DeepStar Six (1989)
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
Starring Taurean Blacque, Nancy Everhard and Miguel Ferrer
Story
Deepstar Six is an underwater science lab that not only studies marine life and advances technology use six miles below the ocean’s surface, but its crew oversees the construction of missile docks for the United States Navy. After a series of accidents, the incompetent crew open up a deep cavern releasing a terrible monster that begins attacking everything. The film itself is an enjoyable synthesis of movies like Wargames and Jaws with that core “monster movie” characteristic. You never know which crewmember is going to get killed next, and you don’t quite know when the monster will strike. DeepStar also did a swell job of concealing the monster until the very end (similar to Cloverfield).
The best performance among the myriad of acceptable performances was from Snyder (), who manages to play the lovable dickhead who eventually goes on to fail his teammates, regret it and screw over the survivors in one fell swoop. He’s as selfish as he is brainless, but he plays a somewhat comedic role, and for a monster movie like this, his performance improves this film’s overall experience.
Now I could spend all day talking about how the technology of the 1980s, the same tech that is portrayed in the movie, was incapable of this type of research. I’m no expert, but computers in 1989 had less than 3 MB RAM, so you would need huge computers doing the work they were doing underwater. Not to mention the reactor that allegedly powered the place was never addressed, and the audience was just supposed to use blind faith in its abilities. If you get past all this, you’ll do fine.
Final Thoughts
I’m a big fan of bad horror movies. You know the ones that are so bad they’re good? DeepStar Six is NOT one of those movies, although I thought it would be. Instead, it proved to be a well-produced, well-acted, suspenseful action/thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat and satisfyingly entertained. I suggest you search for it on your cable package next time you want a quick fix, or put it in your video queue. You’ll enjoy it. Especially the tagline:
“Not All Aliens Come From Space. Save Your Last Breath... To Scream.”
Ahhhh…!! **gurgle**
1 comment:
Solid! I really dig Miguel Ferrer; I've liked him in just about everything I've seen him in.