Death Ship

When I was a kid I hated this movie. But, after additional viewings and understanding that there is a creepiness to the film and some good ideas. Yet it is not a good horror film in my mind and those good ideas become wasted due to what I find are scenes that are too drawn out, stupid characters and it does become tiring watching the characters bumble around an empty ship.

The story is about a cruise ship with ultra-stuffy Captain Ashland (George Kennedy) on his final voyage. They crash into this mysterious ship and are sunk. The few shipwrecked survivours are in a lifeboat and come across that very ship that sunk them. Inside they begin to find horrific secrets and must escape before their very lives are taken.

Film also has a pretty darn good cast that also includes Richard Crenna, Nick Mancuso, Kate Reid and Saul Rubinek. Yet, in the end it just misses the mark.

"Death Ship" was obviously produced on a flimsy budget, as the cost-conscious opening shipwreck demonstrates - we're not talking James Cameron here! There are other flaws - plot loopholes, dodgy acting and one extraordinary moment of bad editing/continuity. Nevertheless, I think it's an effective film because the basic idea is strong and there are some good creepy moments. Alvin Rakoff's direction makes the most of the location and the climax is well-managed.

When I was a little kid, driving by this local videostore on my bike, I always stopped to take a quick peek at this amazingly cool video-cover displayed in front of the store window (just look up the poster art here on IMDb). Around that same time I saw on television just a few little fragments of a French-dubbed horror movie taking place on a ship. The name George Kennedy both on the cover and on the credits linked the two facts together. By the time I was old enough to go rent it, the copy had mysteriously disappeared from the videostore. I've been on the look-out for this film ever since.

Thanx to Dario_the_2nd (fellow horror-boarder) the wait finally came to an end. And to say it right away: I honestly don't understand the low rating this film has here on IMDb. Sure it's not a perfect movie; the story is pretty thin and the acting isn't really memorable or something (though not bad at all either). What this movie lacks in the plot-department, at makes up more than enough in eerie atmosphere and creepiness. When a luxury cruise ship sinks, a few survivors adrift find their way onto a huge, dirty and abandoned ship, apparently floating dead in the water. But not quite as dead as they expected, they'll soon find out. The pace of the movie is rather slow, but the ship itself is frightening and menacing. With numerous shots of its self-functioning engine, countless pipes, valves and other iron-work, the vessel establishes itself as a threatening presence, or even more so: a real character, throughout the entire movie. It's no secret at all that this ship is haunted and the reason why is quite shocking. Two scenes that stayed with me from when I was a kid, were that-one-lady-in-the-projection-room-turning-ugly and especially the blood-shower scene. The latter one really is a foul scene. Of course, you've seen that before, but this is one of the better efforts. However, this still remains a very un-stylized B-movie. No fancy cinematography, no well-balanced lighting and a lot of hand-held camera shots. But all this adds to the effect of realism. And at not one point I found myself giggling at the sort of clumsiness of the mise-en-scène (which I actually expected to do so, before going into this movie). As much as the editing is rudimentary, their are some fine textbook examples of cross-cutting to be found. A technique seldomly used anymore. At least not in mainstream films. The rather minimalistic but effective musical score helped to set the right tone from the opening credits on.

I could conclude that this flick might perhaps not be enjoyed by the general horror-fan nowadays, but if you're interested in the weird and bizarre, then this one is worth hunting down. Good luck with it.

This is one of those movies I saw as a kid, was terrified by and have been trying to find ever since.

I finally obtained a copy and watched it again for the first time in twenty years.

Until that moment though, I had sought out various opinions of the movie on the internet, the place where everyone has an opinion on everything, and I must say, the majority of comments I recieved were less than encouraging, however my mission would not be swayed.

Now, here I am having seen this obscure little flick again and I must say, it wasnt as bad as all that.

I think the sense of atmosphere and eeriness, while quite tacky, were effective and charming.

One scene that stood out in my mind since that fateful night I watched it as a child, is where Mrs. Morgan eats that poisoned lollie, turns into some creature, is killed and tossed overboard. Ah joyous memories

Ok, we've already stated the fact that I LOVE b-movies. A lot of them are cheesy, badly acted, and have horrible plots. But that's what I love about them. And surely this film has all those right elements for a b-movie. But what this film does better than those other films, is that I manages to maintain atmospheric. Some of the scenes in this film were absolutely frightening! It kept me spellbound and wondering what was going to happen next. Even though, it was blatantly obvious and predictable. It still kept me guessing at certain parts. I give it a 9. Watch it if you are a die-hard horror fan or b-movie fan. Oh yeah, George Kennedy actually gave an award winning, creepy performance as the captain who wanted to take over the Nazi Freighter.