The film opens to shots of boats sailing as the credits play. After the credits we see a woman named Carol (Mara Modair) lying in a bed, topless no less! Less than five minutes in and we have female nudity, a reasonable start. She answers her bedside phone, it's her stepfather Dr. Jules Craig (John Hart) who is planning a boat trip to Hawaii and insists she comes along, especially if she wants to keep her wealthy lifestyle. Down at the docks everyone is introduced to each other. Mac (Pete Kellett) is the Captain, Scotty (Gene Tyburn) and Pete Nelson (Doug Hume) are the crew men, also going will be Jules fiancé Jill (Laurie Rose) and one of his patients Amy (Midori) who happens to be a drug addict. In passing Jules and Mac talk about a friend named Andy Mason (Jonathon Lippe) who has recently been discharged from the army after a stint in Vietnam, and that he is planning on stopping by before they set sail. That night someone without any socks or shoes on, no I don't know why, kills the crew member Pete Nelson with a meat cleaver. The next day when Pete doesn't turn up Mac and Jules decide to hire Andy as their second crew member. They set sail for Hawaii and everything seems great as they sail the open seas and enjoy the bright warm sun overhead. However it's not long before things take a turn for the worse as that night Mac is murdered by someone again with a meat cleaver and is thrown overboard. His disappearance isn't noticed by anyone until the next morning when by that time they are miles off course. Everyone thinks he fell overboard by accident and are somewhat unconcerned. They find out that the radio has been sabotaged and they cannot contact anyone. But when the second crew member Scotty is stabbed in the back it becomes clear there is a murderer amongst them. Is it Jules stepdaughter Carol, who resents Jules because he controls her life and money? Is it Andy who keeps 'hearing voices' in his head? Is it Amy the drug addicted patient who says she'll do anything for a fix? Or is it someone else with even darker motives? Watch it and find out! Directed by Frank Mitchell this plays like a Saturday afternoon T.V. murder mystery rather than a straight horror that the title Blood Voyage might lead you to think. And to be fair to those involved it ain't all that bad, it's not brilliant but's not bad. The script by William Tate and Jim Patton is quite good and should keep you guessing as everyone seems to have a reason to kill, even if the killers motives when there eventually revealed are a little silly and still somewhat unclear. It's only 73 minutes long so it moves a fair pace and doesn't outstay it's welcome. There isn't much gore in it, the Captain is killed with a meat cleaver and there is a bit of blood in this scene but otherwise it's a pretty bloodless film. There is a bit of nudity, including full frontal if that sort of thing interests you. Overall I thought it was a decent watch that maintained my interest throughout and nowhere as near as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's not perfect by any means as some of the acting isn't great and it's sometimes a little rough around the edges in a technical sense. Worth a watch if you can catch it on T.V. or buy/rent it cheap, although that may be difficult as by all accounts it's a rather obscure rarity and the VHS version I have which I brought from eBay is over 20 years old.
9 Reviews
'The most gruesome voyage in maritime history' Nowhere near as bad as I thought it was going to be.
poolandrews19 December 2004
Warning: Spoilers
All aboard for bloodshed!
Coventry4 August 2023
You don't necessarily need to be Stephen Hawking to know upfront that "Blood Voyage" isn't going to be a great masterpiece of cinema. And yet, I - for one - cannot be very harsh for a flick that is A) a slasher-movie that came out before the slasher genre became immensely popular, B) features a uniquely claustrophobic and original setting aboard a yacht in the Pacific Ocean, and C) stars three incredibly gorgeous leading ladies that all willingly go topless!
The plot cannot be simpler. On their way to a tropical Hawaiian wedding by yacht, a group of four tourists and three crew-members are confronted with a vicious meat cleaver-wielding maniac. The culprit must be one of them, and there are a few obvious suspects, like a girl with a background of mental illnesses and a Vietnam veteran who keeps hearing voices in his head. That's it! Of course, there's a bit of additional intrigue and attempts to mislead the viewer, but it's plain obvious we're only watching this for the kills and the nudity. Actresses Laurie Rose and Midori still have a minimum of acting skills, but this girl named Mara Modair was clearly just cast for her luscious curves and measurements.
Final footnote: what I personally find even more fascinating than the film is the story behind its director Frank Mitchell. Apparently, he had been an actor since the silent movie era already and starred in nearly one hundred films. Only at the very end of his career he suddenly decided to take place in the director's seat. For a horror movie, moreover, which is a genre he never acted in. "Blood Voyage" was also his only effort as a director.
