20150524: Horror Review--DeepStar Six

DeepStar Six

1. Fundamentals.
1. Title: DeepStar Six
2. IMDb: Users rated this 5.1/10 (6,388 votes)
3. Rotten Tomatoes:
   0% from 6 critics ratings
   23% liked it from 479 user ratings
   Critics Consensus: Not enough critics' ratings to form consensus.


4. Status: Released
5. Release date: 1989-01-13
6. Production Companies: TriStar Pictures, Carolco Pictures
7. Tagline: No tagline found.


8. Budget:  Budget estimate not available at review time.
9. Revenue: 8,143,225 USD (Box Office Mojo)
10. Runtime: 105 minutes.
11. Genres: Action, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller


12. Directed by: Sean S. Cunningham; written by Lewis Abernathy, Geof Miller


13. Starring: Taurean Blacque as Captain Phillip Laidlaw, Nancy Everhard as Joyce Collins, Greg Evigan as McBride, Miguel Ferrer as Snyder, Nia Peeples as Scarpelli, Matt McCoy as Jim, Cindy Pickett as Dr. Diane Norris, Elya Baskin as Burciaga, Thom Bray as Hodges, Ronn Carroll as Osborne, Marius Weyers as Van Gelder


14. TMDb overview: The crew of an experimental underwater nuclear base are forced to struggle for their lives when their explorations disturb a creature who threatens to destroy their base.


2. Setup and Plot


1. Project leader Van Gelder is driving most of the crew nuts.  He's behind schedule on constructing an underwater missile platform for the US Navy.  Unfortunately, pro forma sound checks reveal a cave beneath the seabed over which the platform was to be built.  Van Gelder orders that explosives be used to collapse the cave so that building can continue.  Burciaga and Collins register their objections due to structural risks.  Scarpelli objects since she will lose any chance of studying possible life forms that normally reside in the caves.  Captain Laidlaw sides with Van Gelder since the Navy is likely to shut down the project if there are any more delays.


2. Hodges and Osborne set off the charges as ordered.  When they send down a tethered remote unit to record stills and video, they manage to lose it.  They detach from their tractor housing to pursue the remote, since losing it would be so expensive.  The cavern is rather huge, and the likelihood of filling it in to continue construction looks bleak.


3. That's when the elimination derby starts.  The rest of the film is about survival: the crew versus whatever took out that the remote.


3. Conclusions


1. One line summary: Good actors who deserved a better script.


2. Three stars of five


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 5/10 Perhaps this was OK for its time, but then again, perhaps not.  Compared to The Abyss, which also came out in 1989, it looks rather ordinary and dated, especially the models of underwater structures.


2. Sound: 6/10 The actors were well-miked, so I could hear the dialog.  The background music was typical of 1970s, 1980s film scores but toward the lower end of the spectrum.


3. Acting: 8/10 The film had a competent cast.  Most of the actors were more or less in mid-career, and their filmographies continue well past this property.


4. Screenplay: 6/10 This was a rather ordinary entry.  It's sci-fi set underwater with some nasty creatures.  This one turns into a more or less by-the-numbers elimination derby, with none of the characters (except perhaps Snyder) showing any awareness of what was happening.  It was just not that interesting.