'80s Class?: Leviathan (1989)

 As I spend zero time in the Ocean, I might as well watch more Movies about it.  

This is Leviathan, a 1989 Film about just that.  

Yep, its the second one of these.  

One of the 1989 Underwater Horror Films made lots of money and won acclaim for its effects.  Another was featured on the last (so far) Season of MST3K.  

Will this one be somewhere in the middle?  This one is from the Director of Of Unknown Origin (as opposed to Corman's Unknown Origin, which is another Underwater Horror Film).  

If Weller thought it was bad fighting with one normal rat, imagine how he's going to react to what is down here!  

Peter and his motley crew are down at the bottom of the Ocean mining silver and other materials.  One of them makes the mistake of looting from a Russian wreck known as Leviathan.  This leads to all sorts of The Thing-like terror on board.  

Who will live?  Notable Cast includes Richard Crenna (also in George's First Blood- Part II), Ernie Hudson, Daniel Stern, Hector Elizondo and The Flash's Amanda Pays.  

To find out how it all plays out, read on...

A group of Miners are down on the Ocean Floor.  The Corporation in charge puts a Geologist (Weller) in charge.

I mean; I guess that makes sense.

They have these big, bulky suits designed for the task.

After watching Aliens, you think you know why they have them in the Film.
Eh, not so much.

One of the Crew- Stern- wanders off and loots the titular Ship, a Russian wreck nearby.

He starts to experience weird symptoms the day after, leading to some mystery for Crenna and Weller (keeping it a secret) to solve.

He dies, which is also kept a secret, and another Crew member finds out first.

She's experiencing similar symptoms to what he described in public, so she freaks out and kills herself to avoid his fate.

Kind of curious logic, if you really diagram it.

A creature emerges from his body before they toss the fused body of him and the previously-mentioned woman (also borrowed from The Thing).

It begins to take out more people, growing and changing.
Is it also learning from its victims?!?

The Boss- Meg Foster('s scary eyes)- keeps stalling their rescue, telling them that there is a storm delaying their escape.

Meanwhile, they find notes about the Russian Experiment, which started with them dosing the Vodka from earlier (which Stern drank).

The creature mutates as it whittles down the crew, giving us some good, albeit brief Body Horror.

Stan Winston did this, so it all looks great.  It's just barely on-screen for more than a few seconds at a time.

The creature wrecks things as our Heroes try to escape.

Yikes.

Just like DeepStar Six, they 'escape' and it attacks them on the surface.  Did the Pitch Meeting Guy write both of these?

Poor Ernie Hudson doesn't survive, but Weller and Pays do.  The former also punches out Foster for good measure (as she lied about the storm).  The End.

A fun, but not so complex Film.  

They try to add some layers here, to be fair.  Each character is given a little bit of an interesting trait.  

Some of them- like Crenna acting mysterious- pay off more than others.  

Does Elizondo using gum to fix the Generator amount to much?  Nope.  

The Film, to its credit, does look nice.  The Director and Stan Winston both worked to get the big details just right.  Those suits look real enough to actually be used, for example.  

I'm glad that the Monster isn't just 'oh, there's a Sea Monster' like most of the other Films from this time.  

Basically, I'm glad that this Film is only like 80% like DeepStar Six- not 100%.  The Plot has the feel of intrigue and layers, even if there isn't one.  

Does the Corporation have anything to do with the experimentation?  Nope.  

The Film sure acts like it might, so that counts though.  

The best and most disappointing part is the Monster.  It looks cool when you can see it- you just can't most of the time.  Let me see the cool thing, Movie!  There are bad-to-not-so-good Movies that at least let you see the Monster plenty.  

For instance, Razorback doesn't have Stan Winston Effects, but I get to see the damn thing.  Rawhead Rex is...interesting, but also interesting to look at in a non-sarcastic way too.  

This is one that maybe could be redone, which I know is a blasphemous thing to say for many people.  If it helps, it is set in 2027, so the timing is right for a nearer-future version.  

In time, I'll see if it can hold up to other 1989 Water Monster Films like this one...

Next up, I'm stick with the Water Theme, but not doing the above Film.  Instead, let's jump to the early 2000s for some spooky times.  Stay tuned...

'80s Class: Of Unknown Origin

Spend the Holidays with the ones you love- just not rats!  Today's Film is Of Unknown Origin, a 1983 Thriller about one man, one rat and the house they both live in.  Before he was Robocop, Peter Weller was a yuppie trying to rid his house of a pest.  It comes to you from the Director of Cobra and Rambo: First Blood- Part 2.  Yeah, I was surprised too.  The whole thing is mostly just an excuse for Weller to slowly go crazy in pursuit of the tiny creature.  This was his first big Role and it is easy to see why this lead to more.  This is also the Debut Feature of someone you wouldn't expect- but I won't SPOIL that just yet.  To see the battle between man and beast, read on...

A big businessman is living the life.  He's happily-married, raising a kid and has a great job.

However, he loses 'the big contract' (to the villain from Twin Peaks!).  He can still show them how great he is though.

When the Wife and Son leave to spend 2 weeks with her Parents (as one does!), he's left alone.

Well, not quite.  A big, old rat has moved in!

While he tries to work for a big Client, he is constantly being egged on by the Maintenance Man for the Building who keeps telling him about how dangerous and smart Rats can be.

You are not helping!

While he tries to catch the rat, his family is less and less in contact with him.

Will he keep his sanity?

Things are always darkest before the dawn.  That's what you have to tell yourself when you flood the basement.

Will any of his plans work?  Will the rat get him?  Will he kill the rat?!?

That...that might do the trick.

After a tense battle, Weller's character kills the rat!  He goes outside to celebrate right as his family returns.  That sure wrapped up conveniently!  The End.

A good, tense Thriller.  The Story is simply about a man trying to kill a rat in his House.  That's it.  In spite of that, the Film totally works!  The late Director makes the Film feel amazingly-tense without cheating.  It isn't a super-rat.  It isn't a mutant rat.  It's just a rat.  It happens to be a mean, pissed-off lady rat, but a rat nonetheless.  Weller really shines here, going from a man with no worries to a warrior of his own domain in 90 minutes.  It would be easy to cheat in this regard too, but they still don't.  He's not a perfect killing machine.  He's not a badass.  With no special skills, he 'learns on the job' and makes mistakes that most of us would.  Incidentally, this is also based on a Book, so more of those to do (assuming I do another one in the next 2 years).  The way they show the rat moving around the residence is quite neat, giving you unpleasant close-ups and angles right out of Evil Dead II (which wouldn't be made for 4 years).  If you didn't have an issue with sewer rats, you sure will after this.  The whole thing manages to be tense and effective with so little.  It isn't the flashiest Film from the 1980s, but it deserves more attention than it gets.  If nothing else, it gave us her...

Next time, I take one last look at Andy Sidaris' Film Library in 2017.  The more things change, the more they constantly show boobs.  Stay tuned...