Death Ship

1980 "Those who survive the ghost ship are better off dead!"
4.8| 1h31m| R| en| More Info
Released: 07 March 1980 Released
Producted By: Lamitas
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
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Survivors of a tragic shipping collision are rescued by a mysterious black ship which appears out of the fog. Little do they realise that the ship is actually a Nazi torture ship which has sailed the seas for years, luring unsuspecting sailors aboard and killing them off one by one.

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Director

Alvin Rakoff

Production Companies

Lamitas

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Death Ship Audience Reviews

ThiefHott Too much of everything
AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks
Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Uwontlikemyopinion Death Ship rams into a cruise line ship. The survivors rescue an unconscious Captain Ashland (heavy-moaner George Kennedy). Adrift in the sea, the survivors lifeboat meets the Death Ship again. Of course, they decide to board the evil vessel in hopes of rescue; but instead, solve the haunted past that plagues this malevolent boat.Absurd in the extreme, "Death Ship" remains serious even though some moments are unintentionally hilarious (death by peppermint candy and George Kennedy becomes possessed by a Nazi). "Death Ship" contains actual moments of dread.Although there's dread, the film capsizes in underdevelopment. The actors sleepwalk through their roles except for the kids (don't get me started on their performances). Continuous shots of pumping engines kill the pacing and drag the film to a presentable running time. The editing causes sea sickness. "Death Ship" manages to create some interesting silly deaths and illogical decisions by the characters; but by the end of the film, the violence wallows in bad taste and idiocy.
Uriah43 "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.
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.
trashgang This flick never had a really proper release. It was available on DVD but was missing 9 minutes. X Rated Kult released it years ago full uncut, the whole 91 minutes. But that label is only available in Germany and most of their releases aren't that cheap but in 2011 this flick got finally released full uncut. It's strange that it was missing 9 minutes because it wasn't gory after all, in fact, there's not that much going on. It's easy to see that it was low budget, no extra lighting, colour temperature which is wrong and bad editing. And some scene's were way too dark. It was one of those final UK/Canadian horrors. A new era was born, the slashers. If you look closely than there are other examples that are showing that no money was involved. They used stock footage of other flicks to make the scene were the cruise ship is being hit by the ghost ship. On the other hand, that ghost ship or death ship was in fact an old ship broken down. Parts were it is moving it still worked but once broken you could see that the ship was anchored, the water didn't move, they filmed it from a moving small boat around that ship.Nevertheless, this flick, although some break it down do deliver due some eerie and atmospheric shots. The red stuff is left out, maybe only the shower scene (one scene that was cut due nudity) contained a lot of it. But on the other hand Death Ship contained a lot of big names in it. George Kennedy I guess doesn't need any explanation. He was believable here as he was in later horrors like Just Before Dawn (1981) or in Creepshow 2 (1987). But it's also worthy to see Richard Crenna who went further in the 3 Rambo's (1982 - 1988) as Trautman. The UK actresses were also not uncommon on the television screen as in flicks like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ((1968)Sally Ann Howes).If you are into eighties and seventies horror then this is a must due it's weird camera angles and the way they used Adolf Hitler in this flick, weird scene, even as the projector is destroyed the film keeps going on. Not gory at all but I'm sure that Ghost Ship (2002) was some kind of tribute toward Death Ship. Once hard to get, now to find easily on DVD.Gore 1/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 2/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5