Death Ship (1980 film)
Encyclopedia
Death Ship is a 1980 horror film directed by Alvin Rakoff. The cast includes Academy Award winner George Kennedy, Richard Crenna
, Sally Ann Howes
, and Black Christmas
actor Nick Mancuso
.
steams at night, apparently deserted. Detecting a Cruise ship
close by, the ship alters course as ghostly voices shout in German, "Battle Stations! Enemy in sight!" Aboard the cruise ship, the prickly Captain Ashland (Kennedy) is making his final voyage, attended by his replacement, Captain Trevor Marshall (Crenna), who has brought along his family. Outside, the freighter heads right for them, blasting its horn, and despite Ashland's best efforts, collides with the cruise ship, sinking it. The next morning, a handful of survivors, including Marshall, his wife Margaret (Howes), their children Robin and Ben, a young officer named Nick (Mancuso), his love interest Lori (Burgoyne), the ship's comic Jackie (Rubinek), and a passenger, Mrs. Morgan (Reid), are adrift on a large piece of wreckage. Ashland surfaces nearby, and is brought aboard barely conscious. Later, the survivors come upon the black freighter, unaware it is the ship which attacked them. Finding a boarding ladder slung from the stern
, they climb aboard, but not before the ladder plunges into the sea as the officers try to climb it with the injured Ashland. When all are finally aboard, Jackie tries to rally the survivors with humor, but a cable seizes him by the ankle, and he is lifted and swung outboard by one of the ship's cranes, which lowers the thrashing comic into the water before cutting him loose, to be swept astern and lost.
Shocked, the survivors explore the corridors of the empty, echoing vessel, finding only cobwebs and 1930s memorabilia. Hatches open and close by themselves and lights go on and off while a swinging block knocks out Nick, who is exploring above deck. Meanwhile, a delirious Ashland hears a disembodied voice speaking to him in German, telling him "This ship has been waiting for you...It is your new ship....Your chance has come!" The others finally set up in a dusty bunk room, and break up to retrieve supplies and the injured Captain. Finding a record player and a movie projector that play by themselves, the survivors come to believe the ship is somehow alive. While watching the projected film (1936's "Everything Is Rhythm
") Mrs. Morgan becomes grotesquely deformed and stumbles back to the bunk room, where a German-speaking Ashland strangles her.
Now awake, and apparently under the ship's influence, Ashland dons a German naval officer's uniform and announces he is the captain. Marshall and Nick make a horrific discovery: the ship was once a Nazi
prison ship
, and the ghosts of its victims and crew are still aboard. They both decide to escape, but are thwarted when the ship's two lifeboats
lower into the sea by themselves and drift away. Despairing, the survivors are further taunted by Ashland, who tosses Lori overboard. Marshall and Nick are attacked by the piercing whine of the ship's electronics as the projector now shows films of Adolf Hitler
. Nick lunges at Ashland, but instead plunges into a net holding skeletal remains, and Ashland drowns him. Marshall manages to stab a gloating Ashland, apparently killing him and stopping the ship. Seaching below, Marshall finds a life raft in a freezer full of the frozen bodies of downed airmen and sailors, but as the children are jumping overboard, Margaret is captured by a resurrected Ashland and is trapped in a chain locker. Marshall is knocked out by Ashland, but awakens in time to find Margaret, who has escaped from the locker.
Meanwhile, the ship detects another cruise liner and begins to give chase, ignoring Ashland, who wants it to run down the Marshalls' raft instead. Trying to re-take control of the ship, Ashland storms into the engine room, but is pushed into the steering gear
and crushed. His agonized screams echo through the ship, joining those of its earlier victims. Above, the Marshalls rejoice as the freighter turns and steams away. After drifting for some time, they are spotted by a search helicopter and rescued. Afterwards, the Death Ship is shown steaming along at full speed, ghostly voices once again announcing "Enemy in sight!" in German. It heads for another passenger ship, and the sounds of the collision are accompanied by the triumphant blasting of its horn.
Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
, Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes
Sally Ann Howes is a British actress and singer, who currently holds dual British-American citizenship. Her career on stage, screen and television has spanned over six decades...
, and Black Christmas
Black Christmas (1974 film)
Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and...
actor Nick Mancuso
Nick Mancuso
Nicodemo Antonio Massimo "Nick" Mancuso is a Canadian cinema and stage actor.-Career:Mancuso was born in Mammola, Calabria, Italy and immigrated to Canada in 1956...
.
Plot
A mysterious black freighterCargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
steams at night, apparently deserted. Detecting a Cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
close by, the ship alters course as ghostly voices shout in German, "Battle Stations! Enemy in sight!" Aboard the cruise ship, the prickly Captain Ashland (Kennedy) is making his final voyage, attended by his replacement, Captain Trevor Marshall (Crenna), who has brought along his family. Outside, the freighter heads right for them, blasting its horn, and despite Ashland's best efforts, collides with the cruise ship, sinking it. The next morning, a handful of survivors, including Marshall, his wife Margaret (Howes), their children Robin and Ben, a young officer named Nick (Mancuso), his love interest Lori (Burgoyne), the ship's comic Jackie (Rubinek), and a passenger, Mrs. Morgan (Reid), are adrift on a large piece of wreckage. Ashland surfaces nearby, and is brought aboard barely conscious. Later, the survivors come upon the black freighter, unaware it is the ship which attacked them. Finding a boarding ladder slung from the stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
, they climb aboard, but not before the ladder plunges into the sea as the officers try to climb it with the injured Ashland. When all are finally aboard, Jackie tries to rally the survivors with humor, but a cable seizes him by the ankle, and he is lifted and swung outboard by one of the ship's cranes, which lowers the thrashing comic into the water before cutting him loose, to be swept astern and lost.
