Directed by Norio Tsuruta, and scripted by Brendan Willis from
an original story by Koji Suzuki, the author of the original Ring stories, Dream Cruise brings an international flavor to Showtime’s well
regarded Masters of Horror series. While a bit of the plotting is lost in
translation, and hardcore J-horror audiences might find this spare treatment
somewhat lacking, fans of the aforementioned anthology cycle will likely spark
to this tonal curveball, coming as it does with such an easy-to-swallow set-up.
As a kid, businessman Jack Miller (Daniel Gillies, of Captivity)
was unable to save his younger brother from drowning in a boating accident, and
since that time he’s understandably had some trepidation about water and
returning to the ocean. While working in
an important client, Eiji Saito (Audition’s
Ryo Ishibashi), invites Jack on a boat trip along with his wife Yuri (Yoshino
Kamura). Jack swallows his fear and accepts, but does so cautiously, as he happens
to be having an affair with Yuri. Jack doesn’t know if Eiji’s invitation is coincidence,
a passive-aggressive method of confrontation, or a harbinger of something more
sinister. It turns out to be a bit of both B) and C), actually, as Eiji has a
secret from his past that rises from the sea and wreaks havoc on the ship-stuck
trio.
Coolly shot in green-and-blue-tinted fashion by Tetsuro Sano,
doesn’t stray too far from Suzuki’s more famous story, with the debts for bygone
misdeeds getting paid out in the form of creepy, ethereal retribution. Gillies is more effective here than in Captivity and Tsuruta conveys menacing mood in fairly compelling fashion,
which helps cover a few plot holes. Still, the movie is hamstrung somewhat by the fact
Ishibashi and Kamura aren’t allowed to work in their native tongues.
Housed in a regular Amray case in turn stored in a cardboard
slipcover, Dream Cruise is, like all
its brethren, presented in a solid, 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Flesh
tones are constant, the movie’s blacks are deep and consistent, and only a few
mild problems with compression artifacts exist. Well-produced Dolby digital 5.1
surround sound and Dolby digital 2.0 stereo tracks anchor the audio
presentations, with the former being the top choice. Animated menus give way to
probably the most interesting bonus feature — an audio commentary track from Gillies
and series producer Mick Garris, who talk up the production as a sort of
cultural exchange experiment. There’s also a 30-minute featurette that further
elucidates this challenge, by way of cast and crew interviews that essay tonal
dissection, on-set rehearsal material and other behind-the-scenes tidbits.
Nicely rounding things out are a still gallery of behind-the-scenes photos,
trailers for other episodes in the series and a DVD-ROM version of the movie’s
script.