A vintage German cargo ship from World War Two unexpectedly collides with a contemporary cruise liner, and ten survivors find themselves aboard this strange vessel. The question is, can they escape with their lives? George Kennedy portrays the soon-to-be-retired captain of the cruise ship, while Richard Crenna embodies an ambitious up-and-comer in a similar role. "Death Ship," released in 1980, utilizes the framework established by "The Poseidon Adventure" from 1972 but incorporates elements of horror reminiscent of films like “Ghost Ship” (2002). However, it falls short compared to even lesser-known productions such as "Ghost Voyage" (2008). I didn’t see this movie until well over ten years after its initial release, and my first impression was that it had a cheap feel. The frequent displays of the ship's navigation instruments and oversized pistons moving on their own seemed particularly questionable and tedious. Upon revisiting it, I find it isn’t as poor as I initially thought, and it does provide some gruesome scenes. Victoria Burgoyne is visually appealing, and there’s a graphic depiction of blood (presented as a shower). Still, the film's predominantly bright daytime setting hinders the creation of an unsettling atmosphere; “Ghost Ship” and "Ghost Voyage" didn’t struggle with this issue. Also, the manner in which one of the ten survivors is abruptly lifted by a crane cable felt clumsy and poorly conceived, along with the unrealistic responses from the remaining nine people. Despite these flaws, I appreciated the genuine setting of an abandoned ship. The movie has a running time of 1 hour, 31 minutes, and was filmed on an actual decommissioned German freighter that served as a prison vessel during World War Two, used for acts of torture (a rather appropriate detail). Additional scenes were captured in Quebec City—likely studio work—while some footage appears to have been borrowed from other films, including the falling grand piano from “The Last Voyage” (1960), the radar sequence from "King Kong" (1976), and those same giant pistons seen in “S.O.S. Titanic” (1979). GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB