Deep Rising (1998)

Starring - Treat Williams; Famke Janssen; Anthony Heald; Kevin J. O'Connor & Wes Studi Director - Stephen Sommers MPAA - Rated R for sci-fi violence and gore. A luxury cruise liner is on its maiden voyage when terrorists decide to hijack it. The terrorists only have one problem -- when they board the vessel, they find that all the passengers have been killed by a sea monster -- and they are its next meal. Deep Rising is not real heavy in the plot department, as you might have gleaned from that very brief synopsis. This is what you would call a typical b-horror flick if it weren't for the fact that the production values are high enough to bring it out of the low-budget b-basement. It's obvious that far more effort was expended on the look of this film than on the story. I'm taking my shots at this movie, but to tell the truth, as average monster flicks go, this was fairly entertaining. The cast, while far from outstanding, wasn't that bad. Treat Williams and Famke Janssen (Goldeneye) head up the cast. Sure, Treat was a bit over the top, and Famke was clearly cast more for her stunning looks that her acting talent, but they were fun to watch together on screen. The supporting cast of mostly unknowns is good while they are with us. But, as is typical with movies like this, most are just meals in waiting for the nasty sea monster. It goes after, and devours things with a great deal of zeal and gore. We mustn't forget the gore in a film like this. If there were no gross-out moments, where would we be? The CGI monster shots are not bad (certainly no where near as bad as Anaconda was), but they won't be heralded as groundbreaking either. They work well in a movie of this caliber. The ship is very well done -- most of the action seems to take place on the lower flooded levels of this rapidly sinking cruise liner, and it all is very impressive from that standpoint. Of course, the lower decks are also consistently splattered with generous helpings of gory slime and excreted digested human bodies. How appetizing. Deep Rising is a fun little flick. No more suspension of disbelief required here than in any other typical horror/monster movie. Just sit back with a big bowl of popcorn and enjoy. But, if I were you, I would finish the popcorn before the characters start going down to the lower decks. Enjoy. 6/10 Reviewed September 25, 1998 by Joe Chamberlain