Dead Calm (1989)
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John Ingram is just trying to get away from reality for a little bit. His son was killed and his wife injured in a car accident. Now he and his wife are on their boat in the South Pacific, just trying to enjoy the sun and water and forget all the horrible things in their life. Unfortunately it only gets worse. They come across the Orpheus, a seemly deserted boat, that is until they see a survivor, Huey, rowing a life boat away from the ship. He comes back with tails of disease and horrible death. John, the naval officer that he is, feels the need to at least make sure no one is left alive and suffering, so he decides to check out the Orpheus, which also happens to be sinking. What he finds, are severed heads and mutilated bodies and becomes way too obvious what really happened, but he’s left Huey alone with his wife. Will the Orpheus have the same fate as the Titanic or will John overcome all obstacles and take on the madman?
Overall: This film is a tremendous masterpiece of suspense and intrigue. Despite such few characters, the film isn’t boring nor predictable. If anything, the film tries to be honest with the events and so at no time do the characters make catastrophic blunders in judgment. Given the mental history of the female character, the fact she can’t quite finish the bad guy is believable. Her husband’s decisions are also realistic given his history and compassion. The film is quite good. The movie is based on the novel "Dead Calm" by Charles Williams. Orson Welles had filmed it under the name of "The Deep". The film starred Jeanne Moreau, and Laurence Harvey. The original story had more characters in it than the 1989 film version. Filming lasted from 1967 till 1969. A few scenes could not be filmed, due to the death of Laurence Harvey in 1970, and so Welles' version never reached the big screen. Comparison: Jaws meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest |
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