MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Movie Review - Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood

Bordello of Blood might be my teenage dream, because I remember watching this movie quite a few times when it was on cable TV. Though when it aired on television, it was super-edited and none of the boobs from the bordello were on display, so there was always a tease of maybe seeing something even though you knew you wouldn't. The movie itself hasn't held up as well to scrutiny after watching it later in life; I thought I remember it being more substantial and better-paced, but that's just the error of nostalgia getting in the way of things again.

Dennis Miller stars as Rafe, a down-and-out private dick looking for work in a police station, no less. He stumbles upon a young woman named Katherine (Erika Eleniak) who is trying to find her missing brother after he went out for a night of drinking and never came back. He decides to help this woman, probably more because of the shape of her legs than any vested interest he has in it, so he heads to the last place the kids were seen - a funeral home that apparently doubles as a bordello. Inside, he finds a couple of stiffs and lots of bodacious babes, and he even notices that most of these dudes are probably going to be killed off in some way and then sent to the cemetery to be buried with a dead person who has a service at the funeral home. No wonder those caskets are so heavy.

It turns out that a woman named Lilith (Angie Everhart), who Bordello of Blood tries to make into the same Lilith of the Bible, has come back from the dead thanks to the same key from Demon Knight. With her heart stitched back together, she lives again to eat other people's hearts and to turn them into vampires that prep horny little boys before she eats them.

If you're a fan of Miller, you'll love all of the sarcastic jibes that he throws out in Bordello of Blood. He's got some witty one-liners, and he's the main reason why the film is so much fun. But that's also due to a couple of the secondary characters as well, namely Jenkins (Kim Kondrashoff), who advises everyone who hangs out at the bar that he knows where they can get the best "gayaw damn pussy." Chris Sarandon and Corey Feldman, expert vampire celebrities, also show up in some memorable scenes - Sarandon plays the over-anxious reverend Current, preaching the gospel and enunciating the vowel sounds of all of his words, and Feldman is simply himself in a Lost Boys phase.

But Everheart is quite terrible as Lilith - she couldn't act her way out of a casket, and it's often painful to hear her go at one-liners like there's a frog in her throat, attempting to nail a sultry monotone and totally failing. She's just not very good at the part, and it's sort of strange that the filmmakers wanted to cast her in a starring role rather than one of the other girls.

The plot is also pretty bare bones. One minute the characters are trying to piece together how a funeral home and murders mix, then they're suddenly in on the vampire charade and head to the rescue sporting water guns filled with holy water. How did they know this would work, and what made them think it was a good idea? The whole plot tends to linger in its first hour, unsure of whether to focus on the religious overtones or if the film should just get on with the story, and it leaves Bordello of Blood in a somewhat tedious stalemate of trying to do both at the same time.

Still, there's a lot to appreciate here, like the subtle jabs of humor that Miller throws out and the ridiculous amount of explosions and gore on display in the last few minutes of the film. That, and, you know, lots and lots of boobs thanks to nearly every female extra going topless. This is a B-movie, after all, and Tales from the Crypt never misses an opportunity to show some mammaries.

Bordello of Blood hasn't held up as well over time, and it's a film that's often full of bad acting and a terribly cliched plot. Despite the hang-ups, though, a solid performance from Dennis Miller means anyone looking for some snarky humor will fall in love with his character. That right there is the reason I continue to come back to the film again and again. Angie Everhart, though, sends shivers down my spine because of her terrible acting. It's at least a one-time watch, but it doesn't have enough heart to suck in many fans.

Tales from the Crypt: Bordell of Blood on Rotten Tomatoes

Television Review - The Following: "The Siege"/"The Fall"/"Let Me Go"

The race is on to find Joey, the son of serial killer Joe Carroll and his ex-wife Claire. He's been stolen by a motley threesome of strange characters who follow Carroll's every whim, but they're having some troubles of their own - Jacob and Paul had a gay relationship going on, but Jacob loves Emma, and Emma loves to boss both of them around, and Jacob has never killed anyway - so it's obvious that things aren't going exactly as Carroll had planned.

Or aren't they? In "The Siege", things go awry for the group when Ryan stumbles upon the farmhouse where they're keeping Joey, and in "The Fall" Ryan is taken hostage by the three. That's got to be worth something, even if Ryan does escape; he lets Emma and Joey slip away after an elaborate ruse concocted and carried out by Carroll from prison brings help to Emma's rescue.

