Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

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UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com By the last half of 20th century film making, horror genre pictures had solidified themselves in pop culture. Plus, the horror genre began splitting off into various sub-genres like the "slasher" and "monster" flicks. But when it came to out at sea related adventures, it's hard to say whether there was a lot of them around yet that delved into the horror genre. The biggest noticeable boom in this particular kind of story / setting would be seen later with pictures like Leviathan (1989), Deep Star Six (1989), Deep Rising (1998), Virus (1999) and Ghost Ship (2002). But for Death Ship (1980), it seemed like this was the grandpap of all of them. It is by no means a true gem but it at least has certain aspects that should be respected for.After being shipwrecked and stranded in the ocean, a group of survivors from the wreck discover an abandoned rusty derelict. Once on board, they begin to realize that the ship is running with no crew. Odd. There's more than meets the eye to this ship that's for sure. Apart of the survivors are George Kennedy as Capt. Ashland, his second in command Trevor Marshall (Richard Crenna - with a full beard) and his wife (Sally Ann Howes - from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)) and kids. Although these actors are good choices, their performances aren't among anything moving. Other than these actors, the last bit of the cast is highly forgettable. Partially this is due to the writing, which addresses some motivations, like the Captain's but not all of them, and this isn't the only flaw.The ship that which these survivors take refuge on has supernatural powers. It can close its own doors, control its own chains, pump its engines, steer itself and even is accompanied by ghostly voices. Nice! So how did it get these powers? Was it cursed? Don't know, a topic that is never touched on sadly. There is an explanation to what it thrives on but that still doesn't explain its current condition. But going back to the actual ship itself, is something to behold. The production design by Chris Burke and cinematography by René Verzier blend evenly. The look of this ship is as grungy and weather worn as they come. Not to mention all of those cobwebs all over the place. Although the back-story to the ship is not expanded upon, the mystery of not knowing does make it entertaining to a point.The camera-work is also done differently. To simulate that of being on a boat, the camera sways making it unleveled with square surfaces. It can get a bit nauseating at times but it feels realistic. The practical effects are nice too. All the ship's eerie movements and creaky noises help make the vessel feel that much more bizarre. The horror aspect to the film is probably the weakest though. None of it was scary, it was just unsettling (and that's OK). Adding to that unsettling feeling is Ivor Slaney's score, which incorporates classical sounding orchestral tones and some synth. The best theme was the tune that plays for the ship's engine pistons where horns crescendo and decrescendo for the swinging movement every time they pump. Too bad the complete score isn't available. Horror fans may find something to like about, but I don't guarantee a whole lot.It has a few respectable cast members but their characters' are not developed fully. However, the ship's production value, camera work, music and all around eerie surrounding is enough to make it somewhat likable.

Scott LeBrun In this okay horror picture, a luxury liner collides with an enormous, mysterious freighter. The next day, the handful of survivors from the liner come across the freighter, which is now anchored, and not knowing any better, board the strange vessel, thinking this will be their means of rescue. However, the "Death Ship" which they've boarded truly does have a life of its own, and the characters meet their demise one at a time, while grumpy Captain Ashland (George Kennedy) falls under the evil influence of this ship.Don't go into "Death Ship" expecting a lot of sense, as that doesn't seem to be the priority of the filmmakers, led by director Alvin Rakoff. They'd much rather wrap you in the ambiance of the Death Ship, falling back on shots of its inner workings on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the presentation is somewhat uninspired; there may be some decent atmosphere, but there are also no real scares. The movie is rough going for a while (and doesn't even show how this small group of people came to survive the collision), but eventually delivers some standout scenes, chief among them the fate of Sylvia (Kate Reid), whose face turns hideous, and the comeuppance of sexy young Lori (Victoria Burgoyne), who is drenched with blood while trying to take a shower.For the most part, the characters are ciphers, and the big name cast deliver we're-just-here-for-the-paycheck performances, especially Crenna. Kennedy tries but isn't that convincing here at playing evil and psychotic. Also among the cast are Sally Ann Howes as Crennas' wife, Nick Mancuso as a liner crewman, and Saul Rubinek who is at least pretty amusing as the bandleader who receives particularly rough treatment.Production design (by Chris Burke), cinematography (by Rene Verzier), and music (by Ivor Slaney) are all reasonably effective. Things pick up considerably in the final act when we get some horrific imagery in the form of a lot of dead bodies.Overall, this isn't very good, but isn't as bad as some reviews would have you believe, remaining watchable enough and clocking in at an acceptable running time of just over an hour and a half.Story credit goes to David P. Lewis and B movie icon Jack Hill.Six out of 10.

