Leviathan (1989)

Plot
Deep-sea miners come across the wreck of a Russian ship and bring back a dangerous watertight safe to their facility on the ocean floor. When it is unlocked, a genei

 proceeds to get loose and begin to kill off the crew one at a time.

Review
Whilst The Abyss was being filmed, other studios thought it was going to be some creature-runs-amok flick like Alien underwater and so up popped another three similar-themed films each featuring aquatic terrors. Leviathan comes off more like an undersea version of The Thing than a straight-up Alien clone but it's clear that the script is the combination of Scott's sci-fi classic and Carpenter's immense Antartic shocker.

Over $20 million was sunk into this so Leviathan can't argue that it was short of cash. There are some highly impressive sets and the undersea facility looks stunning. But the confined setting isn't fully utilized and there's not a whole lot of tension or atmosphere cranked out.

Stan Winston is the man pulling the strings with the special effects and comes up with an intriguing creature, hardly one of the most memorable on-screen creatures ever designed and it seems to change shape depending on what shot the director requires of it. However it isn't CGI and looks very real and imposing in all of it's make-up goodness. The creature has the ability to regenerate itself and contaminate others just like The Thing and sets about absorbing the crew in grisly fashion. It takes about thirty minutes for the creature to start causing havoc

The script follows standard conventions meaning that the cast split up to investigate strange noises

Maybe this is why the likes of Peter Weller and Richard Crenna phone in their performances. The rest of the cast features a whole host of recognisable and dependable actors including Ernie Hudson, Daniel Stern, Amanda Pays, Hector Elizondo and Meg Foster

It's also got Stan Winston doing the creature effects. How bad can it get? Well the direction is pretty soggy and there's not a great deal of tension cranked out with the confined setting. The script, when it's not ripping off Alien or The Thing, doesn't do the cast any favours at all. Maybe this is why the likes of Peter Weller and Richard Crenna phone in their performances. One-by-one the cast is picked off (and reasonably quickly too considering the creature doesn't turn up until about half-way through) quite generically and "absorbed" or mutated into the creature ala The Thing.

Verdict
Something of a minor cult favourite amongst horror/sci-fi fans, Leviathan still ranks as shoddy work considering the talent involved both in front of and behind the camera. It's not that isn't  entertaining because at times, it is. But with a bit of concerted effort this could have been a decent cheesy summer flick. Instead it's now confined to late night showings and bargain bins at the local video store.