Death Ship (1980)

A lot of fun.

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

Back in the 80s, when attention spans lasted longer than fractions of seconds and politically cliche was not the story arc everybody was doing--a horror movie painting nazi's as the villians (not the 'social warriors' of today's modern day nazish censorship we see in hollywood) was made. It had a unique plot, great effects for the time, good acting and and cinematography / atmosphere. 20 or so years later, it and other films like 1984 which predicted the dystopian era we presently live in today--become reality; and classics like this hidden gem: 'Death Ship (1980)' are seldom discovered, or worse--censored out of existence to protect the naive optimists from the counter balance reality and universal truth that threatens their fragile paradigm mutating egos.

This low budget UK/Canadian collaboration was based on a story entitled Blood Star by one Jack Hill – yep, the exploitation king who made SWITCHBLADE SISTERS amongst other drive-in flicks in the 1970s. In essence, it's a traditional haunted ship story, but on watching the viewer realises they're exposed to a minor horror classic – a film that is a hundred times better than the Gabriel Byrne-starrer GHOST SHIP made twenty years later.Events in the film have a genuine nightmarish feel to them and the evocative camera-work recalls THE EVIL DEAD in a good way, although the actual bloodshed is toned down a lot here. The cast is good value for money, with some amusing child actors pretending to be frightened, and plenty of unconventional folk – Saul Rubinek's hook-swinging cameo is value for money in itself. Nick Mancuso (UNDER SIEGE) is the youthful male hero, but the real strength of the casting lies in the presence of two movie greats in major roles. First up is George Kennedy; as the Captain who becomes possessed by evil spirits, his role is a far cry from his more familiar bumbling comedic turns in the likes of the NAKED GUN flicks. Secondly, we get the late, great Richard Crenna (FIRST BLOOD) as the real hero of the movie; this bearded first mate undergoes all manner of disturbance and danger and, as always with Crenna, he's a delight whenever he's on screen: stern and dependable, yet very human.Director Alvin Rakoff really knows what he's doing and he creates some unbelievably disturbing scenes without resorting to cheap bloodshed. The projector scene, in which the Nazi rallies continue to play out despite the machine being broken, is one such moment. There's a great use of sound effects (German shouting) and weird music that never failed to send a shiver down my spine. DEATH SHIP is something really special, a truly effective horror yarn that stands as a highlight of its era.

"Captain Ashland" (George Kennedy) is in command of a cruise ship which is operating in the Atlantic Ocean. He is not a "people person" and because of that he is being replaced after this voyage for a more personable captain by the name of "Trevor Marshall" (Richard Crenna). What neither of them realize is that there is a "ghost ship" also operating in the same waters and it is on a collision course with them. Only 9 people manage to survive the collision and they take shelter on the very ship that killed all of the other passengers. Anyway, rather than reveal the entire story I will just say that, because of some of the top-rate actors involved, I had high expectations for this movie. I was disappointed. Not only was there very little character development, but the special effects were practically non-existent as well. There wasn't much suspense or horror either. As a matter of fact, the only part that was remotely interesting was the shower scene involving "Lori" (Victoria Burgoyne). Everything else was pretty boring. In short, this film had a decent cast to work with. Unfortunately, the people on the other side of the camera weren't nearly as competent. Below average.

Deathship, kind of like 2002's Ghostship, is a slightly bland horror, that starts off a little slow. A cruise ship is on a collision course, with another ship, obviously the Deathship. The hand full of survivors, includes a bearded Richard Crenna, Nick Mancuso, and horror icon, George Kennedy. Out in a dinghy, they come across an old ship, or this wicked, ugly and fascinating ship, comes across them. But this ship, harvests a murderous secret. The survivors that board the ship, one of them dies before doing so, start to be picked off, one of them falls into a fish net of human skulls. Another can't get out a shower, where the water becomes blood red, another watches a film she shouldn't have, and another eats something she shouldn't have. Kennedy, the quiet captain of the other ship, who doesn't like crowds, is the raving psycho behind ship's secret. Made in 1980, Deathship, is o.k. horror, one flick, the horror viewer has to be patient with. Some gore scenes are worth the wait, though the movie seems to missing a little of something. That awry eerie music score is fantastic in a film just above par.