DeepStar Six

"DeepStar Six" is just another "Alien" clone, to be ranked with all "Alien" clones as just another time waster. This might be what it deserves, however, it can be noted as a few notches above other "Alien" clones for its excellent cast, which, even when the story and writing become pretty silly, sticks to it and keeps things running smoothly. The characters are pretty convincing as well, epecially for such low standards as this. And while most of the film is talkly and uneventful, I will proudly state that the last half hour are great and very tension-filled. I was very pleased with the climax, and even the monster was acceptable. If the whole film had been as surprising as gripping as the last half-hour, this might have been the greatest "Alien" clone around. Instead, it's just a pretty good, low-budget flick that's worth watching once or twice if it comes on cable.

**1/2 out of ****

The name Sean S. Cunningham will automatically always be attached to 'Friday the 13th'…his notorious teen-slasher that messed up the genre for good. Yet, Mr. Cunningham did do a few slightly more ambitious projects. This DeepStar Six is a semi-successful undersea-monster mash with surprisingly good acting, decent special effects and a couple of good old-fashioned scary moments. The film deserves a reasonable rating, slightly higher than all other lame and laughable Ridley Scott and James Cameron wannabes. The plot involves an 11-headed crew that is about to finish up a 6-month research at the bottom of the ocean. When exploring the ocean floor, they accidentally stumble upon a hideous and relentless monster. Like it usually is the case in this type of films, it takes a little while before you actually get to see the monster. By that time, human stupidity already exterminated half of the cast…. Granted, the monster itself is one ugly critter and not at all badly put together by the special effects department.

But…let's not praise this film too much, because it simply remains a rather anonymous 80's monster movie like we've seen them so many times before already. Not one action presented here isn't inspired by or similar to the ones featuring in other films and every character is a flawless stereotype. The performances given by the entire cast actually outshine the roles they're playing. Highlight of them all is Miguel Ferrer who portrays the typical, cowardly crewmember. Constantly complaining and arguing at first and when the monster shows up…he flees to and leaves his colleagues to their own device. Every monster flick stars a bastard like that, you know. As well as the super-intelligent and over-ambitious female scientist and the heroic captain who sacrifices himself in order to save his crew. If you ignore these inevitable weaknesses, you'll certainly have fun. You get what you expect, and that doesn't necessarily have to sound like a bad comment.

When John Carpenter makes a low budget sci-fi thriller it becomes cult, when Sean S. Cunningham does the same practically everyone calls it cheap. I don't get it. Okay, DeepStar Six is a little dull, but once the monster pops up it isn't that bad. Visually I think it's fine, and although the special effects look slightly pre-mature and clearly a lot of small-scale models have been used I actually prefer this over the clinical and steely looking computer tricks pulled by canonized Industrial Light and Magic.

To compare this film to Fantastic Voyage (1966) may be way out of line, but still DeepStar Six reminded me of that somewhat ridiculous film in which a scientific crew and their vehicle are shrunk in order to explore the human body. Little human bodies are saved in DeepStar Six and that is a bit of a waste since the cast is good and especially the female contributions (by Nia Peeples, Nancy Everhard and Cindy Pickett) are swell. Greg Evigan makes a nice lead and he has the right looks for his heroic part. Thank God (or Cunningham) they did not cast a bull like Steven Segal or Chuck Norris for this part, for that would have spoiled everything. A pleasant surprise is the presence of Marius Weyers (who played in the wonderful classic The Gods Must Be Crazy). Not at his best here, but I don't mind.

Camera and lighting are done in such a way that the interior of the ship as well as the atmosphere look pretty authentic and Sean S. Cunningham has done a fine job in making his actors move around in it naturally and convincingly. Not a masterpiece, but I am pleased to see a film like this from a man who has done much worse.

Some arrive while others leave an American underwater platform. It's a mixed use facility where the military is setting up nuclear missiles and civilians are experimenting on long-term colonization. A cavern under the missile site is found but something more is uncovered.

Director Sean S. Cunningham's claim to fame is making the first Friday the 13th. This isn't breaking any new ground as much as following a temporary trend in underwater adventures. This pales in comparison to some of its competitors. The actors are second tier character actors. They do functional work but the characterizations are mostly nondescript. Other than an annoying coward played by Miguel Ferrer, the characters need better definition. At the very least, the military personnel need to be wearing uniforms and acting in a more strict manner. The special effects are mostly miniature work. The setting design looks like B-movie leftovers. I'm almost certain that I saw this back in the day but it's pretty much forgotten until I watched it again recently. This is a monster movie where the monster is rarely seen. It's an hour before there's a glimpse of the beast. There is a question of logic about launching missiles from the ocean floor. All of it adds to a lesser underwater adventure.

I don't see why people keep on trashing this movie which has no more shortcomings or implausability than most blockbusters.

Maybe because, as everybody seems to think, everything that has no big stars and isn't the latest multi-billion brainless disaster can't be good ? This one is more disaster movie than monster movie, since the giant crab is only one amongst many problems the survivors has to face. Nothing great, nothing to lose sleep over, just cheesy B fun. So why all this hate when "Leviathan" was a bigger-budgeted but even more stupid and derivative heap of ....