Dead Calm (1989)

I had another urge watch recently (I’ve been getting a lot of them recently), so for the first time in years I watched:

Dead Calm (1989)

I’m not quite sure why of all the films I’ve seen, this one in particular was poking me to watch it again. I’ve always liked it though and I have a bit of a thing for those minimal cast movies, especially if there’s some kind of peril involved. 😵

If you haven’t seen it, its a horror/thriller based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams.

It stars Nicole Kidman (Days of Thunder), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), Billy Zane (Titanic) and that’s pretty much it.

This is what it’s about:

An Australian couple take a sailing trip in the Pacific to try to forget about a tragic accident. While on the open sea they come across a ship with one survivor who is not at all that he seems.

I remember watching this film for the first time in my early teens and having the bejesus scared out of me (specifically the part where Sam Neill discovers all the chopped up bodies). 😵

Although now, years later and after multiple watches it’s not quite as scary as it was then, it’s still a really good watch and easy to see why it made such an impression on me the first time round.

The eerie score by Graeme Revell adds so much to this movie. It’s really unsettling, and combined with the slow building tension, the feeling of desperation (from Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill) and Billy Zane’s brilliant performance of an unpredictable (yet strangely likeable) homicidal maniac, the result is a highly enjoyable movie that ticks along nicely without ever having to try too hard.

If you fancy a decent mystery, thriller set on the high seas (or Great Barrier Reef to be more accurate) that just also happens to be a nice 80s throwback, I recommend giving this one a go.👌

Seen it? Let me know your thoughts.👇