Deep Rising (1998)

 

Sometimes, it takes a while for a film to be recognized as a lot of fun because sometimes, people assume certain films take themselves too seriously. 'Deep Rising' is a good example of this. Directed by Stephen Sommers, the man who would later give us the highly entertaining 'The Mummy' reboot (the one with Brendan Fraser), 'Deep Rising' is a horror adventure that never takes itself too seriously and just provides the audience with some fun chills and thrills. 

Is it mindless? Pretty much, but it is one heck of a good time if you're up for some monster action. 

During the maiden voyage of the massive cruiseliner Argonautica, a shady person sabotages the entire high tech system, leaving the vessel blind and helpless in the water. However, something is coming up from the deep, as this film makes no qualms about letting you know there are things in the water that go 'Bump!' at night. 

In the meantime, a specialized speedboat driven by Finnegan (a wonderfully campy Treat Williams) is heading out towards the cruiseship, even if Finnegan has no idea why his passengers want to go there. You take one look at these guys and you know they are pirates, but Finnegan decided not to ask questions. However, the pirates take over his ship (of course) and then enter the Argonautica together with Finnegan and his mechanic Joey. They find no one until they run into Trillian (Famke Janssen), apparently the only survivor. But there are a few more, as it turns out. 

To cut a long story short, the ship has been invaded by a massive version of a deep sea creature, a type of worm. They call it a member of the Ottoia-family. It's based on a real worm that has a nasty mouth and catches small prey from an ambush but here, they blew it up to gigantic size because of course. Now it's pretty much a race to the end and one by one our team gets diminished (as in: eaten). 

Yes, it's the 'Alien'-idea mixed with some action, oneliners and a bit of comedy. But instead of that absolute classic, this one is all about the entertainment and less about giving you the willies. Yes, there are some icky scenes and left and right there is gruesome imagery (the melting pirate is one that sticks out) but for the most part this is just plain fun. You can tell that a lot of the actors are having a blast with it and they all are in on the silliness of it all. This is what Stephen Sommers does so well: imbue his adventures with that sense of fun again, no matter how terrifying the situation might become. 

Granted, the CG is clearly from the late 90s and doesn't always hold up all that well, especially on a higher range television, but that is surely a nitpick if there ever was one. Now it just depends on how much you can stomach Kevin J O'Connor, as his voice and mannerisms do tend to become rather grating after a while. 

In the mood for a fun ride with some gooey stuff? Then look no further than this film, which feels like it was pitch perfect for late night drive-in showings.