Dead Calm Question (spoilers)

Daniel K. Appelquist

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Apr 27, 1989, 3:01:02 PM4/27/89

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I liked this movie a lot. It was really suspenseful, the cinematography was
supurb and the acting was good. I have one question though and I was
wondering if anyone had paid close enough attention to the movie to figure out
the answer: Did Hewey (sp? - the psycho) actually kill the people on the other
boat? From the video-tape that we only see short clips from, it looks a lot
like the older photographer (whose corpse we see in the space under the floor of
the engine room) was the real psycho. Late in the film, the video-tape is
playing in the background and we hear Hewey's voice saying "So that's it! The
great war-photographer has to find something to do after the war is over so he
hacks up women..." or something to tha effect.

Am I just confused? Who killed the people on the boat?

Dan A.

Stan Ciesielski

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Apr 28, 1989, 1:08:46 PM4/28/89

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In article <UYJqBiy00Xo=A_o...@andrew.cmu.edu>, da...@andrew.cmu.edu (Daniel K. Appelquist) writes:
Did Hewey (sp? - the psycho) actually kill the people on the other
> boat? From the video-tape that we only see short clips from, it looks a lot
> like the older photographer (whose corpse we see in the space under the floor of
> the engine room) was the real psycho. Late in the film, the video-tape is
> playing in the background and we hear Hewey's voice saying "So that's it! The
> great war-photographer has to find something to do after the war is over so he
> hacks up women..." or something to tha effect.
>
> Am I just confused? Who killed the people on the boat?
>
> Dan A.

I'm pretty sure that Huey killed all the people on the boat. I
remember in the video's Huey started arguing with the older photographer
and towards the end of the video the fights got pretty serious. This
is why I believe he killed them. He also kept saying they wouldn't
listen to him and they started fighting amongst themeselves. So being
the psycho he was, he killed all of them. The movie was great though.

Bill Gates

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Apr 28, 1989, 2:41:37 PM4/28/89

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spoilers ahead:

>I liked this movie a lot. It was really suspenseful, the cinematography was
>supurb and the acting was good.

Yeah, I liked it, too. I went to it without knowing anything about what I was
going to see - was it a monster flick, a murder-mystery, what? Were there no
advertisements for this film?

>Am I just confused? Who killed the people on the boat?

Well, I went away thinking that the psycho killed everybody after being
continually denied his creative input on the film by the director. However,
you present an attractive alternative. Now, I just don't know... :-) Why
would the psycho lie about what happened to everybody if he didn't do the
killing? In fact, why would he be a psycho at all? If he had merely escaped
from the carnage with his life, I would think he would be a very grateful,
nice guy.

Bill Gates

Paul D'Eath

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Apr 28, 1989, 3:33:27 PM4/28/89

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You are right, it's not clear from the movie-within-a-movie who is
responsible for the murders. I assumed Hughie was the culprit because
the videos showed there was conflict between the two men over who was
to use the video-camera. Hughie's subsequent behaviour on the yacht
with Rae indicated that he was the type to go psychotic if threatened
or contradicted. Much of the suspense of the movie rested upon Rae's
gamble on the moods of Hughie, who could be blithe and charming if she
was nice to him, and murderously psychotic if she was not. That she
quickly learned that under no circumstances was he prepared to return
to his boat where the murders had taken place and where her husband
had been stranded, also indicates to me that Hughie was the culprit, and
was the central dilemma of the movie. How could she rescue her husband
without being murdered in the attempt by Hughie? She could not know why
Hughie refused to return, but Hughie knew. His subsequent behaviour
toward Rae left it quite clear how and why the four girls and the
photographer on his boat died. The videos gave us fragments of a conflict
which culminated in one of Hughie's psychotic episodes, from which he then
sought to distance himself after he had been rescued. This was my
interpretation. Unlike Psycho, to which this film has strong affinities,
there is no analyst at the end tying the loose strands together.

--
Paul M. D'Eath | INTERNET : p...@toronto.datapoint.com
Datapoint Canada Inc. | uucp : {uunet,utzoo}!dptcdc!pmd

Sean McLinden

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May 1, 1989, 11:03:01 PM5/1/89

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Re: who killed who?

Since the movie was based on a book, perhaps someone who read the book
can tell us?