Screamboat (2025)

-Written by Kyle Bain. 

The beloved Steamboat Willie has been seen in households around the world for nearly one hundred years. His charisma has brought joy to children and adults alike, inspiring memorabilia, clothing, and more. Screamboat takes that character and alters his personality into something much darker and more cynical. This mouse means business, prepared to murder anyone in his way. A bloodbath is sure to ensue–and only the strong will survive. 

I feel that I can say, with certainty, that at no point did Writer Matthew Garcia-Dunn and Writer-Director Steven LaMorte take Screamboat too seriously. They know the type of horror film they were attempting to create, and they are aware of the reception it was sure to get after its release. With that, they lean heavily into the campy aspects of their film, creating something beautifully bad–but perfectly acceptable among fans of the horror genre. 

Shallow dialogue, poor character development, subpar costume design, etc. are all prominently featured in Screamboat, and I’d venture to say that anyone willing to sit down to watch this film has no issue with it whatsoever. This film is about one thing and one thing only: creating a killer out of a beloved children’s icon. This is achieved in the first five minutes of the film, setting the stage for more gruesome murders along the way, and enticing that niche group of horror fandom that enjoys this sort of thing. 

Is Screamboat a film that I would have gone out of my way to see? More than likely that answer is no. However, having been given the opportunity to watch the film, I saw no reason at all to avoid it. It checks all the boxes of what it wants to be, and that ultimately makes it a success. Screamboat is drowning in blood, and with the body count reaching insane levels, the film fits nicely into the slasher subgenre. Interestingly enough, there are people out there that find pleasure in watching films that are filled with gratuitous blood, and that’s exactly what this film intends to be, and is. It knows its audience, and it greatly appeals to them. 

Screamboat is certainly not my cup of tea, though it does some things that, as a fan of Disney, I can appreciate. While the costumes are minimalistic, there are many that are meant to represent a series of Disney princesses, and that provides a sense of levity in a film full of death. Additionally, the occasional throw away line mirrors something said by Walt Disney or one of his many beloved characters. Screamboat pays homage to its source(s), and provides viewers that don’t love the standard slasher flick something to appreciate. 

If I haven’t already been clear, Screamboat is incredibly successful in its venture. It knows it won’t win awards, it knows not to take itself too seriously–and LaMorte and Garcia-Dunn stick to what they know will work. That, however, doesn’t make Screamboat a good film. Again, the film is plagued by inadequacies that make it a challenging watch for anyone not there just for the bloodbath. Screamboat simply is what it is, nothing more, nothing less. 

Directed by Steven LaMorte. 

Written by Matthew Garcia-Dunn & Steven LaMorte. 

Starring Allison Pittel, Jesse Posey, David Howard Thorton, Kailey Hyman, Sarah Kopkin, etc. 

5/10 = WORTH WATCHING, BUT YOU’VE BEEN WARNED