Unseen Terror 2018: Day 2

A crew of mercenaries head out across the South China Sea in hopes of robbing a prominent cruise ship called the Argonautica, which is owned by millionaire Simon Canton. As soon as the barge is set for sail, it suddenly comes into contact with a large, unknown object in the water. Shortly afterwards, the crew of hijackers approach the Argonautica, preparing to sink the large vessel as soon as their job is done. Upon arrival, however, there seems to be no sign of the passengers and discover nothing but blood on board. Those who have survived band together with these intruders to combat something out of the ordinary that has surfaced from deep within the waters: hideous, tentacled worm-like monstrosities with an appetite for human flesh.



Prior to my first time viewing, I had very few memories of Deep Rising's mere existence. It seemed lost in the shuffle with other "natural horror" films from around the time such as Lake Placid and Anaconda. Those of you who know me are well aware of my love for most things related to this subgenre, be they from the states or from overseas. There's something so utterly fun about watching humanity constantly struggle with (un)earthly creatures that are hellbent on either eating us or smashing all of our cities beneath their feet. Unfortunately, I wish that Deep Rising could be held in the highest regards with other heavyweights in these categories, but there is just so much working against this film that I came out rather frustrated.


Unlike a lot of natural horror from throughout the decades, Deep Rising doesn't seem completely aware that it's a B movie. It fails to take full advantage of the very silly concept by making the audience think that everything uttered by our protagonists seemed important. Even the goofiest moments of flicks like Anaconda seemed self-aware that they weren't exactly making a motion picture of high quality and ultimately told those in attendance "okay, let's just go with it. Go grab a pint." Here, most of this movie is taking the material so seriously and notable director Stephen Sommers fails to recognize most of the horror aspects. Nothing really feels scary, and the hideous late 90s CGI prevents the audience from being able to enjoy what practical effects and props that there are.


Deep Rising's biggest weakness comes in the form of the "characters." I have to use quotes there, because most of the cast barely constitute as those. Treat Williams (Dead Heat, Hair), Famke Janssen (X-Men, Goldeneye), Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead), Not-Nick Nolte (Anthony Heald of Silence of the Lambs fame), and nearly everyone here that you can find on IMDB are undoubtedly talented performers, but with the combination of a weak script and very little time spent getting to know or sympathize with them, you just don't find anybody worth rooting or caring for. There's admittedly a good chunk of people who will say that such a thing isn't a big problem for a movie about something beneath the sea slaughtering people, but I will always look to Jaws as an argument for why strong characters matter in flicks like these. There is however one memorable character among the bunch, and he ends up being the very worst component of this film. Director Stephen Sommers has a tendency to cast Kevin J. O'Connor in most of his projects, including follow-up pictures such as The Mummy and Van Helsing. Similar to those efforts, O'Connor's "Joey" is beyond irritating, but unlike his roles in those two releases, they want the audience to root for him during its entire duration. He's like Private Hudson of Aliens fame, only without any moments of being able to delve into badassery, which just results in him being a whiney nuisance. Speaking of the James Cameron classic, the similarities between this property and that one are surprisingly more abundant than any newcomer will expect. I won't go into every little aspect since it would take up too much of this review, but let's just say that the only thing missing was a little girl to accompany the crew.


There is potential hidden within Deep Rising to be a truly fun cheesy action/horror hybrid. I did fail to mention some above average bloodshed and some fairly decent makeup work courtesy of Rob Bottin (The Thing, Robocop), but I just couldn't fully get on board with it. It feels like a precursor to all of those awful SyFy channel movies from the mid-2000s and beyond (its mediocrity may be the reason as to why this never received any sequels). Unless you're a completist of all things 90s, then I wouldn't strongly recommend this one. As of this moment, there is a packed Blu-ray available from Kino Lorber, and as of now, you can also view it on streaming services such as HBO Go.



Or you can just go watch 1977's Tentacles instead.


Wait, that one is worse.


Erm....maybe you should just watch a BBC documentary.



Tomorrow, the monster parade continues with an obscure release from Toho !

Unseen Terror 2013: Day 31

Eddie Weinbauer's an awkward high schooler who finds solace in heavy metal, and in one particular man named Sammi Curr: a devil-worshipping, free-spirited rock star. But when Curr dies under mysterious circumstances, Eddie is devastated. Soon afterwards, he receives a copy of Curr's final and unreleased record from a friend. Upon playing it backwards, he discovers that the deceased rocker is speaking to him from beyond the grave, in the hopes of being resurrected, but he will require a few sacrifices first.

We've reached the end of this year's countdown, and if you're wondering why in the world I chose to close out with 1986's Trick or Treat rather than the masterful and more respected Rosemary's Baby, the only explanation I can offer is that metal-related pictures, especially in the horror field, are hard to come by. Thus, I'm not going to say this took top priority, but upon discovering that this little "gem" was ready for viewing on the internet via Youtube (like quite a few of this year's entries were), I bumped it to the end, figuring we could end it with a bang or a fizzle, depending on if I liked it or not.

And I think that after a late night viewing, I believe that I fall somewhere in the middle, which I suppose would result in a relatively loud "pop" more than a bang or a fizzle, but nothing more. For starters, Trick or Treat's soundtrack is mostly comprised by the now-defunct heavy metal outfit Fastway, an offshoot of NWOBHM legends Motorhead (and a band that would house Dave King of future punk stalwarts Flogging Molly). As cool as that sounds, I kind of wish Christopher Young (Hellraiser) had decided to score more than just a few select scenes and pieces that weren't done by the outfit themselves, as the Fastway songs tend to grate after some time and, as stupid as this might sound, start to seem very out of place about a horror film dealing with heavy metal. As much I adore this music, I think most who are equal fans of both horror and the genre of music showcased here (primarily hard rock and glam metal) would admit that it just isn't very scary. Now, if the filmmakers and writers had decided to wait a few more years and let it focus on the burgeoning Norwegian black metal scene, THEN we could have had something unique, or possibly even genuinely unsettling.

Supposedly, Blackie Lawless was offered to play Sammi Curr, the villain of the picture, but I can't find any real proof of this rumor beyond a couple of random searches. Considering that the resemblance between the two is pretty uncanny, it wouldn't have shocked me though to determine that this fact was confirmed. Instead it goes to a former dancer from Solid Gold, which is obviously much more fitting casting considering the heavy metal love that show always showed it, which is absolutely none. Come to think of it, the only remotely decent casting Trick or Treat seemed to get right was the cameos of Gene Simmons (Kiss) and Ozzy Osbourne, as a Rock DJ and anti-rock and roll crusader respectively. They look like they're having a ball for the total of the five or so minutes we see of them, especially given that the latter was in the peak of his popularity around this decade's time.


On a technical level, especially by what would come about in the latter half of the 80s when it comes to horror, this isn't a very good film. The acting isn't anything special, and the effects work is nothing to write home about. But it does have an odd little charm to it that lands it firmly in the coveted "so bad, it's good" category. And sometimes that isn't a bad thing whatsoever, especially since those results still produce general happiness and a great deal of smiling faces, even if they have to include the use of alcohol to produce such results. After all, if you can find a sillier horror film involving an undead rock star firing electricity out of a guitar at an audience of unsuspecting folks, then I'm all ears.



Tomorrow, I'll be back for a post-marathon recap and some other thoughts from throughout the month!