Death Ship (1980)

[Dr. Briggs]

If you've seen Event Horizon, you've seen most of Death Ship done better, save for perhaps a few more outwardly "supernatural" moments and a few somewhat more unnerving parts due to the ship in question being a Nazi vessel instead of a spaceship that happened to be possessed by interdimensional demons. In Death Ship as in the later Event Horizon, a small group of people explore a derelict vessel which messes with their heads, and one character becomes "attached" to the ship in the worst kind of way.

The film has its moments of suspense and some direction which occasionally captures the essence of madness well, but all in all it's plagued with the sort of flaws that stick with you after a movie and make you strongly feel as though you wasted your time. The characters are kind of dull, a part of the main group is a happy family of 4, so you know they'll survive intact, and the supernatural events aboard the ship make you seriously think people would be freaking out long before they were (someone is killed by machinery pretty much the second they step on board, and hardly anybody gives a damn either about the person themself or the circumstances that brought the machinery to act in such a way).

All in all I'd give the film a 4/10. Not at all without merit, but it seems like it hardly tries at times.

[DragonBlues]

But... It's not just a ship! It's a killing machine!!!

exdev:

Thanks for the review, Briggs!

[Dr. Briggs]

If it were a killing machine I'd rate it higher, but really all it was was a mindfuck which Event Horizon pulled off splendidly later! XP

And the other tag line? Those who survive the ghost ship would be better off dead?? They seemed fine to me!! >:O

[DragonBlues]

I just love the "it's a killing machine" tag-line. My older brother and I use it for anything that begins with "death." :

Death Race: It's not just a race. It's a killing machine!
Death Clock: It's not just a clock. It's a killing machine!

It's a compulsion. We actually can't use those phrases in conversation without adding on the tag line. It drives my sister-in-law insane.


As for the film... I also thought that Event Horizon was better. Or at least it creeped me out more.

And is anyone ever really better off dead?

[mindf?ck]

great review i agree with you to some extent other than i would rate it slightly higher to a 6/10 i guess its one of those ones i have a real fondness for that i dislike to really criticize it

[Dr. Briggs]

great review i agree with you to some extent other than i would rate it slightly higher to a 6/10 i guess its one of those ones i have a real fondness for that i dislike to really criticize it

Well, that is probably the reason I'd rate Puppet Master films pretty highly X)