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That's the warning that marine biologist Scarpelli (Nia Peeples) gives to Dr. Van Gelder (Marius Weyers) when he orders to detonate a cavern in order to secure some underwater missile system. Of course, as is the case in this kind of films, Van Gelder pays no attention and the explosion unleashes an underwater sea creature that threatens the safety of the crew of the DeepStar Six, a US Navy underwater station.
DeepStar Six, the film, follows the crew that then has to deal with this creature, as well as dealing with their respective attitudes and agendas. The crew includes submarine pilot McBride (Greg Evigan) and love interest Joyce Collins (Nancy Everhard). As for the rest, well, they don't matter that much because the plot is so predictable, that 10 minutes in, you can probably guess who's gonna live and who's gonna die, who's the hero and who's a weasel ($20 if you said Miguel Ferrer).
And that's the main issue with the film. There's a certain laziness to it that pretty much neuters any potential effect that the film could have. From its obvious rip-offs of Alien to the amount of stupid exposition and decisions that the characters make. To make matters worse, for a film that's plagued by such a stupid script and dumb characters, you would've thought they would decide to jump right into the nitty gritty, the kills and the gore; but director Sean S. Cunningham decides to spend a whole hour with the empty banter between the members of the crew before the sh-it hits the fan.
Add to that the inability of director Cunningham to sustain any kind of tension and the choppy editing from David Handman, and you get a pretty mediocre creature film as a result. It is not a complete waste, though. Most of the performances are competent, even if the script and dialogue is stupid, but you get the sense that with some polish and a bit more care to the direction and script, this could've worked much better.
Grade:
DEEPSTAR SIX
(1989, Cunningham)
A film with the number 6 (Six, Sixth, etc.) in its title • A horror film
(1989, Cunningham)
A film with the number 6 (Six, Sixth, etc.) in its title • A horror film
"We have no idea what type of marine life we're dealing with!"
That's the warning that marine biologist Scarpelli (Nia Peeples) gives to Dr. Van Gelder (Marius Weyers) when he orders to detonate a cavern in order to secure some underwater missile system. Of course, as is the case in this kind of films, Van Gelder pays no attention and the explosion unleashes an underwater sea creature that threatens the safety of the crew of the DeepStar Six, a US Navy underwater station.
DeepStar Six, the film, follows the crew that then has to deal with this creature, as well as dealing with their respective attitudes and agendas. The crew includes submarine pilot McBride (Greg Evigan) and love interest Joyce Collins (Nancy Everhard). As for the rest, well, they don't matter that much because the plot is so predictable, that 10 minutes in, you can probably guess who's gonna live and who's gonna die, who's the hero and who's a weasel ($20 if you said Miguel Ferrer).
And that's the main issue with the film. There's a certain laziness to it that pretty much neuters any potential effect that the film could have. From its obvious rip-offs of Alien to the amount of stupid exposition and decisions that the characters make. To make matters worse, for a film that's plagued by such a stupid script and dumb characters, you would've thought they would decide to jump right into the nitty gritty, the kills and the gore; but director Sean S. Cunningham decides to spend a whole hour with the empty banter between the members of the crew before the sh-it hits the fan.
Add to that the inability of director Cunningham to sustain any kind of tension and the choppy editing from David Handman, and you get a pretty mediocre creature film as a result. It is not a complete waste, though. Most of the performances are competent, even if the script and dialogue is stupid, but you get the sense that with some polish and a bit more care to the direction and script, this could've worked much better.
Grade: