# Identify British Horror-Type Film (with minimal plot details) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924 "2009-03-10T05:27:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/1 "2009-03-10T05:27:12Z")
Extremely minimal plot details, in fact. Right, this may or may not have been made for television. Television is where I saw it at some point in the mid to late-ish 1980s (which doesn’t necessarily mean that is when it was made. There is a couple on a canal boat (on a holiday trip, I think, rather than permanently living) and they take aboard another guy - perhaps his boat has broken down or something. Sex and violence ensue (wife fascinated by this stranger, that sort of thing.) Not the big loud explosion type of violence - more like sneaky human stuff. I seem to recall there’s a bit of tying people up in dark cupboards - either wife or husband or possibly both at different times. I do not recall if anyone got killed, but I recall it all being pretty dark. Well, it seemed a bit scary to me, but scaring me isn’t difficult. I recall some phrase like “Limit of Navigation” which I thought must be the title, but it does not seem to be. What else can I think of? Let’s see. I do not have the impression that it was ever a particularly famous film/drama/whatever, but I could be wrong about that. No especially famous actors, as far as I can recall. I don’t know why I want to know about this. Really, it is just the maddening annoyance of a bit of useless trivia that I cannot recall. For some reason, I just Googled it, you see, and the only reference I found was someone else asking for identification of what I am sure is the same film. Haha, the answer given to that person involved an Alan Ayckbourn “comedy-horror”. Nope, I don’t think this can _possibly_ have been Ayckbourn, and I don’t recall any comedy. (I found it quite funny that just when one assumes that Google will find anything, all I could find was someone else looking for the same thing). So, asking for no really important purpose, and will very little hope of an answer, but I figure that the Dope has plenty of other people who hate it when they forget a title or writer or whatever, so it’s worth a try. 🙂 On preview - ah, I am being stupid - it needn’t be a canal. It might just as well be the Norfolk Broads or similar. Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/2 "2009-03-10T06:16:28Z")
Could it be Dead Calm? Australian, though, not British. Starred Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, and Billy Zane. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/3 "2009-03-10T06:17:15Z")
Hm… Except for the non-famous people, it sure sounds like [Dead Calm](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097162/), with Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill and Billy Zane. _on edit_: damn you, **Manduck**! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/4 "2009-03-10T06:22:42Z")
Oh woe! It begins to look as though I have opened two threads by accident. Hmm. I will report it and ask what can be done. Sorry, everyone. Thank you both - the “Dead Calm” plot is _very_ similar but I am sure I remember a barge or a narrowboat instead of the more exotic yacht-in-Pacific thing. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/5 "2009-03-10T06:25:14Z")
It sounds like [Knife in the Water](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056291/) , although you probably would have noticed that it was in black and white and the dialogue was in Polish. And it’s not really a horror movie, but it is pretty dark and has the threat of violence hanging over the characters most of the time. ETA: And it’s not British! But other than those minor details, it’s exactly the movie you’re looking for. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/6 "2009-03-10T06:29:29Z")
I do think it was in English, and I would probably have remembered if it was Polanski, but I’m just getting more confused now. And I am going to stay away from boats and water!😃 ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/7 "2009-03-10T10:34:37Z")
Long time lurker, but I know this one! I watched it as a young kid as it contained boobies and downloaded it a few years ago. It’s on my computer at home and I’ll check the title tonight. It’s something like “way upstream.” ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/8 "2009-03-10T12:48:18Z")
Thanks, **JacobSwan** , and welcome out of lurkerhood. 🙂 I begin to think it has to be one of those, but my problem is that “Australian” (_Dead Calm_) doesn’t fit, and “Alan Ayckbourn” comedy (_Way Upstream_) doesn’t really fit either. As I said, I seem to have started duplicate threads but have reported this and either this thread or [Identify British Horror-Type Film (with minimal plot details) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=509760) will probably be killed off. Or they might be merged. In the other thread, someone had suggested “Way Upstream”, but the little I can find to read about it seems to suggest something a big lighter than I remember. So I remain confused, but I’m grateful to everyone for their help. 🙂 (I’m amused by the honesty of **JacobSwan** ’s reason for watching , but it actually makes more sense than "because it was what happened to be on television at the time) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JacobSwan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@JacobSwan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JacobSwan)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/9 "2009-03-10T14:06:23Z")
> [@Celyn](#): > > Thanks, **JacobSwan** , and welcome out of lurkerhood. 🙂 I begin to think it has to be one of those, but my problem is that “Australian” (_Dead Calm_) doesn’t fit, and “Alan Ayckbourn” comedy (_Way Upstream_) doesn’t really fit either. > > As I said, I seem to have started duplicate threads but have reported this and either this thread or [Identify British Horror-Type Film (with minimal plot details) - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=509760) will probably be killed off. Or they might be merged. > > In the other thread, someone had suggested “Way Upstream”, but the little I can find to read about it seems to suggest something a big lighter than I remember. > > So I remain confused, but I’m grateful to everyone for their help. 🙂 > (I’m amused by the honesty of **JacobSwan** ’s reason for watching , but it actually makes more sense than "because it was what happened to be on television at the time) 😃 Its ‘Way Upstream’ alright. All the elements are there. 2 Couples hire a narrow boat. Give lift to stranger. Bondage and boobies in a cupboard. Limit of Navigation sign at the end. It sounds light and fluffy but had some dark overtones and a rather surreal ending as well as classic english farce elements. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/10 "2009-03-10T14:10:25Z")
> [@JacobSwan](#): > > Its ‘Way Upstream’ alright. All the elements are there. 2 Couples hire a narrow boat. Give lift to stranger. Bondage and boobies in a cupboard. Limit of Navigation sign at the end. It sounds light and fluffy but had some dark overtones and a rather surreal ending as well as classic english farce elements. There’s your problem **Celyn**. You watched it wrong. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/11 "2009-03-10T14:24:30Z")
Well wow. Perhaps it is. I don’t recall two couples, only one, but the "Limit of Navigation"sign at the end fits. Ye gods, if that was a comedy-horror, my job must have been depressing me more than I knew. Aha, nope, it all makes sense now. From: [http://wayupstream.alanayckbourn.net/WayUpstreamHistory.htm](http://wayupstream.alanayckbourn.net/WayUpstreamHistory.htm) > [@](#): > > … From this point, the suburban house-bound comedy that dominated his early career becomes increasingly rare… Aha, that fits. That will teach me not to rely on old preconceptions. 😃 > [@](#): > > … Although a competent adaptation and well-remembered, the film places undue emphasis on the violence of the piece and much of the humour is lost. … Heck, yeah, not much humour. (Except that now I am amused by the story of flooding its production flooding the National Theatre.) Now, WHY I did not check that particular piece earlier, I do not know - was doing other things and, as I say, trusting too much to my own preconceptions about Ayckbourn’s style. So, now I get to learn the actual factual answer AND a useful lesson. Two for the price of one. 🙂 Thanks to all to replied and well done, the “Way Upstream” people. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/identify-british-horror-type-film-with-minimal-plot-details/488924/12 "2009-03-10T14:30:17Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > There’s your problem **Celyn**. You **watched it wrong**. 😃 Haha, I certainly did! I like that phrase and will remember it. 🙂 Odd, I would normally like the way the thing sounds, but I just didn’t like it at the time. Perhaps I was always out of the room cooking or fetching beer when the comedic moments happened.