On the other hand, Caryn James of "The New York Times" felt that the film was "an unsettling hybrid of escapist suspense and the kind of pure trash that depends on dead babies and murdered dogs for effect," and that "Dead Calm" "becomes disturbing for all the wrong reasons." A number of critics faulted the film's ending as being over-the-top, with the "Post"s Howe writing, "... while it's afloat, 'Dead Calm' is a majestic horror cruise. ... For much of the movie, you're enthralled. By the end, you're laughing."