The plot cannot be simpler. On their way to a tropical Hawaiian wedding by yacht, a group of four tourists and three crew-members are confronted with a vicious meat cleaver-wielding maniac. The culprit must be one of them, and there are a few obvious suspects, like a girl with a background of mental illnesses and a Vietnam veteran who keeps hearing voices in his head. That's it! Of course, there's a bit of additional intrigue and attempts to mislead the viewer, but it's plain obvious we're only watching this for the kills and the nudity. Actresses Laurie Rose and Midori still have a minimum of acting skills, but this girl named Mara Modair was clearly just cast for her luscious curves and measurements.
Final footnote: what I personally find even more fascinating than the film is the story behind its director Frank Mitchell. Apparently, he had been an actor since the silent movie era already and starred in nearly one hundred films. Only at the very end of his career he suddenly decided to take place in the director's seat. For a horror movie, moreover, which is a genre he never acted in. "Blood Voyage" was also his only effort as a director.
Not really grindhouse
artpf21 October 2013
What is meant to be a pleasure cruise becomes a nightmare as murder follows murder on a small ship.
With tension mounting, passengers and the crew turn on each other in a desperate attempt to identify the killer.
The version I saw was off a video tape from a British print and rated X. Not sure why. Right off the bat, it opens with a well endowed topless and silver haired cutie. The music is bizarre and sort of like porn music. I think today it could be rated PG-13
There's a good dose of hot chick nudity or bikini sprinkled throughout in fact. And don't miss the Asian girl licking a hot dog and then putting it back on the platter! Huh?
The film takes its time to get going. It sort of reminded me of I Spit on your Grave in the sense that it builds the suspense and you know something is going to happen.
Only not very much really happens! The problem with the movie is that it's done more like a mystery movie than a slasher film. But the last 10 minutes are hysterical!
Interestingly the guy who directed this was a one shot director, but he had been an actor in Hollywood since 1920!
With tension mounting, passengers and the crew turn on each other in a desperate attempt to identify the killer.
The version I saw was off a video tape from a British print and rated X. Not sure why. Right off the bat, it opens with a well endowed topless and silver haired cutie. The music is bizarre and sort of like porn music. I think today it could be rated PG-13
There's a good dose of hot chick nudity or bikini sprinkled throughout in fact. And don't miss the Asian girl licking a hot dog and then putting it back on the platter! Huh?
The film takes its time to get going. It sort of reminded me of I Spit on your Grave in the sense that it builds the suspense and you know something is going to happen.
Only not very much really happens! The problem with the movie is that it's done more like a mystery movie than a slasher film. But the last 10 minutes are hysterical!
Interestingly the guy who directed this was a one shot director, but he had been an actor in Hollywood since 1920!
All Hands On Dreck...
azathothpwiggins16 November 2021
BLOOD VOYAGE (aka: NIGHTMARE VOYAGE) is a semi-entertaining thriller about a group of friends, including what was known at the time as "a bevy of bodacious babes", who all set sail for Hawaii.
Unbeknownst to our seafaring heroes, a mad killer is among them. In no time, someone uses a cleaver to start dicing up the crew. As the story progresses, various motives and red herrings are revealed.
WARNING: This film contains scenes of pot and heroin use, as well as big boobs and even bigger sideburns!...
Unbeknownst to our seafaring heroes, a mad killer is among them. In no time, someone uses a cleaver to start dicing up the crew. As the story progresses, various motives and red herrings are revealed.
WARNING: This film contains scenes of pot and heroin use, as well as big boobs and even bigger sideburns!...
Bland and dull
acidburn-1024 October 2011
The plot = 8 people set sail on a luxury yacht among them a wealthy doctor, his money grabbing step daughter, his young and beautiful wife and Amy one the doctor's patients an attractive oriental drug addict, along with 2 crewmen one of which was in Vietnam and has recurring nightmares and a captain, and it's not long before the captain jumps ship (literary) and it soon becomes a nightmare voyage.
I came across this movie one day at a car boot sale, priced at 50p although it was titled "Nightmare Voyage", and I was immediately drawn to it, but when I finally got round to seeing it, I was sorely disappointed, for a start the blood title is very misleading as there is absolutely not a drop in sight, (well barely), and none of the passengers are remotely likable or can act, the actress who plays the step daughter looks more like she could be the doctors wife and he awful blonde wig does all her terrible acting for her.
