Cruise Into Terror (1978 TV Movie) User Reviews

One of those goofy 70s disaster/adventure films

[AlsExGal · 5/10 · 13 May 2023]

I was expecting this TV movie to be another whodunit on the sea, but instead it's a bonkers mash-up of Love Boat, The Omen, and the Curse of King Tut's Tomb. Boat captain Hugh O'Brian takes a small assembly of passengers on a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico, only for things to go wrong when they dredge up a small, golden Egyptian sarcophagus from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

It seems that the sarcophagus contains the body of the Antichrist, born on the same day as Jesus nearly 2000 years ago, and left dormant by Egyptian sailors in Caribbean waters. Now the Antichrist is awakening, and all aboard the ship, and perhaps the entire world, are doomed! Featuring Ray Milland as an archaeologist, John Forsythe and Lee Meriwether as a minister and his wife, Frank Converse as a physicist, and Dirk Benedict as the ship's second mate.

The movie is unfortunately not nearly as fun as the description makes it out to be, although there are some good unintentional laughs to be had.

The Cursed Boat

[Vomitron_G · 5/10 · 24 October 2011]

Now this '70s made-for-TV film has a fun little bit of history to it. While at the time bigtime TV-producer Aaron Spelling was executive producer on the massively successful "The Love Boat" series, it seems as if he thought it would be a great idea to produce some made-for-TV movies with the same wonderful boat setting, only this time adding thriller & horror to the mix. One of those movies turned out to be "Cruise Into Terror", about a bunch of people - ranging from average tourists to a doctor/professor/historian - ending up on a cargo ship en voyage towards the coast of Mexico. Oddly enough, Dr. Isiah Bakkun (the historian) is convinced of the existence of a sunken Egyptian pyramid near the coast of Mexico; a pyramid containing a sarcophagus containing... the Son of Satan! No kidding. Bizarre incidents & near-death accidents start happening soon enough, like sudden shark attacks and all technology on board giving up on them. Their fun 2-day voyage seems doomed, for some reason. When the ship eventually ends up floating dead in the water, they suddenly find themselves right above the location of the sunken pyramid. Naturally, both the greediest passengers (there must be a hidden treasure, of course!) as well as Dr. Bakkun consider this the chance of a lifetime. So they dive, bring up the sarcophagus and with it they bring on board a great, ancient evil. This might all sound a bit more exciting than it actually turns out, though. But still, this peculiar TV-movie remains a fun watch. Good old Ray Milland - who plays Dr. Bakkun - is mumbling his articulated lines with some enthusiasm and a young Dirk Benedict - once again playing a ladies' man, while also being the ship's second-in-command - is also amongst the cast, so that adds to the fun. And the sarcophagus - clearly made out of rubber - is one truly malevolent artifact. Or well, maybe not all that menacing-looking, but the thing is pure evil. Fun watch, if nothing else.

The title is better than the movie

[myriamlenys · 4/10 · 29 February 2024]

The premise is this : after an encounter with an evil object, a pleasure cruise turns into a generalized mano-a-mano battle with the world, the flesh and the devil. It's an intriguing premise which, done well, could have resulted in an admirable horror movie. Sadly enough no one seems to have put a great deal of thought into the story and screenplay. Even a minimum of self-criticism would have uncovered the absurdity of finding an Egyptian tomb anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico.

That's right, the plot deals with people discovering a two-thousand-year-old Egyptian tomb on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. As ideas go, this one is dumber than a gym full of bodybuilders on steroids. One might as well make a movie about queen Marie-Antoinette falling to her death in the Grand Canyon as a result of an Inuit curse.

It is hard to escape the conclusion that "Cruise into terror" originated from a desire to do something - anything - with a number of available resources. ("Listen up gang, that ship is ours till May, so we've got two months left in which to make a ship-related movie. Espionage is passé, nobody would pay a cent in order to watch a medical drama about scurvy and we haven't got the budget for a musical extravaganza. Perhaps, dunno, a horror movie ? By the way, we've still got those 'Valley of the Kings' props lying around. Haven't used the damn things since 1965.")

"Cruise into terror" is also notable for featuring one of the most malleable and accommodating sea captains ever. When it comes to withstanding the wishes and suggestions of the passengers, this particular captain has about as much backbone as a piece of Turkish delight. Walk around in the engine room ? Why not, that's what cruises are made for ! Go scuba diving in unfamiliar waters ? Sure ! Organize an impromptu diving session during an unscheduled stop ? Okeydokey ! Disturb a centuries-old archaeological site ? Enjoy ! Recover a historically and culturally relevant artifact without any kind of official permit ? You're young only once !

