The first teaser for Steamboat Willie horror parody Screamboat is here

Today, in “Things likely to cause Bob Iger’s blood pressure to trend upwards, just a little bit” news: The first trailer for one of several horror movie parodies based on Disney’s 1928 classic Steamboat Willie has arrived on the internet. As reported by IndieWire, Steven LaMorte’s Screamboat doesn’t have much more to offer viewers, at least in this initial taste, but some wooden acting, a “creepy” rendition of “Turkey In The Straw,” and a quick glimpse of a horror version of a very iconic silhouette, but… Maybe that’s enough?

Because, let’s be honest here: None but the most dedicated degenerates among us are going to actually watch this full film, which is one of several horror parodies that were put into production pretty much the exact second Steamboat Willie entered the public domain back on January 1, 2024. As with last year’s very similar Winnie The Pooh: Blood And Honey, our experiences of Screamboat are likely going to start and stop within the 45 seconds it exists in an online video window, giving us a glimpse at a low-rent MadTV sketch blown out to feature length only because it cost very little money to do. (Oh, also, it stars David Howard Thornton, a.k.a. Art The Clown from the Terrifier movies, in case you were worried the movie wasn’t ticking every micro-budget 2024 horror movie box.) As such, we kind of wish the trailer was a bit more lurid; looking around online today, we actually found a different “Screamboat” trailer, clearly made for an even smaller budget, that at least had the good grace to give us a few shots of a fucked-up Mickey Mouse killing people, which is all we really want to see.

In addition to the trailer, IndieWire also has a more in-depth interview (conducted by former A.V. Club staffer Alison Foreman) with LaMorte, who does seem to have at least been interested in making a competent low-budget horror flick, including making sure that his murderous Mickey Mouse was a full practical effect. The director, at least, sounds pretty honest about what he’s doing: “I’ve always wanted to make a horror film on the Staten Island Ferry, ever since I was commuting to and from film school in New York. But I could either make a random movie about the ferry or I could do Steamboat Willie. Which one do you think people are going to want to go see?”

Screamboat arrives for public consumption in January 2025.