And Carroll has been using his lawyer Olivia Warren (Renee Goldsberry) to leak information to his followers. He's got everything in place, and the contingency plan is actually pretty awesome in its scope. There are literally hundreds of followers out there waiting to help Carroll out in any way possible, and they're primed at the drop of a couple of phrases from a Poe poem. One of them is Charlie (Tom Lipinski), who is meant to kidnap Claire and bring her to Joey as part of a rendezvous; later on it becomes clear that the entire family was supposed to be reunited.

Throughout these three episodes of The Following, I found myself surprised at how brutal the whole thing really is. Not elegantly so, mind you, but rough around the edges in a way that makes it even more sinister. Olivia reveals through the slight act of writing a note that she has lost a couple of her fingers to one of Carroll's games, and even though she probably doesn't want to work for Carroll as his lawyer, she must or risk her life or a couple more appendages at the very least.

The same goes for the torture sequences of The Following, when Paul keeps a girl locked up in the farmhouse basement. They're toying with her, making her wonder when she will die, and that's probably not an intentional fear that the show is creating but it's there all the same. Nothing is very tactful in The Following, though - everything is super visceral, right out for the viewer to see, that sometimes it's hard to imagine that Ryan and company are really falling for these tricks.

But it makes sense, because the characters make a lot of dumb mistakes. Claire, even though she knows it's ridiculous and stupid and even quite hopeless, decides to meet with Carroll's follower, only to be abducted and held as sort of collateral for Joey. And Ryan, always the hero, decides to go into the farmhouse on his own, where he is beaten up, held hostage, and nearly causes the death of an innocent girl.

Oh yeah, and Joey is pretty much a non-existant human being. So what if the kid's only 8 years old? I don't think that he would overhear a conversation about killing people, then decide that they're pretty okay people. The Following makes Joey into an inept character, which makes it really hard to feel for his capture, and this is especially true if the show wants us to be appalled that they're turning him into a serial killer.

At the end of "Let Me Go," we see a whole network of followers pouring out of a hideaway as Joe Carroll makes his triumphant return home after a break from prison. The show has often tried to explain this - apparently there's an Internet website or something - but there's no possible way that Carroll has had this effect on everyone simply by his legacy. The show has given us a few examples of why certain people are so attached to Carroll - he helped them kill their mother, he helped them through their depression, he understands them - but all of these other people seem like shrouds of characters. Who are they, and how could this network possibly work?

These episodes do focus on some of the minor characters, however. We get a flashback into Parker's (Annie Parisse) home life before she became a detective, and there's a surprise attack on Mike (Shawn Ashmore) that's abrupt and strangely affecting. But The Following is already resorting to using the same tricks. Another cop is a plant. It worked the first time, but not this time.

The Following is sort of a free-for-all; it's not really well-written or full of pathos, but it's pretty fun in a nonsensical way that circumvents all of that boring stuff about drama and tension and gets right to the action. That means that it's quite lacking in some departments, but as long as it continues its gruesome tone, along with the ridiculous plot lines that stide the line between ridiculously stupid and humorously fascinating, it's a show that's a guilty pleasure.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Movie Review - Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight is a film you might have caught on SyFy back in the day (well, then it was probably Sci-Fi) - they used to show it all the time, along with Bordello of Blood. Demon Knight has all of the signs of being simply an extended cut of a Crypt episode, even opening and ending with the theme song music and journey through the Cryptkeeper's house. And even though Crypt was nearly at its end in 1995 when this film released, it still manages to capture the essence of the tale.

William Sadler stars as Brayker, a man on the lam who is being chased down by the mysterious man known only as The Collector (Billy Zane). Sadler also starred in the first episode of Tales from the Crypt, "The Man Who Was Death", and his appearance here is a welcome one because his acting is so quirky and characterized by odd facial expressions. So too is Zane; he actually gets to be the more humorous character in Demon Knight, even though he is the ultimate bad guy. Brayker stumbles upon a small town and a run-down hotel in the middle of nowhere after being rundown by the Collector; he crashes at the place with a few other misfits until the cops come hunting him down because of a car accident he was involved in.

The Collector's hot on the heels, and he really wants his precious key back. It's an antique, he says, though it's carved and gilted and holds some of the blood of Christ. Soon, the Collector reveals himself for what he really is - a demon who wants the key because it'll cause some sort of terrible consequence for humanity, ushering in an earthly hell. Brayker is the man who must stop him from getting his hands on the key, but he's also got a lot of hostages to deal with along with some nasty demon baddies with glowing green eyes.

