Cruise debate: Best cruise horror movie to watch this Halloween - Cruise Trade News (2024)

With Halloween fast approaching, we asked our editorial team to recommend their favourite cruise-related horror movie for this Halloween. What makes them spill their popcorn and head for the life boats?

Rebecca Barnes, Editor, World of Cruising:“I would have to go withGhost Ship(2002). It is very much horror by numbers as everyone of the genre’s standard plot points get ticked off along the way. There’s the creepy child with an English accent (played by a very young Emily Browning)and as always, any hint of sex or greed and you may as well be writing a suicide note in blood taken from your own slashed wrist.

“That being said, Ghost Ship does offer up some nice visual effects as theAntonia Graza(the name of the aforementioned cruise ships) transforms between decaying wreck and luxury liner, slowly revealing the tale of the now deceased crew and its guests. Julianna Margulies rocks as a seafaring version of Ellen Ripley, but the true starsof this film will always be the poster and the tagline ‘SEA EVIL’.”

Colette Doyle, Editor, Cruise Trade News: “Although not traditionally known as a horror movie, I would like to offer upTitanic(1997) as my pick.

“It actually has more deaths (just over 1,500 according to Wikipedia) than all of these other so called ‘horror’ movies combined and let us not forget that Billy Zane manages to not only murder the English accent but also almost singlehandedly kill off the entire toupee industry… brutal.

“There is some story line about a young couple in love (Leo obviously missed the sex = death horror movie rule from Scream) and a lot of class system nonsense which those of us who cruise with inside cabins will probably still understand. But the true horror of this film is the subliminal effect that it has on anyone watching it, who can honestly say that they can still listen to that blasted Celine Dion song without feeling murderous?”

Gary Peters, Deputy Editor, Cruise Trade News: “I’ve never been a huge fan of horror movies – I’m more of a ‘hide-behind-the-sofa’ sort of person – but Deep Rising (1998) provides plenty of laughs, from the tagline ‘Full Scream Ahead’, to the wide-eyed cast spouting lines such as ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this’ – indeed, viewers might be thinking something similar, as they contend with sabotage, plenty of machine gun fire, and the mysterious creature.

“Perhaps that slightly harsh, as those looking for an easy watch could do a lot worse that Deep Rising. So, if, like me, you prefer more laughter than genuine horror, stick this on at Halloween and strap yourself in for a wild ride…”

Josh Stephenson, Feature Writer, World of Cruising: “My pick is Death Ship (1980). A movie where the Captain of the MS Never Named is just three days away from retirement. That should give you all the indication you need of the standard of this low-budget horror flick from the early 80s starring *checks notes* Academy award-winning actor George Kennedy.

“An ominous, evil black ship (you can tell it’s evil because it’s got a shark-like hull) rams into the aforementioned cruise ship, causing it to sink and leaves all the principal protagonists stranded at sea in a lifeboat.

“It’s not long before the evil ship picks them up and proceeds to pick them off one by one. Sounds scary, right? Well, it should be, but the violence has a habit of descending into Home Alone-esque farce, there’s some truly terrible dialogue (‘This ship needs blood. Blood. It needs it. Blood. This ship needs…’) and the editing is so confusing characters seemingly teleport to their doom.

“And that’s not all. There’s a twist so obvious it barely counts as a spoiler (it’s Nazis – it’s always Nazis), a scene where some poor actress wallows about in the shower for an interminable four minutes and approximately 20 per cent of the movie is taken up with establishing shots of pistons and engines.

“It’s so bad that, in a strange way, it’s almost good. Gather your friends, stock up on a few drinks and have a good laugh at poor old Death Ship.”

James Coulbault, Head of Digital Marketing, Real Response Media: “For me, Halloween has always been about the classic horror movie characters and more specifically those from the modern era of horror – Michael Myers, Victor Crowley, Ghost Face and, of course, Freddy Krueger.

“But unless they suddenly discover a river running through Elm Street, none of those guys will ever be in a cruise movie… or so I thought.

“Thank you, Jason Voorhees and the truly ridiculous plot of Friday 13^th Part VIII: Jason takes Manhattan (1989). We find Jason (our hero?) adrift on a small fishing boat in the middle of Crystal Lake (lake/noun: a large area of water surrounded by land) yet overnight he somehow drifts in to the sea until he bumps into the rather underwhelming cruise ship, the SS Lazarus.

“Climbing up the anchor chain, he finds himself onboard with a plethora of classic horror movie clichés – or ‘teenagers celebrating graduation’ as they are otherwise known. Memorable cruise kills include Jason showing a band member why a guitar is sometimes called an axe and carrying out the worst hot rocks treatment of any cruise spa EVER.

“This is a terrible film and it’s not just Kelly Hu (movie debut) who would rather no-one ever watched it again. That being said, it does have its moments and for the niche category of cruise ship horror it’s the one that I will be digging out of my DVD collection and popping corn to.”

Do you agree? Have any of our team won you over or do you have your own preference of cruise horror? We’d love to hear what you’d choose – let us know on Twitter or Facebook.