In the last few years, a growing trend in horror has been “horror-fying” popular pieces of entertainment that have entered the public domain. This year, we’ve already seen Popeye’s Revenge, released a mere two months after the cartoon character entered the public domain. We’ve also recently seen horror movies based on The Grinch with The Mean One, and most famously, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, which has led to the cinematic “Poohniverse.” These projects are simply a relatively cheap way for low-budget horror films to be made without having to worry about name recognition. They’re also, more often than not, lazy, uninspired, and barely have anything to do with the subject matter they claim to be about.
One of the more fascinating questions that came about with Disney’s Steamboat Willie entering the public domain in 2024 was both how this usually litigious company would react to their iconic mascot being open to the public, and how it would be utilized now that anyone could theoretically make their own Mickey Mouse movie. No surprise that almost immediately after becoming free to use, Mickey became the star of several no-budget horror films, trailing on the mouse’s good name. While we’ve already had The Mouse Trap last year, with a sequel apparently already in the works, this year brings us Screamboat, which at least has slightly more of a horror pedigree behind it.
From Steven LaMorte, director of The Mean One, and starring Terrifier’s Art the Clown David Howard Thornton as a murderous Steamboat Willie, Screamboat at least feels somewhat more ambitious than just your standard cash-in (even though that’s still clearly what this is). That being said, Screamboat is more proof that this trend needs to stop, or at the very least, more should be done with the property that’s being parodied after nearly a century in the public eye.
What Is ‘Screamboat’ About?

One night on the Staten Island Ferry, a long-closed hatch is opened up, which lets loose a murderous mouse. As the ferry launches, the ship soon has its captain murdered, leaving passengers stranded in the water with a maniacal, murderous mouse. Amongst those on the ship is Selena (Allison Pittel), a hopeful fashion designer, Pete (Jesse Posey), who works on the ship and takes a liking to Selena, and a group of drunk women celebrating one of their birthdays, each of whom looks suspiciously like Disney princesses. These passengers have to find a way back to land, while this mouse causes mayhem, cuts the power, and starts killing this group of humans.

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Screamboat knows exactly what it is and constantly nods at its audience with extremely blunt references. For example, in the group of drunk Disney princess-inspired birthday celebrators, there’s Jazzy (Poonam Basu), clearly modeled after Aladdin’s Jasmine, who is an influencer showing one of her friends how to do a dance called the ‘Dole Whip.” Or there’s a sex scene in which a character asks, “Can you feel the love tonight?” Maybe a character is dressed as Peter Pan and nothing is done with that, or an old man who sleeps on the ferry pops in simply to say, “Dead men tell no tales.” The humor is at about the level of the Captain America “I understood that reference” meme, and rarely gets better than that.
‘Screamboat’ Tries to Be More Than a Cash Grab, but Ultimately Fails

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But Screamboat does at least try at times, even if it doesn’t succeed. Very late in the film, we get a look at the history of this mouse known as Steamboat Willie, and his origins with his friend Walter (but everyone called him Walt), which is told through an animated sequence. In one clever moment, a person says, “After 90 years, he’s finally out in the public,” before stating, “Everything gets recycled.” It’s a fun wink, and it’s the type of self-awareness in this ludicrous film that Screamboat could’ve used more of.
Yet, like a lot of these public-domain horror films, the inclusion of the actual IP seems almost irrelevant. Is this a film that could’ve been about a bunch of people trapped on a ferry with a killer on the loose, and had absolutely nothing to do with Mickey or Disney? Absolutely. This is a very basic concept (written by LaMorte and Matthew Garcia-Dunn) that people will only be drawn to because of that thin connection to Disney that has been thrown in for marketing purposes. Again, like a lot of these types of horror films, there’s plenty of potential in turning a beloved character into a vicious murderer. Screamboat, like many of its contemporaries, is just too lazy to do more than just make exhausting references and casually throw in names of characters/rides/songs/movies without much purpose other than to point out that these things exist.
Much like the Terrifier movies, the best part of Screamboat is easily David Howard Thornton, who is going absolutely bonkers as Steamboat Willie. It’s an inherently absurd performance, as this murderer is about a fraction of the size of everyone else on the boat, and sure, his voice sounds more like a maniacal Elmo than Mickey Mouse, but it’s certainly the most fun aspect of Screamboat. Very few things can improve a modern horror film like Thornton’s gleeful killings, and that’s certainly the case here.
While Mickey Mouse is quite possibly the biggest name to fall into this trend of public-domain horror films, Screamboat also proves that no matter how major the brand, these projects are simply going for name recognition and little else. Again, the problem is that these types of films feel lazy and could do so much more with their concepts, and while Screamboat tries to combat that with tame references, winks at the audience, and absurd violence, it can’t keep itself afloat. With this version of Mickey Mouse now in the public domain, there should be a whole new world of possibilities for these types of films, but instead, Screamboat goes for the bare necessities and lets all its possibilities go.
Screamboat comes to theaters on April 2.

Screamboat

Mickey Mouse becomes the latest public domain character to get the horror treatment with Screamboat, a film that doesn’t do enough with its source material.

Release Date

January 31, 2025

Director

Steven LaMorte

David Howard Thornton

Steamboat Willie

Jesse Kove

Lieutenant Diaz

Pros & Cons

Screamboat at least attempts to throw Disney references into this horror story.
David Howard Thornton is having fun as Steamboat Willie.

There isn’t enough done with Mickey to make this feel like anything more than a cash grab.
The humor is lazy and the horror isn’t all that exciting.
This could’ve easily existed without a horror Mickey Mouse and no one would know the difference.