Director Ernest R. Dickerson gets what makes a Tales From the Crypt episode so entertaining: B-movie acting, boobs, goopy blood, and lots of ridiculous humor. He throws it at us in spades in Demon Knight, and the whole first sequence of the film is just an elaborate ruse to give us some double-D boobs before prompting the Cryptkeeper to show up. A lot of the film is in excess, but that's what the show revels in. The whole atmosphere is farcically moody, a traditional dark and stormy night setting that never lets up.

Demon Knight also features some of the craziest ways to defeat demons ever, too. You must shoot them in their green eyes. Miss, and you're probably going to get your heart eaten out by the demon's snakelike tongue, although that only seems to happen some of the time. Or you might get your head punched in. There aren't many rules to the film, and that means the viewer is going to have a lot of fun with the storyline even if it doesn't always jive. 

The whole thing is just a mess of gross, pulpy violence and humor. Zane has a ball here, pouring on a southern drawl, then shaking it off again as a casual businessman looking to make a good deal with anyone who wants to hand over the key. Short vignettes highlight each character's paradise; Zane gets to ham it up, and Dickerson gets to include several well-endowed naked ladies. Everyone wins.

Demon Knight is a film that is really hard to gripe about. Sure, it's often stretching its bounds as a full-length feature, and it doesn't do a very good job establishing realism within its plot. It doesn't even do a good job explaining what the demons are or why one person has to stop them. But Tales from the Crypt's best episodes haven't needed to establish a solid realistic plot. Instead, they throw up some gory fun for the horror fan, and that's just what you'll find in Demon Knight. Except this time, the tale's a bit longer and armed with a little more money.

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight on Rotten Tomatoes

You finally get to show off your muscles, ladies and gents: enter the "Are You As Tough As Seagal" contest for DEADLY CROSSING

The new Steven Seagal movie Deadly Crossing just released last Tuesday. It's about a dude who beats people up, and said dude is Steven Seagal, who leads a bunch of undercover cops in a fight against an undercover drug operation. It sounds like a familiar premise, but that doesn't mean that it's not worth checking out on Redbox - and you can head over to your local machine to pick up the film today for a meager $1.30.

But before you go watch the film (or maybe after if your adrenaline is pumping), make sure you snap a picture of yourself looking tougher than Seagal. Maybe you want to wear that T-shirt that makes your muscles look like camel lumps. Maybe you've got a toy gun (that you won't use to shoot down innocent people in a public place, mind you) that you could pose with.

Whatever you do, send it over to the Deadly Crossing Facebook page and share it around to get votes. First place gets an Aikido Gi (if you know what that is, then you deserve to win!), second gets a wooden bokken, and third gets a set of MMA gloves. Kick-ass!

Entries end June 10.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Melissa of Melissa's Imaginarium throws up a werewolf double feature!

I love giving people free rein to cover what they want. Melissa over at Melissa's Imaginarium didn't just cover one horror film - she took it upon herself to focus on two short reviews! The Howling and The Wolfman (the remake, not the original) are two very different films; here, she delves into both side by side.

The Howling (1981)

Directed by Joe Dante and based on the novel by Gary Brandner, The Howling tells the story of reporter Karen White, who is stalked by serial killer Eddie Quist. When she attempts to lure him into a trap, Eddie is shot by police and Karen is subsequently traumatized. As part of her recovery, Karen's therapist sends her to The Colony, a remote resort where he sends his more troubling patients to recover. She soon discovers that the residents are in fact a pack of werewolves, of which Eddie had been a member.

Full of bizarre characters, insider werewolf jokes and really cool transformation fx, this is a movie that remains my favorite werewolf movie of them all. Robert Picardo delivers a menacing performance as Eddie Quist while Dee Wallace shines as the tragic Karen. I adored the supporting cast which includes several staple monster movie character actors like Patrick Macnee, Slim Pickens, John Carradine and Christopher Stone as well as Dante muse, Belinda Balaski. Thirty years on and it is still quite entertaining.

The Wolfman (2010)

Actor Lawrence Talbot returns to his family estate to solve the disappearance of his brother and discovers a terrifying beast is killing the locals, When he is attacked and nearly killed, he finds that he has become the monster.

