Ghost Ship

Dermot Walsh - Guy Thornton
Hazel Court - Margaret Thornton
Hugh Burden - Dr. Fawcett
John Robinson - Professor Mansel Martineau
Joss Ambler - Yacht Port Manager
Joan Carol Mrs.- Martineau
Hugh Latimer - Peter
Ian Carmichael - Bernard

One of four attempts by director Vernon Sewell to adapt the obscure Pierre Mills Grand Guignol stageplay L'Angoisse. Shot for Merton Park Studios on a tight budget, this contemporary eerie maritime yarn was filmed on Sewell’s own private yacht to save expenses.

Newlyweds, ex-Canadian naval officer Guy Thornton (Dermot Walsh) and his wide Thornton (Hazel Court) see a newspaper advert offering a once luxury steam-yacht called The Cyclops for sale. Picturing the neglected ship as the bargain floating home, the resolute young couple purchase it despite the harbour managers (Joss Ambler) warning it has a chequered history and is haunted by the musty smell of its previous owner Professor Martineau’s cigars.

After several engineers depart due to fright and Guy witnesses a ghostly apparition in the engine room, they enlist a paranormal investigator (Hugh Burden) and medium to hold a séance onboard. Medium Mrs. Manley uncovers the yacht's notorious history and determines the former owner's wife and her lover were murdered and subsequently entombed below deck. But what of Professor Martineau?