Brendon Jones
It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Calum Hutton
It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Marva-nova
Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
questiontheauthorities
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.
BA_Harrison
A Nazi interrogation ship that has been circling the oceans for forty years deliberately rams into a cruise ship. A handful of survivors make their way onto the deserted German ship, unaware that an evil force is in control of the craft and that the vessel needs blood to survive.I really like the premise of this film (exploitation legend Jack Hill co-wrote the story), and the titular ship—dark, decaying and cobweb strewn—makes for a very atmospheric location for a horror. The film struggles to deliver the goods, however, director Alvin Rakoff opting for endless tedious shots of creepy corridors, the prow of the ship coursing through the waves, and pistons pumping in the engine room, rather than delivering genuine terror.Things pick up slightly for the obligatory shower scene (every horror film should have one!) in which Victoria Burgoyne as sexy survivor Lori is drenched in blood instead of water, and there is a delightfully disgusting moment when Lori's lover Nick (Nick Mancuso) falls into a net full of mouldy human remains—but the majority of the film is rather lame in terms of scares and remarkably light on gore.4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.
Leofwine_draca
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.
ma-cortes
Creepy and exciting movie about some shipwrecked lead to remains of a deserted ghost ship that's been missing for more than 40 years , since WWII, it is packed with good actors and slick direction . The film concerns about a passenger luxury liner is crashed by a strange freighter . The castaways enter into the rare German ship and after encounter themselves trapped and they figure out that things are not as they should. A frightening vessel lost from the 40s at a remote region nowadays is floating drift.The mysterious Nazi vessel is lost at sea for more than 50 years.But one time aboard the cavernous, eerie ship, the group encounter that the decaying Oceaner freighter is anything but deserted. Boarding the ship results to be a big mistake since the tragedy that overtook the lives of crew and captain lingers and starts to affect the present passengers. When a series of bizarre occurrences happen and the crew becomes caught in a web of ghastly deeds ,they soon learn is inhabited by haunting previous crew.The picture contains scary suspense, thrills, terror,tension, chills and is quite entertaining. Deserted ship is portrayed as a complete riddle with weird events,screams and grisly horrifying happenings. The movie paid attention to building up a terrifying atmosphere instead of violent and stabbing killing spree.The action takes completely place into a rusty ship wreck .The argument isn't original but it's being gradually revealed with nutty enchantment , such as ¨The shinning(Kubrick)¨ style and it attracts viewer's attention. The picture is starred by fine actors, doing some correct performances, as Richard Crenna, George Kennedy, Sally Ann Howes and nice secondary role for Saul Rubinek .If you're enthusiastic of the mystery tales and B films, so you'll encounter this picture to be agreeable. If your interest lies on a more cerebral terror movie,then I highly recommend you skip this one.This eerie movie is rightly directed by Alvin Rakoff during the 8os, he is a craftsman Canadian director as cinema as television . The film is recommended for all horror lovers which will find many nice eerie shots though not very logical but still their appetite for gruesome scenes will be satisfied.Other adaptation about 'ghost ships' are the following : For television titled ¨The triangle(2001)¨by Lewis Teague with Luke Perry, Dan Cortese , Olivia Dábo and Polly Shannon, the high budgeted by Joel Silver titled ¨ The Ghost ship (2002) ¨ by Steven Beck with Julianne Margules, Ron Eldard and Gabriel Byrne and for Sci-Fi channel titled ¨The ghost voyage¨ with Antonio Sabato and Gary-Hiroyaki Tagawa.