So this is not the man to keep everybody on the straight and narrow. Had the ending taken a different direction, we might have seen our ship hoist the Jolly Roger and depart in search of lighthouses to attack.

Strangely enough "Cruise into terror" does have a certain campy, cheesy charm, perhaps due to the 1970's atmosphere. Or perhaps the movie proves that some actors, such as the great Ray Milland, are so superb that they can indeed make a silk purse out of a sow's ear...

Star Studded Cast Rescues Ship - Film At 11

[GTDMAC · 11 March 2003]

Seeing so many future and past TV and movie stars in this movie is a guilty pleasure at it's worst and an enjoyable nostalgic romp at it's best. With such TV icons as John Forsythe, Stella Stevens, Lee Meriwether, Hugh O'Brian adding to an all star cast that includes Ray Milland one would think the story would get lost in all that talent. Ok, it sort of does but let's face it, this is basically a 1/2 season's worth of "Love Boat" guests in a TV movie and not serious film by any stretch of the imagination. Regardless of how seriously one does take this movie it's still fun to see what was supposed to be serious horror turn into another episode of "Satan's Love Boat"! Enjoy!

"An Egyptian tomb at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico...sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?"

[moonspinner55 · 2/10 · 16 June 2017]

A handful of passengers and crew aboard a one-engine vessel in waters off the Gulf of Mexico are bedeviled by a cursed 2000-year old Egyptian sarcophagus brought up from a sunken pyramid in the depths. A resigned, somewhat beleaguered cast of old pros (including Hugh O'Brian, Lee Meriwether, Stella Stevens in a brunette wig, Ray Milland, John Forsythe as a priest, and the Georges--Christopher and Lynda Day) manage to get through the preliminaries and "Poseidon Adventure"-like character introductions without embarrassing themselves, but the underwater shots of swimmers combined with the "Jaws"-like music cues turns this TV-movie into instant camp. Aaron Spelling co-produced, perhaps as an antidote to his sticky-sweet "Love Boat" series.

In the Top 10 of Campy/Unintentionally Funny TV Movies

[rodharding · 1/10 · 9 May 2009]

I am watching it now on a commercial VHS tape I bought on ebay. It is so terribly bad it is hilarious! I just have one question: Did they make this movie thinking it was scary or as intentional camp? A commercial yacht cruising with 12 passengers and crew come upon an Egyptian sarcophagus off the coast of Mexico (uh, okay ...) and bring it aboard. Forget the "plot" is the subplots and the characters that are more entertaining and hilarious. John Forsythe as a loony preacher convinced the sarcophagus contains the son of Satan, and that it must have an evil guardian - one of the onboard passengers - but who? Lee Merriweather plays his wife. In public she dresses straight out of Little House on the Prairie complete with bonnet. Privately, she is so sexually frustrated when she's alone with her hair down she's always touching herself. "Oh to be loved and touched! Even lust is better than a life without love!" she tells her husband. Then she leaves her cabin, goes to the sarcophagus then walks in a trance to Frank Converse's, enters without knocking and strips. "You're the one, aren't you?" she asks. He replies "I'm whatever you want me to be." Then they screw. (Perhaps this is what Stella Stevens character means when she utters the buzz line of the movie "There is a devil, there is no doubt, but is he trying to get IN US, or trying to get out!") Next, Merriweather is seen wandering the halls of the ship speaking in tongues. Stella Stevens plays a horny divorcée in a really, REALLY bad wig and low cut outfits sticking her droopy boobs in everyone's face. "A lot of big stars in it?" A lot of has beens or also-rans, like the acting hack couple Christopher and Lynda Day George. Apparently Oscar-winner Ray Milland suffered some bad investments. Otherwise why would he appear in this pile of crap?

In Search of an Ancient Egyptian Sarcophagus Buried in the Gulf of Mexico

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 30 July 2019]

This film essentially revolves around an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus being transported 2000 years earlier across the Atlantic Ocean and then buried-in what is now the Gulf of Mexico-with the hope and expectation that whatever is inside of it will never see the light of day. With that in mind, the movie begins with the captain of a cargo ship being ordered to take several passengers from the United States to Cozumel where they will then be off-loaded at that time onto a much larger cruise ship. Although "Captain Andrews" (Hugh O'Brian) doesn't like the idea of transporting these passengers on a ship which is in bad need of repair, he ultimately relents and after charting a new course departs for his directed destination. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, while at sea the ship encounters all kinds of mechanical and weather related problems and as a result he decides to temporarily acquiesce to the passenger's request to set anchor right above the underwater Egyptian tomb which houses the sarcophagus. Naturally, being rather curious, the passengers all decide to ignore the warnings of their fellow passenger "Reverend Charles Mather" (John Forsythe) and follow the guidance of an archeologist by the name of "Dr. Isiah Bakkun" (Ray Milland) who advises that they search for the sarcophagus and-upon finding it-retrieve it at all costs. But what none of them count on is the actual cost each of them will have to pay. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a rather mediocre made-for-television movie which had a solid cast but suffered from a ludicrous plot and its generically edited format. Having said that, however, it still managed to be somewhat entertaining and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Featuring the, hands down, lamest and most pathetic "shark attack" sequence in the history of lame and pathetic shark attacks!