fedor8 An unmanned German WW2 ghost-ship from the past spends its abundant free time by seeking out cruise-ships and ramming itself into them, sinking them. It's a peculiar hobby for a ship to have, I admit, but one that allowed this fairly fun story to unfold.George Kennedy, who always sticks in my mind primarily as a cop from the "Naked Gun" movies (even though I've seen him in many other movies), is at first a little hard to accept as the movie's Main Menace; I sort of half-expected to at any moment see Leslie Nielsen hanging around on deck as well, tripping over things. Kennedy plays a perpetually grumpy, misanthropic soon-to-be ex-Captain of a cruise-ship, so – naturally – the Nazi ship has an eye on him to become its new captain: he might just be evil enough to steer it yet more "large circles" around the Atlantic.The movie wastes no time in getting down to business, unlike some horror films which take eons to get the plot rolling. In a matter of a few minutes we are given only the raw bones of who's who, without the unnecessary personal details that time is wasted on in slow-moving horror films that want you to "get to know the characters". Why would we need to? They're monster/zombie/ghost-fodder anyway, most horror-flick characters. Only 10-15 minutes into the movie, and we already have the survivors aboard the Nazi ship, and that's when the fun starts. Nice and quick.Once on the ship, the perpetually morose Kennedy agrees to become its new Nazi lunatic, accepting his new position as the ship's Eternal Captain – or so he (and the viewers) mistakenly thought. Inexplicably, the ship – which had been aiding Kennedy in bumping off the shipwrecked survivors - eventually and very suddenly turns against him, thereby saving Crenna, his wife, their daughter, and their son (who seems to suffer from severe incontinence; his urination came quite close to becoming the running gag). It isn't clear why the ship did this. Until then, its sole purpose was to kill everyone aboard it (aside from Kennedy) i.e. all the un-haunted passengers, including the kids. Perhaps the Nazi ship finally realized that Crenna's children are blond and blue-eyed so it changed its mind about offing them? Who knows; I can't get inside the heads of most Hollywood writers, let alone inside the mind of a fictional Nazi ship.There is some other nonsense, though. This is a horror film, after all. 1) After the ship had sunk, Crenna and the other survivors drifted on a lifeboat for a while. It isn't quite clear how long they drifted, but the editing suggests that it must have been a few hours at least, a half-hour minimum. After this vague time-period, suddenly Kennedy appears from under the boat, gasping for air! OK, fine, the Nazi ship has magic powers and has kept him alive against all biological odds, in order to turn him to the Dark Nazi Side. But how come none of the passengers said "hang on! How the hell did the Captain manage to hold his breath underwater for this long?! Where's he been all this time? Under the friggin' boat???" 2) Crenna, after having endured hours or maybe even days stuck on a life raft with presumably little or no water (on an open ocean) is finally offered some water by his wife a little after they board the Nazi ship. So what does he do? Does he perhaps drink it? No. He washes HIS BLOODY FACE with it. Damn, I'm surprised he didn't ask his wife for soap too. "I refuse to wash my face and hands without soap, and when I'm done with that, and only THEN, will I drink it, but NOT before." Ever been VERY thirsty? Of course you have. Extreme thirst makes people lose all sense of dignity; yet Crenna seems to have both dignity and patience in superhuman amounts. 3) The kids are awful actors. Each one snickered in at least one scene, when they were supposed to be scared – or at least when they were supposed to be not snickering. I am amazed the director failed to notice this. Or perhaps he did – but only in the editing room months later when it was too late to re-shoot the scenes with the undisciplined little brats. Needless to say, I doubt these kids had much of an acting career after this film.A huge plus, and one that makes it easy to overlook some of the (minor) flaws, is the film's typical early 80s look which gives it a visual edge which it otherwise might not have had, had it been made later (especially in the visually awful mid and late 80s). The early 80s American films still had some of that wonderful 70s graininess. Very nice photography and an ideal, desolate setting for this kind of a horror flick. I wouldn't call this a hidden gem, but it's not too far from it, and definitely worthwhile for people who like early 80s horror/fantasy films.

Sonoran-gem42 C'mon I mean how could you not love this movie? It delivers exactly what the title promises, it's a ghostly ship that just prowls around the Atlantic in aimless circles arbitrarily ramming other ships and trapping any survivors in a twisted maze of rust, fascism, and horror. It's the kind of movie you randomly stumble across on TV a stony Saturday afternoon when your like 15 and you and your friends are still laughing about it a full hour after it's over. Super low budge, bad acting, story gets a lil' patchy at times, basically so bad it's good. A movie really dose not need to be Oscar material to be entertaining. For what it is it's actually a great movie with some really scary scenes. The Nazi element in the story line makes for some really creepy stuff. If you like simplistic, cheesy 80's horror movies like Maximum Overdrive or Return of the Living Dead WATCH THIS MOVIE!