Death Ship (1980)

Director:

Alvin Rakoff

Writers:

John Robins (screenplay)
Jack Hill (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

7 March 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Those who survive the ghost ship are better off dead!

Plot:

Survivors of a tragic shipping collision are rescued by a mysterious black ship which appears out of the fog...

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Nazi | Survivor | Ghost Ship | Boat

Cast

George Kennedy	...	Captain Ashland
Richard Crenna	...	Trevor Marshall
Nick Mancuso	...	Nick
Sally Ann Howes	...	Margaret Marshall
Kate Reid	...	Sylvia
Victoria Burgoyne	...	Lori
Jennifer McKinney	...	Robin Marshall
Danny Higham	...	Ben Marshall
Saul Rubinek	...	Jackie
Murray Cruchley	...	Parsons (as Lee Murray)
Doug Smith	...	Seaman No. 1
Tony Sherwood	...	Seaman No. 2
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Andrew Semple	...	Strangled Sailor (uncredited)

Directed by
Alvin Rakoff

Writing credits
John Robins		(screenplay)
Jack Hill		(story) and
David P. Lewis		(story)

Produced by
Derek Gibson	....	producer
Harold Greenberg	....	producer
Larry Nesis	....	associate producer (as Larry Nessis)

Original Music by
Ivor Slaney

Cinematography by
René Verzier		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Mike Campbell

Production Design by
Chris Burke

Art Direction by
Michel Proulx

Makeup Department
Pierre David	....	hairdresser
Joan Isaacson	....	makeup artist
Huguette Roy	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Michael Bennett	....	unit manager: USA
Adrian Hughes	....	production supervisor
Roger Héroux	....	production manager (as Roger Heroux)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Charles Braive	....	assistant director
Pedro Gandol	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Frances Calder	....	props buyer
Pierre Gelinas	....	assistant art director
Jim Hodgson	....	props buyer
David Phillips	....	props
Norman Simpson	....	props master
Andre Brochu	....	construction supervisor (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Appleby	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Dave Appleby)
Henri Blondeau	....	sound mixer
Terry Burke	....	post-synchronisation sound effects
Steven Cole	....	sound effects assistant (as Steve Cole)
Austin Grimaldi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Andy Malcolm	....	post-synchronisation sound effects
Normand Mercier	....	boom operator
Michele Moses	....	sound effects assistant
William Trent	....	sound effects editor (as Bill Trent)
Don White	....	foley recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Michael Albrechtsen	....	special effects (as Mike Albrechtsen)
Peter Hughes	....	special effects

Stunts
Grant Page	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Benison	....	photographer: second unit
Michel Paul Bélisle	....	gaffer (as Michel-Paul Belisle)
Frank Connor	....	still photographer
Greg Daniels	....	best boy
Denis Gingras	....	camera assistant
Paul Gravel	....	camera assistant
Frank Lenk	....	camera operator
André Ouellette	....	camera grip (as Andre Oullette)
John Palmer	....	camera operator
Norman Smith	....	key grip

Casting Department
Ingrid Fischer	....	casting: Canada
Victoria Mitchell	....	casting: Canada
Anna St. Johns	....	casting: U.K.
Sue Stone	....	casting: U.K.

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Paul-André Guérin	....	costumer
Gaudeline Sauriol	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Greg Glynn	....	editing assistant
Yurij Luhovy	....	editing assistant
Jean-Pol Passet	....	editing assistant

Other crew
Todd Allan	....	location manager: USA
Victoria Barney	....	production assistant: USA
Joy Berger	....	unit publicist
Jean Louis Bibeau	....	technical advisor
Monique Brasseur	....	production assistant
Don Carmody	....	production executive
Micheline D'Andre	....	production assistant
Michael Dalling	....	unit publicist
Andre Genest	....	advisor: German memorabilia
Shirley Gill	....	production accountant
Linda Gregory	....	production accountant
Nancy Mayer	....	production assistant: USA
Dave Novak	....	unit publicist
Captain Pelletier	....	technical advisor
June Randall	....	script supervisor
Jacques Vezina	....	technical advisor
Leon Vezina	....	technical advisor
Linda Browne	....	script supervisor trainee (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Artemis Films
• Astral Bellevue Pathé
• Bloodstar Productions
• Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)

