Screamboat (2025)

I went into Screamboat expecting a movie built around one joke: take the public-domain Steamboat Willie character, make him a killer, and hope the title sells a few tickets. I've watched enough horror movies with a ridiculous premise to know that sometimes there isn't much beyond that initial idea. I was surprised by how entertaining this one turned out to be.

It doesn't take itself seriously, and that is exactly the right decision. The movie embraces the gore and ridiculousness, with kills that are so exaggerated they're often funny. David Howard Thornton knows how to make a grotesque character entertaining through physical performance, so the casting makes sense. There is plenty of crude humor, but the filmmakers commit to the approach instead of apologizing for it.

The element that really won me over was how many references are worked into the story. It isn't simply a mouse costume and a boat. There are jokes about familiar characters, little visual details, and plenty of moments that reward people who know Disney history. Some of these are obvious, but others are tucked into the background. I enjoyed finding them, and I appreciated that someone put in the effort.

The movie is still a low-budget, over-the-top horror comedy, and I don't want to oversell it as something more sophisticated. The characters aren't going to stay with you because of their emotional depth. The story is mainly a vehicle for jokes and mayhem. What matters is whether it succeeds on those terms. For me, it mostly does.

Some people will be turned off by how crude and bloody it gets. Anyone expecting a family-friendly spin on an old cartoon should look elsewhere immediately. This is for horror fans who like a ridiculous premise and want to see it taken as far as possible.

I didn't expect Screamboat to end up among the more enjoyable films in this particular corner of public-domain horror. It did because it has a sense of humor, enough imagination to keep the premise moving, and an obvious affection for the references it's twisting. I had a surprisingly good time.

Screamboat was one of the last movies I expected to enjoy, and I ended up having a really good time with it. A killer version of Steamboat Willie sounds like it could go horribly wrong, and I wasn't exactly excited about seeing another childhood character turned into a slasher villain. This one surprised me because it knew how silly the idea was and actually had fun with it.

The biggest thing for me was the Disney references. There were characters dressed in ways that reminded me of Disney princesses, little jokes about familiar movies, and objects in the background that made me want to stop and look again. I liked noticing them throughout the movie. It felt like the filmmakers really knew the material they were playing with rather than just putting a famous mouse on a poster.

I also laughed more than I thought I would. The kills are bloody and completely over the top, but the movie makes them so ridiculous that I wasn't reacting the way I do to a really upsetting horror film. It was more of a gross-out comedy. I could watch the mayhem and laugh because nothing was pretending to be realistic.

That doesn't mean it's for everybody. There are crude jokes, lots of blood, and some moments that are just plain ridiculous. I wouldn't put it on for somebody who wants a cute Disney movie. I also wouldn't recommend it to anyone who gets upset by extreme slasher humor. You have to be in the right mood for this kind of thing.

What impressed me was that it kept finding ways to make the premise entertaining. It didn't feel like the whole movie was relying on one costume. The jokes and Easter eggs gave me things to enjoy even when I wasn't paying attention to who was going to get killed next.

I went in with low expectations, and I came away glad we'd watched it. Sometimes I want a movie to be funny, a little scary, and completely ridiculous without taking itself too seriously. Screamboat delivered that much better than I expected.