This Monday Fred recommends: Deep Rising (1998)
It's been a little while since we've had a creature-feature on here. And what better one to come back to the genre than this film here!
Hijackers board a luxury ocean liner, but discover that the entire passengers and crew have mysteriously vanished. What caused their disappearance? But, more importantly, can the hijackers make it off the ship alive?
Much like Broken Arrow (1996) last time, this is just a solid movie for a good time! It's not a hidden classic of the genre, but if you're looking for a fun flick, look no further. This is a movie that knows exactly what it is and knows exactly how much tongue-in-cheek it should be, while also taking itself just seriously enough to solidify the threat.
And on that last point, this movie can be surprisingly gory in some spots. Nothing too gruesome, but just enough to earn itself that "R" rating. You have gooey dead bodies, an axe to the head and a quick scene of a guy having been partially digested! And the creature that does most of these things is great in terms of design, but unfortunately lacks in execution. They used CGI for the whole thing (as far as I'm aware) and...well, it didn't look great then and looks worse for wear now. Though, I suppose there's a charm to that; kind of like a homage to the 50s creature-features that came before. And no, I'm not going to spoil the creature here. Much like Tremors (1990), part of the fun is discovering that along with the characters! Though, I suppose the new cover art gives it away now, which is a shame. But since the original art (pictured above) tells you absolutely nothing about what the film is, I guess is why they changed it up.
The cast here is all pretty good as well! Treat Williams has a good unexpected every-man charm as the main hero, Finnegan. Kevin J. O'Connor adds a little more fun as Finnegan's right-hand man. Famke Janssen is good as a thief that managed to survive. And Wes Studi is always great to see and adds a little acting weight to the cast!
Behind the camera you have Stephen Sommers. And if you take nothing else away from this film, just view it as a template he would later use on The Mummy (1999)! It's all there: the likable characters, the menacing threat, the spotty CGI in some places (LOL!).
Needless to say, if you enjoy Tremors (1990) or The Mummy (1999), you're going to have a good time here.
Have you seen Deep Rising (1998)? Has it been awhile since you did? If you haven't, did you like it? Let me know in the comments below!
Until next time I hope everyone has a great day!
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