Director Steve Lawson does it again! When I venture into a film, I try to not know too much about the film beforehand. If I know I’m going to see the film anyways, then I don’t watch trailers and often avoid a plot synopsis as Ill find out what the plot is when I see the film. This can of course go horribly wrong if my brains in the mood for a thriller type movie and I end up pressing play on something like ‘Cats’ but generally this film choosing tactic has done me well. As a kid I often went to see films without knowing too much about them, and some of my favourite films (Midnight Run, Sneakers, Man on Fire, Scarface) were ones I knew nothing about before hand.  I like to try preserve that ‘roll the dice’ thing when it comes to my entertainment.  When I first watched Steve’s film Wrath of Dracula, I thought- oh another Dracula movie- here we go!  But i’d seen Rippers Revenge and have seen a few of Steve’s other films over the years and liked them- that’s why I chose Wrath of Dracula because of Steve’s name on the credits.  Wrath of Dracula wasn’t just ‘another Dracula’ movie, it spun the tale of the count of darkness in a new way by focussing on Mina Harker (wonderfully played by Hannaj Bang Bendz) and having Mina be a kick ass screen hero taking out the Count and his minions. 

Well Steve Lawson has done it again to me (thanks Steve) with his latest film Ship of the Damned which in the first few moments of the film (which I liked) made me think I was about to watch a film set in the 1600’s onboard a ship filled with cannibalistic pirates, however, flipped once again, it turns out the film is actually a modern film set in the here and now that still does feature a ship filled with cannibalistic pirates but is all the better for the film being set in the 21st century. 

 In Ship of the Damned, a 400 year-old ship appears off the coast of a small town, and Historian Elena and the local coastguard go to investigate. They discover it is not abandoned and the ship’s cursed crew have horrific plans for the intruders. After an abandoned 500 year-old ship appears off the coast of a small town, Historian Elena ( Hannaj Bang Bendz ) and the local coastguard go onboard to investigate (bad idea!!, remember I mentioned cannibalistic pirates. Yep I thought you might)  Turns out that the ship isn’t as abandoned as the coastguard and Elena thought it might be.

Beautifully filmed (cinematography by Jon O’Neill, who also shot Wrath of Dracula and Rippers Revenge) with a great cast Ship of the Damned was so much fun to watch. Yes its a film about a spooky ship, featuring bloodthirsty pirates, but the film has drops of humour which are perfectly placed, especially by Micheal (played by Jacob Anderton from Give Them Wings).  The scenes between Elena & Michael are great, their dynamic is fun and anytime those two share the screen you know you are in for some great one liners.  When it comes to action scenes and there are a few of those, you can always rely on Hannaj Bang Bendz who 100% should be cast as Lara Croft in a Hollywood Tomb Raider movie, her action scenes are believable, tough, energetic and cinematic and when in a fight with someone twice her height or size, you really do think that she could kick their arse through the ship (and I’m sure she could) Id seen Hannaj in Wrath of Dracula, and also David Ryan Keith’s I Am Rage in the past few months and shes a fantastic screen presence. 

So treat yourself. When Ship of the Damned sails into the home viewing harbour in April, check it out! and Steve Lawson, you’ve now cinematically cemented yourself onto my list of filmmakers who I know deliver something that cant be summed up purely by the cover art and I love that about your films. I think I know what ill get, but I’m wrong, I get something better. 

Ship of the Damned is set for release on April 22nd.

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