FAQ for
Dead Calm (1989) More at IMDbPro »

Hughie murdered them all.

Despite Hughie's claims that they died of food poisoning, when John boards the boat, several of the bodies visibly have knife wounds, and at least one has been decapitated. Additionally, the footage which John views depicts the moments leading up to the murders, with Hughie becoming more aggressive towards his fellow passengers.

When John enters Hughie's ship he finds that he can repair the boat and go back after Rae. However as time follows John realizes that the ship is in fact damaged to the point of sinking within an estimated six hours. So yes the boat was sinking.

No answers are actually stated but many people theorize that:

A. She was buying time so she could formulate a plan to save her husband and take back control of the ship. This is hinted when she tries to load the shotgun on deck before having sex with Hughie when he gets suspicious.

B. She wanted to further strengthen her trust with Hughie after trying to stop the boat numerous times.

C. She was in a state of delirium when Hughie started seducing her, and as a result of depression from the death of her child to the loss of her husband, she let herself be intimate with him in order to satisfy her carnal desires as well as dull her feelings of pain.

D. She was coerced into having sex with Hughie and pretending to enjoy it. Almost to the point where if she didn't have sex with him then he might freak out again.

Once Rae and John reunite near the end of the movie there is never a scene where Rae reveals to John that she slept with Hughie. Whether she ever does tell John or not is unknown by the film's conclusion. Certainly after the ordeal that she and her husband have been through it is difficult to see how Rae could broach the subject with John of the wild passionate sex she had with Hughie. Let alone the fact that she was also driven to orgasm in Hughie's arms which probably further added to her guilt and confusion. Bad enough in her own mind that she actually slept with Hughie but Rae's orgasms betrayed her own rapidly rising levels of arousal and lust. Even though Rae's love is reserved for her husband there does seem to be a subtle undercurrent of a physical and sexual attraction between her and Hughie.

The music which Hughie listens to after taking control of the yacht was written and performed by Tim O'Connor. All of the songs he contributed to the film are availible on his album "Run Over by Love."

Was Rae acting purely out of self-preservation or did she simply get carried away during the sex or subconsciously did she somehow secretly want to have sex with Hughie? The scene is somewhat ambiguous in this regard.

After the initial kiss and foreplay Rae attempts to get out of it and goes to load the shot gun. But once the dog barks and bring attention to Rae's actions she quickly grabs the cigarettes nearby as an excuse for being up on deck and leads Hughie to her bed for continuing the sex to distract Hughie away from the shot gun.

At times Rae seems to have a mixture of confusion and discomfort on her face while at other moments she seems to be quite sexually aroused. Her initial reluctance seems to slowly give way to the possible signs of an approaching orgasm as Hughie passionately makes love to her. It's never clear whether Rae's reactions are due to her being in great fear or her experiencing great sex for the first time in a long time. Perhaps a bit of both.

After the sex there is almost a look of bewilderment and sadness on Rae's face that Hughie made her orgasm so easily. She seems stunned at Hughie's skills in the bedroom and how hot and bothered he got her. Almost as if she can't quite believe or accept how great the sex was with him and perhaps subconsciously realising that Hughie turned her on more and had given her hotter and more intense sex than her husband ever has.