Goth Cruise
Directed By Jeanie Finlay

Premieres on IFC FREE (VOD): November 27, 2008 at Midnight.

An in-depth view of the 4th annual Goth Cruise where 150 goths get together with 2500 norms on a cruise from New Jersey to Bermuda. Why? Well, interestingly, as people grow up they find they no longer consider going to a big party to be a vacation. They want a real vacation, fancy that! Some of the goths on the cruises actually went so far as to refer to themselves as ‘Elder Goths’, a sign that this subculture, unlike others from the 80’s, has survived the passing of time.

The film centered around a few specific people on the cruise. 2 couples, one that had married 3 days prior and another that had been together for 13 years and brought along their 6 yr old son (a little mini goth). Additionally there were a war vet who was a single dad of 2 teen girls, a cross dresser, and a few other morbidly raucous goths. One thing that is pointed out, these people don’t party like the dead. They are quite outgoing as a group, referring to themselves as the Black Sheep (because they moved together as a group for the most part) and the tables they shared The Black Hole. This all being an interesting peep-hole look into a subculture that doesn’t normally get the opportunity to move in such a large, cohesive group in public. There’s nothing quite like letting your crazy out on vacation and on film.

As a group they were very entertaining for their fellow norm cruise mates and probably more tolerant of the norms than the norms were of the goths. A few interviews of the norms were done to get an idea of just how well or not so well the goths were understood by the general populace. The reactions are just a snapshot of what you’d expect if you asked the same question of any non goth in the US. Altogether an entertaining view of just what being goth means to a norm and even what it means to the goths themselves.

ComicsOnline would give the Goth Cruise dvd 3-3 ½ stars out of 5, due to it being more entertaining for those in or associating with the subculture itself. For Goths however, this would warrant 4 stars out of 5. A norm would find entertainment in it for sure but it wouldn’t be classified as a “must have” for them. Any goth or former goth would love this film. It is terribly entertaining and not the tacky wanna-be reality show that I was prepared to see. It was a refreshing view on a somewhat older subculture.