Sunlight flashes across hard blue water, lighting a deck littered with bottles, then the image snaps to corroded metal and oil-sheened puddles along a lonely dock. The cut maps the plunge The Boatyard takes, Dale Stelly’s new feature from a script by RG Graham. Pleasure thins, then gives way to meat and knives.
Five college-age friends appear on a heedless party cruise: Chad, played by Zachary Roosa, Dana, played by Meghan Carrasquillo, Franklin, played by Jamal R Averett, Brandy, played by Amy Byrd, and Jess, played by Caitlin Rose.
The spree dries up when the boat fails, leaving them marooned on open water after a day built on excess. A local steps from the haze of heat and distance. Mike Ferguson plays this stranger, who ferries the group to a tucked-away shipyard. He shares the place with Martha, played by Susan Lanier. Their appetite runs to human flesh. Violence arrives without delay, and the friends face captors who read them as quarry.
Anatomy of the Grind
The Boatyard frames itself as a two-part slasher. The first section grinds the senses with shrill chatter and sharp noise, a chorus of demands and petty wants. This fixation on self-made disorder shapes the later deaths. The tone signals punishment, and the film begins to find drive once the killing starts.
The pattern comes loaded with references. The movie leans on backwoods and cannibal tropes and leaves the machinery of its horror largely unexamined. The storytelling stays simple, and the technical control rarely exceeds serviceable craft. The script reaches for novelty in the methods of harm, staging jolts and daring the audience to flinch. Reckless city kids meet rural ferocity in a contest without mercy. Some observers have pointed to less explicit gore than expected, yet the cruelty on display lands with force because intention remains so cold.
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Space itself raises questions. The yard and nearby town read as sealed and far from help. Streets and storefronts sit empty, while the sheer size of the place hints at exits the characters do not use. The environmental logic wobbles, and that weakens the pressure the film wants to maintain.
Veterans and Victims
Casting provides the surest engine. The friend group plays as shallow and self-serving, reckless to the point of insult. Their binge lays the groundwork for the trap that follows. Only when terror strips them bare, when pleading enters the frame, do their faces gather weight.
Across from them stand two experienced players. Mike Ferguson, credited as Barry, shapes a lead predator whose cruelty cuts with a hard edge. Susan Lanier, remembered for The Hills Have Eyes, matches him with precision. As Martha, a barroom presence with a chill under the smile, she locks into the film’s harsh register. Her arrival gives the picture a hint of cult heat. Their commitment steadies the whole enterprise and keeps the tone from collapsing. Much of the younger ensemble cannot meet that level. Early scenes sag under flat line readings, and the worst moments turn grating.
The Price of Recklessness
The theme reads like a punishment fable. Careless youth loses control and pays in flesh. The friends cannot manage basic seamanship, intoxication takes the wheel, and their fate passes into other hands. Loyalty splinters under fear, and survival talk thins as panic grows.
Direction tries to carve tension from place. Open water feels endless and empty. The hidden yard feels like a net. Writing rarely locates wit or sympathy, and it leans on shocks for effect. One seduction arrives without plausible setup, and the scene strains belief.
The first half sours the palate, and the purpose of the exercise stays hazy, yet the veterans keep the blade steady. The imagination behind the torture sequences brings late momentum. The Boatyard lands as a coarse, standard slasher, lifted by a charged second act and the chill carried by its two lead killers.
The Boatyard is an independent slasher horror film directed by Dale Stelly and written by RG Graham. The movie follows a group of hedonistic college students whose party yacht breaks down at sea, leading them to accept help from a stranger who instead delivers them to a remote boatyard run by cannibalistic killers. Starring genre veterans Mike Ferguson and Susan Lanier, the film was distributed by Reel 2 Reel Films and was poised to arrive on UK digital platforms on September 22, 2025. You can stream it on platforms such as Prime Video, Apple TV, Fandango, and Tubi.
Credits
Title: The Boatyard
Distributor: Reel 2 Reel Films
Release date: September 22, 2025 (UK digital release)
Director: Dale Stelly
Writers: RG Graham
Producers and Executive Producers: Dale Stelly, RG Graham (Founders of ENRG Entertainment)
Cast: Mike Ferguson, Susan Lanier, Amy Byrd, Meghan Carrasquillo, Zachary Roosa, Jamal R. Averett, Caitlin Rose, Cody Duke, Brian Hall, Kenny Swartz, Bri Ana Wagner
Director of Photography (Cinematographer): Dana Rice
The Review
The Boatyard
The Boatyard starts as a tedious depiction of vapid partying, but quickly shifts into a more engaging, if simple, horror vehicle once the main action begins. It lacks sophistication and narrative depth. However, the icy presence of Mike Ferguson and Susan Lanier brings a necessary menace that transforms the second half into a watchable, B-movie thrill ride for fans of straightforward survival horror.
PROS
- Mike Ferguson and Susan Lanier provide intense, compelling menace.
- The film dramatically improves once the horror sequences commence.
- Contains imaginative and cruel torture set-pieces.
CONS
- The initial setup featuring the party friends is long, grating, and poorly acted.
- The script lacks wit, empathy, and is riddled with preposterous situations.
- Overall film-making skill and execution feel standard and by-the-numbers.
