Masters of Horror: Dream Cruise

Season 2, Episode 13

2007, USA/Japan

Directed by Noria Tsuruta

Written by Koji Suzuki (short story), Naoya Takayama, Norio Tsuruta

Produced by Ben Browning, Adam Goldworm, Nobu Iizuka, Yosuke Nakamura, Lisa Richardson, Tom Rowe

Starring Daniel Gilles, Ryo Ishibashi, Miho Ninagawa, Ethan Amis

Genre: Horror

DVD distributor: Starz Home Entertainment/Anchor Bay

Website: Buy it here

Rating: Not rated

Running time: 81 minutes

On paper, Showtime’s Masters Of Horror looks like a great idea. An anthology series, free from the constraints of network television, that promised to bring together some of the biggest directors in horror seemed almost too good to be true. And it often was, as even the most ambitious and creative filmmaker can be hampered by budgetary restraints, low production values, and the fact that everything at Showtime still smells like Poltergeist: The Legacy. Nevertheless, there were as many excellent episodes as there were disappointments in the series, which has been released in its entirety by Anchor Bay/Starz Entertainment.

The final episode of the second season, Dream Cruise falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. It’s not a stand-out episode, but by no means is it a failure. It’s a solid workhorse that gets the job done with little in the way of cosmetic flourishes. Directed by Ring 0’s Noria Tsuruta, the film is essentially an issue of Tales From The Crypt haunted by one of those Japanese ghosts with the scary hair.   Daniel Gilles plays Jack Miller, an American lawyer in Japan, who takes a boat cruise with a client and his wife, who Miller happens to be sleeping with. Naturally, social interactions quickly become a little strained, but thankfully people start trying to kill each other before things degenerate to Meet The Parents levels of awkwardness. Then the ghost shows up, and it’s one of those spirits so vengeful they sort of lose track of who they hate and why, targeting not only their killer, but the killer’s friends, and people who have the same initials and maybe the copy-writer who spelled their name wrong in the obituary.

Dream Cruise never really takes off, grounded perhaps by the stilted and heavy performance by lead actr Gilles. Director Tsuruta plays with the claustrophobia of the set well, and approaches the supernatural elements of the story obliquely, as opposed to focusing on jolts and cheap scares, which lets the story breathe nicely and gives the film a dreamlike quality. But there’s nothing about the script that really makes anyone stand up and take notice, which lends to a general feeling of malaise, despite a game and energetic performance by Naoya Takayam as the adulterous wife. Still, though Dream Cruise is not perfect, it’s proof that the series has potential, and quite a bit of room to grow.

Rating: 6 on 10

alkratina@comicbookbin.com