For a start it looks as if there was no effort put into this movie whatsoever, so cheaply shot that you can't even see whats going on and plus the killer was so obvious from the get go, just read the back of the video, and the constant nudity was just added in to pad out running time and a desperate attempt to salvage this mess which sadly it doesn't.
All in all an awful mess of a movie, with boring unimaginative murders and equally uninteresting characters.
I came across this movie one day at a car boot sale, priced at 50p although it was titled "Nightmare Voyage", and I was immediately drawn to it, but when I finally got round to seeing it, I was sorely disappointed, for a start the blood title is very misleading as there is absolutely not a drop in sight, (well barely), and none of the passengers are remotely likable or can act, the actress who plays the step daughter looks more like she could be the doctors wife and he awful blonde wig does all her terrible acting for her.
For a start it looks as if there was no effort put into this movie whatsoever, so cheaply shot that you can't even see whats going on and plus the killer was so obvious from the get go, just read the back of the video, and the constant nudity was just added in to pad out running time and a desperate attempt to salvage this mess which sadly it doesn't.
All in all an awful mess of a movie, with boring unimaginative murders and equally uninteresting characters.
BLOODLESS Voyage!
The_Void7 February 2007
Obviously, you can't go into a completely obscure and very cheap film like this and expect anything other than crap; but even though crap is exactly what I got, I still have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed. Maybe it's because the plot has the potential to be good; I mean, it doesn't get much more claustrophobic than a yacht out in the middle of the ocean and many films have proved that a murder mystery is a more than adequate backbone for a horror film...but this one doesn't want to take the ball and run with it. The plot is purely mundane despite the ingenuity of the setting, and simply follows a bunch of murders on a pleasure cruise. Naturally, the remaining cruisers want to know who's committing the murders, and this curiosity leads them to turn on one another. Director Frank Mitchell (unsurprisingly, his only credit as director) fails to generate any intrigue through the atmosphere and doesn't manage to pull a good performance out of anyone in the film. The plot moves at snail pace and despite the fact that this is supposed to be a murder themed horror movie - there's only one scene that features blood in the entire movie! And you hardly get to see anything anyway! On the plus side, the film is completely undemanding and very short...but its definitely not worth seeing.
Very low budget. Very rubbish acting. Good movie though.
The Yeti28 June 2001
This so called 'Crime thriller' is really a horror film about a small ship with a murderer on board. 7 people sailing to Hawaii (all lunatics who can't act if you ask me) have difficulty getting there when the crew start disappearing. They are in fact being murdered by someone on the ship. Everyone is a potential killer, especially when money comes into question. Soon the crew are fighting to survive as they keep being killed one by one. Acting is bad, killings are stupid but the film is fun to watch. Enjoy?
Murders on luxury yacht.
HumanoidOfFlesh17 September 2012
A small group of people is sailing on yacht to Hawaii for a wedding.Among them is the killer wielding meat-cleaver who promptly starts killing everyone else.Who is he/she?What is his/her motive?Pretty forgettable proto-slasher flick with almost zero horror but plenty of nudity.There is a bit of blood and two gory meat-cleaver killings.The acting is bad,the editing is jumpy and the characters are unlikable and one-dimensional."Blood Voyage" lacks suspense and scares but it's still watchable enough for fans of 70's low-budget horror.The acting is better than expected and I must say that I enjoyed cynical surprise ending.6 bloody yachts out of 10.
'Blood Voyage' is a yacht better B-slasher than the neg-heads would have you believe!
Weirdling_Wolf25 February 2024
Ahoy, matey's!!! Expect far more than the ship's mainbrace to get spliced on this ill-fated pleasure cruise to Hawaii! There's titillating T & A and hot snatches of gore, in Frank Mitchel's cult 70s psycho slasher 'Blood Voyage'. The 1st seafaring slasher has groovy-looking 70s chicks, hirsute alpha dudes, soapy Agatha Crispy theatrics, and salty seamen! Forget about turgid landlubber, Mike Myers, this sinisterly ship-stalking shipmate is where its at! With the directors hand's rock steady at the tiller, this bracingly brine-lashed, bikini-splashed blood-spiller is a killer diller! Not one for the anchors that poo-poo vintage Grindhouse goodness, as 'Blood Voyage' is a yacht better B-slasher than the neg-heads would have you believe.
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