[Coventry · 3/10 · 26 October 2018]

"Cruise into Terror" comes with my warmest possible recommendation, but only in the unlikely event that you are deliberately looking for an occult thriller/horror film that is chock-full of utter nonsense! This made-for-television flick, produced by Aaron Spelling, contains so much senseless and imbecilic drivel that it's almost impossible to write a summary; - but here is an attempt anyway! The scenario raises the theory that the Ancient Egyptians discovered Mexico, and that they even laid the foundations for the Mayan culture. I tell you, it requires an experienced actor with a stoic and motionless straight face like Ray Milland to daresay claptrap like that! Furthermore, they want us to believe that the Antichrist (yes, the son of Satan) travels in a midget-sarcophagus from the US to Mexico and that there are pyramid tombs at the bottom of the ocean. Why drag in Satan and his offspring when you're dealing with Ancient Egyptians, by the way? What's wrong with bloodthirsty mummies, vengeful pharaohs or malignant Egyptian deities? So, 12 people are floating around on a ramshackle, retired cruise liner supposedly because the much better boat was overbooked. On board we meet a stereotypical group of travelers, including a reverend struggling with his beliefs (how very "Poseidon Adventure"), an estranged couple, two party girls, nagging women, an obsessive old scientist, a hunky deck officer/technician, a melancholic captain and a disposable black guy. Oh, and there's also a black cat. That's always a good idea to have on board of a cursed voyage! When they stumble upon the sarcophagus, most of the greedy passengers want to sell it to a museum and make money out of it, but the reverend insists to destroy it due to its unholy content. Just another exciting day on board of Aaron Spellings' secondhand Love Boat! The pacing is intolerably slow, and you can certainly tell it's a TV-movie by the complete lack of excitement or bloodshed. Whenever director Bruce Kessler does try to insert a bit of action, he fails miserably. Prime examples are the laughable cabin fire, where people simply stand motionless in between supposedly raging flames and the legendary dumb (to me, at least) shark attack. I know a thing or two about sharks, and this specimen is an average-sized Blue Shark. This species is almost entirely harmless and hardly what you can call menacing. There have been a few cases of Blue Sharks attacking humans, but they barely cause any damage. You also don't need to be an expert to see that the footage was added in separately. What tremendous good performances of the ensemble cast for looking so genuinely terrified at nothing!

Cruise Into Terror

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 16 May 2022]

Originally airing on February 3, 1978 on ABC, this movie has quite the cast: Dirk Benedict (who would appear on the network's Battlestar Galactica the same year), Frank Converse (who was also in 1981's Rankin-Bass movie, which was distributed by Aquarius Releasing, The Bushido Blade opposite an all-star cast that included Sonny Chiba, James Earl Jones, Mako, Toshiro Mifune and Laura Gemser), John Forsythe (Dynasty), Christopher George (Enter the Ninja), Lynda Day George (Pieces), Lee Meriwether (The Catwoman after Earth Kitt), Ray Milland (X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes), Hugh O'Brian (Ten Little Indians), Stella Stevens (The Manitou), Roger E. Mosley (Magnum P. I.) and Marshall Thompson (First Man Into Space).

It has what you expect on a cruise to terror: a ship brings aboard a sunken Egyptian sarcophagus which contains the son of Satan. Directed by Bruce Kessler and written by Michael Braverman, who created the show Life Goes On, this movie has Milland as an archaeologist who believes the Egyptians discovered America and Forsythe playing a religious man with a wife he's disengaging from, leaving her all alone as he struggles with his faith.

That said, it's also a TV movie and has a coffin that breathes, so there's that. It also has "Dies Irae" on the soudntrack two years before The Shining.

Good atmosphere piece. A shipboard giallo.

