Screamboat is streaming on Peacock. It was theatrically released on April 2, 2025.
By Elazar Abrahams
As we approach the end of the year, I find myself with a large backlog of articles that still need to be written. See, I got married this September, and while 2025 has been incredible because of that, it also meant that TV and City took a backseat. That’s valid, but there’s so much great entertainment out there that deserves to be shared with our readers. On top of that, I also accepted advanced screeners and press tickets for a number of projects. Those perks come with the expectation that this site will be covering them, and I feel quite bad about that. Many of the shows and movies have long since premiered, and the theatrical productions closed as scheduled. Still, it feels only right to sit down, put pen to paper (or keyboard to screen, rather) and get these pieces out into the world. May 2026 bring more great times and excuses, and more good art into all our lives.
One of the first reviews that I fell behind on was this little horror flick called Screamboat, which isn’t my usual genre of choice, but it caught my eye due to being a twisted reimagining of the 1928 animated short Steamboat Willie, the first appearance of Mickey Mouse, which is now in the public domain. Too funny a concept to pass up.
And I dug Screamboat. I’m not ashamed to admit that.
This is basically a bottle horror movie set on the Staten Island Ferry, a contained slasher where the location does a lot of heavy lifting. You get cramped corridors, locked doors, and that uniquely grim late-night NYC vibe where everyone looks a little tired and a little annoyed. The movie understands that immediately and leans into the claustrophobia, instead of pretending it has the budget to be anything bigger.
The other selling point is the gore. Screamboat goes way over the top with it, which will either be a draw or a dealbreaker. For me, it mostly worked because the movie commits. It is not doing tasteful A24 horror. It is doing “how gross can we make this without the audience walking out.” Your mileage may vary.
A big reason the film works is David Howard Thornton. If you know him as Art the Clown from the Terrifier movies, you already get the appeal. He is just really good at playing a silent, physical menace who feels like a cartoon character and a nightmare at the same time. Even when the movie around him looks cheap, he does not. He brings a clarity to the villainy that makes the whole thing feel more confident, like the film knows exactly what kind of ride it wants to be.
Screamboat has a surprisingly fun touch with its nods to Disney history. It is not just winking at Steamboat Willie. It is tossing in little background gags and visual references that make the concept feel more playful than cynical. The best example is a drunk girl group dressed like different Disney princesses, which is the exact kind of stupid, clever detail that makes a midnight movie pop.
To be clear, this is still very low-budget. The acting is not great, and there are scenes where you can feel the production stretching to reach feature length. You are not watching this for prestige performances or sophisticated dialogue. You are watching because the premise is ridiculous, the setting is specific, and the movie is willing to be nasty.
The pleasant surprise is that it is also better than the recent wave of public domain horror cash-ins. If you have been burned by some of those “childhood icon but evil” movies that feel like they were filmed in a weekend like Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Screamboat has more energy, more texture, and a clearer sense of what it wants to deliver. It is not reinventing slashers, but it is competent in a way that a lot of these projects are not.
I give Screamboat a B.
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