Dead Calm (film)

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Dead Calm
Dead Calm poster
Directed by	Phillip Noyce
Produced by	Terry Hayes George Miller Doug Mitchell
Written by	Charles Williams (novel) Terry Hayes
Starring	Sam Neill Nicole Kidman Billy Zane
Music by	Graeme Revell
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	April 7, 1989 U.S. release
Running time	96 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Dead Calm is a 1989 thriller film starring Sam Neill, Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. It was based on the 1963 novel of the same name by Charles Williams, the film was directed by Australian filmmaker Phillip Noyce and filmed in the Great Barrier Reef.

[edit] Plot

A troubled couple, Australian naval officer John Ingram (Neill) and his wife Rae (Kidman) take a break on a yacht in the Pacific after a family tragedy. Their holiday turns into a nightmare after rescuing an even more troubled stranger, Hughie Warriner (Zane), a man who claims to have lost his companions to food poisoning.

In attempt to find answers, John travels onto the sinking ship from which Hughie was rescued. Upon his arrival John discovers that Hughie's original story was not so true. John finds the bodies, that were obviously murdered. Also, it is revealed that Hughie was the cameraman in a low-budget porn film, during which he lost mental control and murdered the director and two women involved. Now knowing the truth John rushes back to his yacht to save Rae.

Meanwhile on the Ingram yacht, Rae sees and troubled John across the water yelling for her to get off the boat. The unconcious Hughie regains conciousness, breaks out of his room in which he was locked, turns on the boat's motor, and knocks Rae out before she can escape. Afterwards, John returns to the sinking ship to try to catch up to his boat, and save Rae.

After a slight delay spent emptying the ship of water, John is able to start the ship's motor and start his gradual chase. Meanwhile, Rae awakens to find Hughie piloting the ship. She attempts (unsuccessfully) to convince him to go back for John, which he refuses due since he told John to not get on the ship. She then goes down below and waits for help. Eventually she recieves morse-code contact from John, telling her to stop the yacht. She takes out the engine keys to stop the yacht from further escape. Hughie soon realizes Rae's attempt and tries to stop her. She eventually tosses the keys into the ocean, unfortunatly her dog dives into the ocean and recovers them (thinking she was playing fetch). Thus, preventing any chances of stopping the yacht.

Rae is sullen by her failed attempts, so she waits below in her room. A wanting Hughie comes below and begins to seduce Rae. Rae acquiesces, formulating a plan to kill Hughie. They quickly undress on the ground, and begin having sex when Rae asks to go above for a moment. Onboard, she begins to load John's shotgun, when the dog begins to bark, causing John to come up out of suspicion. He is relieved when she brings out the cigarettes which she claimed to being going up for. He is flattered when she immediatly continues from where they left off. They go to John and Rae's bedroom where they climax as the family dog looks on.

While John continues to search for Rae, the ship's mast falls over, covering the exit hatch and trapping him in the sinking yacht. However, he still continues driving the boat until it no longer works. As the room floods completely, he grabs a small tube and sticks it out of the hatch, allowing him to breathe. Suddenly, he sees fish inside the ship and realizes there must be a hole. He finds it and breaks out of the ship. He sets the sinking ship on fire to singal for help. Meanwhile Rae is able to wound Hughie (and accidentally kill the dog) with a harpoon gun. She releases a rescue raft from the yacht, pushes Hughie's body into it, and watches him float away. Rae then pilots the ship in an attempt to reunite with John. She eventually finds him in a raft next to his signal fire.

Soon after, the couple are once again happy (Rae never revealing her time with Hughie). She is swimming in the ocean as John looks on. Rae climbs back on the boat and sits as John soothingly washes her hair with his hands. She closes her eyes in pleasure. John leaves for a moment. Suddenly a pair of bloody hands (obviously Hughie's) begin washing Rae's hair, she soon discovers it is not John washing her. She begins to scream for help, and John quickly grabs a flare gun. He fires it into Hughie's mouth and he falls off of the ship.

[edit] External links

• Dead Calm at the Internet Movie Database

Cinema of Australia
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