SCREAMBOAT (2025)

Advance Review from Deskpop Entertainment!
Recently played in select theaters!
Directed/Written by Steven LaMorte.
Check out the trailer here!!

A group of New Yorkers, including a gaggle of party gals who resemble Disney princesses, take a routine ride on the Staten Island Ferry. But on this night, a 90 year old creature has been awakened in the bowels of the ship and a diminutive but deadly mouse named Willie (played by TERRIFIER’s Art the Clown David Howard Thornton) stalks the ship with a lust for blood and carnage.

I had a chance to see an advance showing of SCREAMBOAT, the most high profile of the Steamboat Willie public domain films and while I can’t say this is a movie that will blow your mind with bold new ideas, but I found myself pleasantly surprised at how entertaining the whole thing turned out to be. Out of all of the Steamboat Willie knockoffs, this one actually uses some imagination with Willie and also, in its own sick way, honors the classic cartoon and Disney as a whole. One of the things that frustrated me about a lot of these films is that not a lot of interesting ideas are plumbed from the source material. In SCREAMBOAT, Willie isn’t just a killer in a mouse mask. This Willie is actually mouse sized and that simple detail actually makes things a whole lot more interesting. Sure seeing anyone in a mask covered in blood is going to make you pause, but seeing a ten-inch man-shaped mouse walking around with a grimace and a murderous rage is a whole notha level of creepy.

Yes, Willie looks a little goofy in his furry costume, but just as Thornton’s Art the Clown takes sadistic glee in taking people apart piece by piece, Thornton delivers another fun pantomime performance as the sneering mini-monster who whistles while he works weapons into the heads and hearts of all on board his ferry. Now, I can’t say that I was ever scared while watching SCREAMBOAT, but this was fast paced and there were tons of gory scenes of mouse on passenger violence. It’s not TERRIFIER levels of gruesome depravity, but the blood does indeed floweth here.

But what really impressed me was the effort put into the script to incorporate the history of the Steamboat Willie cartoon in creative ways. SCREAMBOAT treats the cartoon as if it actually occurred. Time was taken to make a cohesive story involving a man named Walt D., mad science and a rat. It’s a tragic story where that rat was trapped in the engine room of the ferry for all of this time. Of course, when finally released, that rat is going to be pissed. Not the most complex motivation, but at least they are putting some thought into motivation and backstory. It’s more than a lot of the other films have done. SCREAMBOAT is also littered with winks and nods to Disney lore. His victims are wearing modern versions of the Disney princess costumes. Lines are swiped straight from cartoons and popular Disney songs. While the danger is dire and there is quite a body count, this attention to where Steamboat Willie came from made the whole thing more entertaining.

While watching SCREAMBOAT, I was reminded of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 8: JASON GOES TO MANHATTAN. Now, that movie is no monument of good filmmaking, but it is a fun movie I’ve returned to numerous times. SCREAMBOAT is that level of movie. It’s definitely gorier than JASON GOES TO MANHATTAN and even makes a little more sense. I mean, Jason teleporting and toxic sludge in the sewers? What the hell? SCREAMBOAT is better than that. I know that’s a low bar to hurdle, but out of those two slasher films set on a boat, I think I’ll choose SCREAMBOAT. And that’s something with me being a huge fan of the Friday the 13th series.

SCREAMBOAT is fun. Plain and simple. It accomplishes what few of the other Steamboat Willie films have. Quite simply, it was entertaining and actually tried a bit to be more than just a killer in a mask flick. It also delivers the gore and Thornton makes another decent turn as an iconic slasher. All of that and there’s a respect for the original cartoon that I don’t think the others have.

So those were five new Steamboat Willie horror films. I doubt any of them are going to be showing up on my list of best horror films of the year, but some had merit. THE MOUSE TRAP had promise and was first out of the gate with the concept, but its script was all over the place. Same goes for the tame and by-the-numbers MOUSE OF HORRORS. If you’re looking for grindhouse grit and grime, I HEART WILLIE is the one to check out. It’s the one that made me feel the filthiest after watching, which is indeed a compliment. The scariest of the bunch was the splattery MOUSEBOAT MASSACRE with a Michael Myers-esque whistling Mickey Mouse. And SCREAMBOAT proved to be the only one who seemed to take some time with the plot and honored the original cartoon, which truly sets it apart from the rest. While I don’t want to be a horror prude, I will say that I wish more thought was put into these public domain properties. Simply making them a slasher is not enough. Next time on Public Domain Horrors, I’ll be checking out the various versions of Popeye next as there’s been a flurry of those films released as well. See you then!