Death Ship

10/27/2019

***Ten people trapped on a ghostly… death ship*** A dilapidated German freighter from WW2 curiously rams a modern cruise ship and ten survivors board the mysterious vessel. But will they ever get off alive? George Kennedy plays the retiring captain of the cruise vessel while Richard Crenna appears as the up-and-coming captain. "Death Ship" (1980) takes the “Poseidon Adventure” (1972) template and adds a horror angle à la the later “Ghost Ship” (2002). But it’s the least of these and isn’t even as good as the low-budget “Ghost Voyage” (2008). Speaking of which, I didn’t view the movie until over a decade after its release and it struck me as low-budget. The constant shots of the navigation equipment and giant pistons operating on their own were particularly dubious and tiring.

5/9/2026

Location, location, location Someone scored an old ship, kitted it out, and they made a movie inside of it. That is a very fortuitous way to make a movie, I think. It is a great little movie, very much an 80's flick, but with great characters, arcs that make sense, and tension that builds. It is by no means flawless, but it is a good movie for what it is, and I recommend it.