"Death Ship" follows a group of survivors (including a captain, a young couple, an older woman, and two children) who find themselves forced to board a ghostly abandoned ship after their luxury ocean liner sinks. Little do they know, the ship they've boarded was a Nazi torture ship, and the old captain is about to take charge of his newfound passengers.Clearly an influence on 2002's "Ghost Ship," "Death Ship" is a generally fun, kitschy, and at times unnerving horror film. The setup is standard, with the caveat of the victims being confined to the haunted site by thousands of miles of ocean. The film has quite a few tricks up its sleeve, largely with the ship itself, which takes on a life of its own, flipping switches, slamming doors, and steering of its own accord. This makes for a sort of trap-door funhouse effect in which the characters are under constant threat of the vessel itself more so than apparitions or ghosts—the ship itself is alive, and danger lurks. When the evil does strike, it's via a physical channel as well: Possessing the sea Captain Ashland (George Kennedy).For all the funhouse attractions the film has to offer, there is a strong sense of atmosphere to the film that is drawn out of ominous shots of darkened corridors, dusty cabins, and creaky set pieces. The interiors of the ship are well-dressed and genuinely eerie, and the production values really shine here. The performances are decent, with Nick Mancuso (the villain in "Black Christmas") and Sally Ann Howes having large supporting roles. The final act is a bit drawn out and peppered with melodramatic slow-motion shots, and the film closes on a fairly anticlimactic note, but these are actually minor qualms for a film that commits to take itself seriously. In the end, "Death Ship" is a fun and atmospheric film that takes its haunted house-style approach and quite literally rides the wave. It's not a remarkable film, but it's also not a bad one either. It offers enough atmosphere and too many effective scenes to dismiss. Hi-lights: The shipwrecked's arrival on-board the ghost ship, and a shower head that sprays blood on an unsuspecting victim. 7/10.

'Death Ship' is so unintentionally hilarious that all the thrill doesn't even shock the viewer because they are still laughing at the previous ridiculousness. Some people might even miss quite gory and effective death scenes. The story is simple, characters paper thin and there isn't much logic or explanation. Acting is nothing magnificent (except George Kennedy in the final stages of the film when his character really starts to lose it) like usually in these cheap trashy horror films, but nothing exceptionally bad either. Still nice entertainment for those who enjoy these kind of movies that rely more on shocking gore than atmosphere. Guilty pleasure, but only for one viewing. Rather forgettable film.

"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.

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.