Scott Rhee's Reviews > Plunge

“Plunge” is one of four titles for DC’s Black Label graphic novel series written by horror writer Joe Hill. His “Basketful of Heads” was a humorous, silly tongue-in-cheek ode to ‘80s slasher flicks. “Plunge” is more of a serious balls-to-the-wall gorefest.

Like many of Hill’s works, “Plunge” is pretty derivative. It’s a bit of John Carpenter’s “The Thing”, a pinch of George Cosmatos’s “Leviathan”, and a soupçon of James Cameron’s “Aliens”. Throw in a taste of George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”, and you’ll get the idea of what Hill’s doing. Oh wait, I almost forgot about the (pretty blatant) H.P. Lovecraft references.

If you’re a horror fan, none of this is probably a bad thing. It’s actually kind of fun, in a way, catching all the references to some classic horror films. Unfortunately, it’s just not that original.

Don’t get me wrong, though: I still enjoyed it, and I’d recommend it for Hill fans and anyone who likes a good and creepy ghost-ship-in-the-Arctic-lost-for-forty-years-that-suddenly-sends-a-distress-signal-and-is-discovered-to-harbor-a-zombified-crew-possessed-by-an-ancient-underwater-creature-that-looks-an-awful-lot-like-Cthullu-and-may-be-an-extraterrestrial-lifeform-that-crashed-billions-of-years-ago tale.

By the way, there is some math involved in this. Also, jumbo-sized black dildos somehow work themselves into the plot.

Seriously, if that doesn’t intrigue you, I’m not sure what will.