[davethecelt · 9/10 · 23 April 2004]

This picture was great fun back when I first saw it as a kid. Predating the spate of early 80's knife-kill flicks meant that 'Horror' as a genre still meant supernatural thriller when this picture was made, and it relies heavily on a taut atmosphere of suspicion and fear among the passengers for its shocks. There are few of the Hallowe'en style jolts that we associate with contemporary horror, in fact very little happens. Watching it again just a few years ago I was surprised that it still gave me chills from its tight, claustrophobic shooting and editing style in a way that good giallo thrillers do (and most giallo pictures, rather disappointingly do not). The writing and acting are standard made for TV disaster fare and the picture is less impressive if you focus on that. So turn the lights down, get some popcorn, turn a deaf ear to some of the shriekier dialogue and enjoy the film as a mood piece. And when the hair on your neck stands up, let it.

Cruise Into Terror- A pretty good whodunit!

[richard.fuller1 · 16 June 2001]

This was decent. Approximately ten or twelve people are on a cruise, a varied group, when the sarcophagus is found on board. I don't think they dragged it up from the ocean depths. Tragedy ensues. Among those on board are Forsythe and Lee Meriwether, rather interesting as a minister and his wife. Two women are also on board, one rather carefree, the other a bit bookwormish. The sarcophagus contains the offspring of the devil and breathes at the most inopportune moments. Forsythe reveals that when the son of the devil returns to the Earth, there will be ten to witness it. "But there are eleven of us here now," someone says. Exactly, the ten witnesses, . . . and the guardian of the child. Which one is it? Possessions are subtle, the destruction of the vessel is imminent and the survivors are racing for the lifeboat. Forsythe and Meriwether are a scream here as the ship sinks, and keep an eye out for the cat. Rather a change from usual movie animals. Haven't seen this in a while. Instead of John Forsythe, I thought the reverend was Harold Gould, who played Rhoda Morganstern's father on television's "Rhoda", but I knew Lee Meriwether was the reverend's wife.

There is a devil, there is no doubt ...

[mls4182 · 10/10 · 9 March 2021]

... But is he trying to get in us, or trying to get out?

An all (former) star cast in a hilarious camp classic. You won't be scared for a minute but you will chuckle quite a bit if you still have a sense of humor.

It's not great but I like it...

[shanakin · 6 September 2005]

Wow, I had not seen this movie in a long time and I found it at a video store and rented it for less than a buck. You can't go wrong for that. Anyway I remember seeing this as a kid in the 70's when it first aired and it freaked me out big time. (Spoiler alert) When the sarcophagus is breathing after they bring it on board the ship and with the weird Egyptian chanting I found myself that frightened little kid when I was 8 years old. I guess it would be laughable to many people but it still worked on me. Anyway overall the movie is not that bad you have a simple plot, it's not overly complicated and you have a lot of familiar actors from the 70's who always brought something to what ever they did. An just to mention you have some lovely young ladies running around in bathing suits how could you go wrong. It's great late night fare when you have nothing better to do.

A Line-Up Of Small And Big Screen Faces On A Suspenseful Voyage

[almeidamelitos · 8/10 · 28 January 2024]

This was great Grade B movie fun when it first premiered on the. ABC Friday Night Movie back in 1978. Right from the beginning you know the assortment of characters who have come together on the small vessel, named the Obeah(African Sorcery), instead of the usual cruise liner are in for more than the usual fun in the sun and leizure by the pool while sipping some concoction with a little umbrella. Add a few mishaps, an Egyptian artifact and a lot of Biblical references and suddenly the Obeah has become the center for the war between good and evil. It has some good dialogue without being too pretentious and the characters are all interesing enough as they wrestle with personal demons while at the same time taking on what is to be the biggest one of all. As the whole story takes place amidst a lot of empty water in the Gulf Of Mexico the perfect setting is created by having our players be disconnected from the rest of the world. That leads to any horror film's greatest standby---tense atmosphere. It's not a great film but it is enjoyable and by no means boring.

Do Not Disturb...

[azathothpwiggins · 7 July 2022]

In CRUISE INTO TERROR, an "all-star cast" sets off on a cruise through the Gulf of Mexico, only to be thrust into a life-threatening adventure into the unknown. Strange, near-fatal "coincidences" start happening.

Then, a cranky anthropologist (Ray Milland) wants to investigate a sacred tomb at the bottom of the Gulf, and the game is on! Things go from bad to worse, with supernatural occurrences aplenty. Annnd, there's a gale on the way!

Sort of like a haunted version of LOVE BOAT, this movie is a soggy cousin of HORROR AT 37,000 FEET. John Forsythe looks very stern and rants a lot as a preacher, while the beautiful Lee Meriwether tries her best to look frumpy as his frustrated wife. Christopher and Lynda Day George are also on board as a struggling married couple. The stunning Stella Stevens is a psychic divorcee, and Dirk Benedict is the First Mate.

This is guaranteed, top-of-the-line made-for-TV entertainment! Just make sure you watch out for that darned black cat!...