Five thriller films set on boats, from Nicole Kidman turn that got Tom Cruise’s attention to Kung Fu Cannibals, Philippine-set genre buster
- Airport meets The Towering Inferno in The Poseidon Adventure, and Peter Ustinov plays Hercule Poirot in Death on the Nile, both star-studded studio blockbusters
- Then there is Crazed Fruit – a seaborne Rebel Without A Cause – and Kidman and Sam Neill as grieving parents in stripped-down survival thriller Dead Calm
1. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Few things are more hazardous than the buffet on a cruise ship, even before the time of Covid-19. With a respectful salute to the crew and passengers of the Titanic, perhaps the most exciting disaster movie ever to raise anchor is The Poseidon Adventure.
Moored squarely between Airport (1970) and The Towering Inferno (1974), Ronald Neame’s seaborne thrill ride sends a deck-load of Hollywood’s best and brightest into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on New Year’s Eve, where they are broadsided by a giant tidal wave that flips the ship upside down.
Gene Hackman plays the unorthodox minister who becomes the reluctant leader of a small group of survivors including Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, and Roddy McDowall, who must navigate the bowels of the inverted liner.
A smash hit at the time of release, the film was presented with a special Academy Award for its visual effects, and won another for its theme song. It remains a high-water mark in producer Irwin Allen’s illustrious career.
2. Death on the Nile (1978)
An all-star cast makes for the relatively calmer waters of Egypt’s Nile delta in John Guillermin’s lavish adaptation of Agatha Christie’s perennial bestseller. Peter Ustinov makes the first of many appearances as the great Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who finds himself aboard a luxurious river cruise where murder most foul interrupts the days of sun-scorched sightseeing.
Lois Chiles, who would go on to play a Bond girl in Moonraker the following year, is the wealthy heiress found dead in her cabin, while heavyweights Mia Farrow, Maggie Smith, Bette Davis and David Niven are among the rogues’ gallery of potential suspects.