Shocked, the survivors explore the corridors of the empty, echoing vessel, finding only cobwebs and 1930s memorabilia. Hatches open and close by themselves and lights go on and off while a swinging block knocks out Nick, who is exploring above deck. Meanwhile, a delirious Ashland hears a disembodied voice speaking to him in German, telling him "This ship has been waiting for you...It is your new ship....Your chance has come!" The others finally set up in a dusty bunk room, and break up to retrieve supplies and the injured Captain. Finding a record player and a movie projector that play by themselves, the survivors come to believe the ship is somehow alive. While watching the projected film (1936's "Everything Is Rhythm
Everything Is Rhythm
Everything Is Rhythm is a 1936 British musical film directed by Alfred J. Goulding and starring Harry Roy, Princess Pearl and Dorothy Boyd. A member of a band playing at a luxurious hotel falls in love with a princess staying there.-Cast:...
") Mrs. Morgan becomes grotesquely deformed and stumbles back to the bunk room, where a German-speaking Ashland strangles her.
Now awake, and apparently under the ship's influence, Ashland dons a German naval officer's uniform and announces he is the captain. Marshall and Nick make a horrific discovery: the ship was once a Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
prison ship
Prison ship
A prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....
, and the ghosts of its victims and crew are still aboard. They both decide to escape, but are thwarted when the ship's two lifeboats
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
lower into the sea by themselves and drift away. Despairing, the survivors are further taunted by Ashland, who tosses Lori overboard. Marshall and Nick are attacked by the piercing whine of the ship's electronics as the projector now shows films of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. Nick lunges at Ashland, but instead plunges into a net holding skeletal remains, and Ashland drowns him. Marshall manages to stab a gloating Ashland, apparently killing him and stopping the ship. Seaching below, Marshall finds a life raft in a freezer full of the frozen bodies of downed airmen and sailors, but as the children are jumping overboard, Margaret is captured by a resurrected Ashland and is trapped in a chain locker. Marshall is knocked out by Ashland, but awakens in time to find Margaret, who has escaped from the locker.
Meanwhile, the ship detects another cruise liner and begins to give chase, ignoring Ashland, who wants it to run down the Marshalls' raft instead. Trying to re-take control of the ship, Ashland storms into the engine room, but is pushed into the steering gear
Rack and pinion
A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
and crushed. His agonized screams echo through the ship, joining those of its earlier victims. Above, the Marshalls rejoice as the freighter turns and steams away. After drifting for some time, they are spotted by a search helicopter and rescued. Afterwards, the Death Ship is shown steaming along at full speed, ghostly voices once again announcing "Enemy in sight!" in German. It heads for another passenger ship, and the sounds of the collision are accompanied by the triumphant blasting of its horn.
Cast
- George KennedyGeorge KennedyGeorge Harris Kennedy, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in over 200 film and television productions. He is perhaps most familiar as the convict Dragline in Cool Hand Luke , airline troubleshooter Joe Patroni in the Airport series of disaster movies from the 1970s and...
as Captain Ashland - Richard CrennaRichard CrennaRichard Donald Crenna was an American motion picture, television, and radio actor and occasional television director. He starred in such motion pictures as The Sand Pebbles, Wait Until Dark, Body Heat, the first three Rambo movies, Hot Shots! Part Deux, and The Flamingo Kid...
as Trevor Marshall - Nick MancusoNick MancusoNicodemo Antonio Massimo "Nick" Mancuso is a Canadian cinema and stage actor.-Career:Mancuso was born in Mammola, Calabria, Italy and immigrated to Canada in 1956...
as Nick - Sally Ann HowesSally Ann HowesSally Ann Howes is a British actress and singer, who currently holds dual British-American citizenship. Her career on stage, screen and television has spanned over six decades...
as Margaret Marshall - Kate ReidKate ReidKate Reid, OC was a Canadian stage, film and television actress.-Life and career:Daphne Kate Reid was born in London, England, the daughter of Canadian parents, Helen Isabel and Walter Clarke Reid, who was a former Bengal Lancer in the Indian army and a retired colonel...
as Sylvia Morgan - Victoria BurgoyneVictoria BurgoyneVictoria Burgoyne is an English actress.She is known for being a guest actress in the infamously uncompleted Doctor Who serial Shada, the making of which was abandoned as the result of a BBC strike...
as Lori - Jennifer Mckinney as Robin Marshall
- Danny Higham as Ben Marshall
- Saul RubinekSaul RubinekSaul Rubinek is a Canadian actor, director, producer and playwright, known for his work in TV, film and the stage.-Early life:...
as Jackie - Murray CruchleyMurray CruchleyLee Murray is the stage name of Murray Cruchley, a Canadian actor and radio personality.-Roles:* City on Fire - Tony Miller* Death Ship - Parsons* The Agency - New Copywriter* Scanners - Programmer 1...
as Parsons