Distributors

• Astral Films (1980) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Scotia-Barber (1980) (UK) (theatrical)
• AVCO Embassy Pictures (1980) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Video (1982) (Canada) (VHS)
• Cannon Video (1987) (UK) (VHS)
• Creative Films (2009) (Spain) (DVD)
• Embassy Home Entertainment (video)
• New Line Home Video (video)
• Nucleus Films (2006) (UK) (DVD)
• Roadshow Home Video (video)
• Scorpion Releasing (2012) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Anvil Studios  music recording
• Films Opticals (Quebec) Ltee  opticals
• Government of Canada  we wish to thank for their co-operation (as The Government of Canada)
• Michael Dalling Co.  unit publicity
• Pathé Sound and Post Production Center  sound facilities (as Pathe Sound and Post Production Centre)
• The Alabama Film Commission  we wish to thank for their co-operation (as Alabama State Film Commission)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

UK | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 (video premiere) | France:-12 | Finland:(Banned) (1980) | UK:15 (video rating) (2007) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | West Germany:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 (1988) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Norway:(Banned) (1980-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Dauphin Island, Alabama, USA

Company:

Artemis Films

Trivia:

The footage showing the movement of the Death Ship was the result of filming from a small boat moving around the Death Ship. The crew shot for about an hour before the 'Death Ship' broke down. The rest of the required shots were achieved by faking movement, as the broken vessel was anchored and stationary.

Quotes:

[on collision course with the titular ship]
Ashland:Signal him to alter course.
Seaman No. 1:I already have, sir.
Ashland:Well, signal him again, damnit.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Svengoolie: Death Ship" (2000)

Dying to see land.

Along with 1981 sci-fi / horror 'Galaxy of Terror' (which only a couple months back I saw for the first time), 'Death Ship' has been at the top of my must see list and finally it was fulfilled. The most striking aspect to the film for me was its ominous looking poster artwork (which would be reused by the similar in plot 2002 'Ghost Ship') of a skull transpiring from the front of ramshackle ship. Creepy! And this co Canadian / UK produced low-rent, b-grade picture effectively delivered on its promised chills, despite its low-budget that shows from its creaky, murky and minimal execution. The off-kilter, but downright fixed premise is cut and dry (as the original idea, before the story/script was chopped and changed around was originally penned by cult exploitation filmmaker Jack Hill) with it projecting a Gothic haunted house atmosphere aboard an ominous looking rust-bucket ship endlessly travelling the high seas with an sinisterly deranged twist behind it.

A group of passengers that were on a cruise ship that went down in the Caribbean end up climbing aboard a mysteriously rundown ghost ship that seemed to come out of nowhere. While boarding the vessel they find themselves trapped on upon it, as if it has mind of its own.

Blaring on the back on the DVD case "The Shinning meets The Poseidon Adventure!" sounds about right. Familiar staples in a basic haunting set-up, but a motivated cast keeps it chugging along with the names of George Kennedy, Richard Crenna, Sally Ann Howes, Nick Mancuso, Victoria Burgoyne and Saul Rubinek. Very committed and hardened performances help to keep the tainted script afloat. Alvin Rakoff's sub-par direction is humidly tight and moody, letting it unfold slowly which actually made the nightmarishly suffocating atmosphere drill in some surreal (if tacked on) imagery and an unsettling ambiance when the true horrors are discovered (oh those Nazis). Stemming from that is an unpleasantly crude quality and some anxious suspense (characters losing their marbles); as the survivors are picked off one by one. Some flaws cropping up would be some sequences seem to be overlong, and the editing at times can be rather ragged. Sometime flashes of what's about to happen would work their way in… which would spoil any sort of impact. Ivor Slaney's softly spooky score is instrumental in setting the air. It won't set the world alight, as it's a limited, but resourceful minor production that sticks to its strengths.

'Death Ship' is a junky and makeshift, but fairly eerie and cold horror piece.