Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
Spoonatects
Am i the only one who thinks........Average?
Rexanne
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
MartinHafer
Several couples are given free passage on a cruise ship. Little do they know that the company in the letter with the tickets doesn't exist and it's just a murderer's pretext to get them in one place so he or she could kill them! As for the couples, they all are screwed up. One has a husband who is a philanderer (Richard Long and Polly Bergen), another a husband and wife who don't know what to do with their marriage now that the kids are grown (Tom Bosley and Celeste Holm) and the other is arguing about whether or not they'll have children (Edward Albert and Kate Jackson). You also see quite a bit of Dr. Burke (Michael Constantine) and the Captain (Cesare Danova). But what's the connection between all these people?! As for the doctor, he fancies himself to be an amateur detective and investigates! The plot, when you think about it, is really very much like "The Love Boat" combined with "Diagnosis Murder"! The set-up for the story was good and the film could have worked. So why did I give it only a 3? Well, the writing was spotty and there were way too many ridiculous moments. First, the killer was easy to figure out because it was obvious they were in a costume. Second, when the crew figured out someone was trying to kill the couples, why didn't they put all the surviving people in a room together with guards? Instead, they gave them ample opportunities to separate themselves and get killed. Why would they continue to allow people to skeet shoot aboard the ship (common back in the day) once they knew a killer was among them? Why would the doctor confront the murderer all alone--without backup and with a gun? And, how could someone at a great distance so easily shoot one man and avoid hitting another only a few feet away? This is NOT an easy shot! There were more inconsistencies and mistakes...but these things SHOULD have been worked out before shooting the script. I can only assume it was hurried into production.The film's interior shots were done aboard the Queen Mary--an old cruise ship permanently anchored in Long Beach, California (near Hollywood). I was shocked by the rooms, as they were HUGE!
bayardhiler
"Death Cruise" (1974) is one of those nice little mysteries that follows the tradition of "Ten Little Indians" and Agatha Christie. The story follows three couples (one old, one middle age, and one young) who have seemly won a free cruise from the same contest that none of them can remember entering (never an encouraging sign in this type of movie). And sure enough, faster than you can say Sherlock Holmes, they quickly discover that it was all a ruse to get them on board as one by one, they all begin to meet their ends at the hands of a murderer. The one hope that might save them comes in the form of the ship's good doctor, Dr. Burke (Michael Constantine) who takes on the role of the amateur detective very competently. All of the actors play their parts very well, with Tom Bosley and Cheleste Holm as the older couple who are struggling to find their way now that their children are all grown up, Richard Long as a philandering husband and Polly Bergen as his poor wife, along with Edward Albert and Kate Jackson as a young couple just starting out, and Cesare Danova as the ship's captain. All of this, plus an enormous twist ending that Alfred Hitchcock himself might have appreciated, make this a nice pleasant movie to watch, especially if you like to dream of a simpler time, like the 70s. Catch it on you tube sometime. 8 out of 10.
robertconnor
When did 'Made For TV' movies begin? Hundreds of mini-masterpieces are going to be lost unless some bright spark begins to preserve and restore each and every print.This little 1974 'tv gem' has a delicious cast succumbing to a hackneyed Agatha Christie plot. Can you spot the killer(s) before it becomes obvious? Jackson is both gorgeous and fascinating... she spent so much of her career trying to cover her neck and throat (Charlie gave her so many scarves and polo-necks), yet amidst the halter-necks and scarves here, some scenes show a lovely (and perfectly normal) neck. Am I missing something? Also, an agent or personal manager with more smarts might have suggested she was SUPERB at playing hard-faced beauties... she should have been the QUEEN of gorgeous villains!Did I spoil the plot?
moonspinner55
Seems to me there have been more than enough movies (or episodes on TV shows) wherein a mystery killer picks off a group of people one by one, and then crosses their faces with a big 'X' on a group-photo where everyone is smiling and happy. The theatrical film "The Last of Sheila" used a group-photo as a red herring, but "Death Cruise" doesn't have time for subtlety. It's a telefilm, short on time and short on budget. A would-be "Ten Little Indians", the cast is littered with has-beens (Richard Long), should-have-beens (Edward Albert), and one fresh face (Kate Jackson, giving off some enchanting, mysterious charisma). It's a cross between "The Love Boat" and "Murder, She Wrote", yet it does predate both and was fairly intriguing for its time. Seen today, it's a tacky hoot, although there is a neat twist at the finish line. As TV-movies go: ** from ****
