Mary, which held the record for fourteen years, but now stands encased in concrete at Long Beach, California, where it has been used for many years as a luxury hotel and tourist attraction. The ship has a lengthy history of visitors reporting seeing ghosts and visions in its rooms and on its decks, making it the perfect setting for paranormal goings-on on the big screen.
On to that ghost story, I promised you. According to April Lovejoy, assistant choreographer:
“On the second day of shooting, when we walked back into Wesley’s dressing room I immediately felt that we weren’t alone. Later on, when some members of the orchestra and I were discussing the fact that we were in Winston Churchill’s suite, the light above the vanity started flashing again, lighting up from the center of the bar. The weird thing was that there wasn’t a switch easily accessible, and at that time, a lot of the power was off on the ship. That afternoon when I was by myself, I suddenly felt uneasy, like I was being watched, so I started to hum Moonlight Serenade. That same light started to flash again, so I took out my phone to record it and started asking questions. As I did this, the light seemed to respond. This went on for several minutes. I checked the surrounding areas and in the hallway to see if someone was playing a joke on me, but nobody was there. I like to think that since I was humming an old tune, I made someone feel comfortable enough to want to communicate with me. It was definitely a unique experience!”
Boarding the Queen Mary has been on my to do list since I moved to Los Angeles, partly because its beautiful and second because THE SHIT is haunted. So, having said all this, this trailer looks like a hella good time. It’s offering The Shining and Ghost Ship and I want both. I have no definite opinions about Alice Eve and honestly, I have no opinion regarding director Gary Shore or Dracula Untold. I don’t remember every rewatching that one after the first viewing, it didn’t really make an impression. But, again the trailer for this has plenty of ghost story which y’all know I love.
Vertical has slated Haunting of the Queen Mary for release on August 18, 2023. The film will be released in select theaters and On Demand the same day.