I get a lot of grief for this one and I don't care. This is bar none, one of the best werewolf movies I've seen. Being a huge fan of Curt Siodmak's original 1944 script, I feel this film is the perfect creepy, brooding successor to that film, going places where they could not back then. Benecio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving are outstanding. Art Malik is of particular note, though, as Sir John's manservant, who is caught up in the horror, trying desperately to keep the evil at bay, all the while knowing it is slipping its leash. The cinematography is wonderfully stylish and menacing, with lots of excellent shadow and darkness scenes. The fx, while a bit off in places, are cool. I especially love the transformation in the mental hospital.

The unrated version of this film is the best way to see it. it includes many scenes that were cut from the film, like a hellish scene in Hyde Park where the werewolf attacks at a  conservatory.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Book Review - Revenge by Yoko Ogawa

Despite the title, Revenge isn't a collection of stories about an explicit act against someone else. Yoko Ogawa doesn't write like that, and it would be a surprise if her stories were so aggressively to-the-point. Ogawa's prose is elegant and mysterious, often heavy on the metaphors and veiled subtext. Revenge's characters are as fragile as the symbolism that Ogawa uses in her stories; the eleven dark tales told in this collection of short stories are not stand-alone shorts but interconnected memoirs of people who have broken from their realities. The stories have dream-like qualities to them, often surreal in scope, and they all weave together like a bloodstained tapestry.

The connection between the tales is often as simple as a passing mention of a character from the previous story, or it could incorporate elements important to both. Unlike many short story compilations, readers of Revenge should not pick and choose what to read first. It's important to open Revenge as though it is a full-length novel, because the stories work best the way they are sequenced by Ogawa. Otherwise, readers might be a little discouraged by the way each ends, nearly incomplete.

Ogawa's prose is solid and brisk, almost always written in first-person perspective. The characters' voices are similar but never the same - it creates a bridge between each person without making them feel like the same person throughout each story. Revenge is a quick and easy read on the surface, but the difficulty of the stories lies in their subtext; what is written on the page is not always the explicit meaning of Ogawa's sentences, and there's a mystery lying within every word she writes.

These stories are often character-driven, and they hinge on the choices of those characters. Ogawa only gives a short time to develop them, but the suspense is drawn from not really knowing them at all. The only thing we know are their impulsive actions, like deciding to murder a doctor or cutting out the heart of a woman who decided not to have a bag made for it. Ogawa drapes the tales in reality, but they're often always nearly venturing into fantasy as well. In this regard, there's never really a sense of what is true and what is fictional.

As I said before, the stories on their own aren't nearly as effective as when they're paired together, and Revenge is probably best read all at once. It's not asking for a lot of time - the book is less than 200 pages, and they fly by. The only problem might be getting yourself to sit down for the task - the book is often grim and disturbing, depressing in its frailty. The allusions to fruit throughout only enhance that sense of fragility; there's a feeling that at any time, the whole thing could unravel in an unkempt pile of string, leaving all of the characters grasping at air.

But the book's not for everyone; some might find it hard to connect with the piecemeal stories, and it's somewhat jarring at first to see how Ogawa leaves some of the stories. But as the book progresses, it becomes clear that we are glimpsing surreal moments in the lives of otherwise normal people, trapped in a world where vengeance or guilt has driven them into someplace less stable. That's probably why there's such a tremor of collapse running throughout the stories, a fault line threatening to rock the earth below us at any time.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Catch my review of DEEPSTAR SIX over on Horrornews.net

For those new to the blog, I also occasionally contribute reviews to Horrornews.net. This week kind of happened coincidentally - for May Monster Madness I was able to watch DeepStar Six! It's a good film, and it really focuses on the underwater aspect of its plot. Check out my review over there!

Also, I'm looking to contribute to more websites if you'd like to have me. Let me know through comment or email at rynepbarber@gmail.com.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN! Eric of Guts and Grog visits with THE MANSON FAMILY

Eric Martin of Guts and Grog had the awesome opportunity to head out and see a 35 mm screening of The Manson Family, and instead of posting his experience on his own awesome website, he was kind enough to contribute a review to Mayoween. Eric's been a regular contributor over here, and his work is always excellent - even when drunk. Here, he explores the serial killer Charles Manson, fascinated by the killer's story.

When I saw that "The Moon is a Dead World" was doing Mayoween I had to be involved. I had a blast doing the Halloween fifteen back in October, and always enjoy working with my horror brethren. Well, this time it was our choice, and not a designated film. That is great, but where do I start? So many angles. So many great films that I feel like not enough people pay attention to. I scanned my head(which is terrifying) and dabbled with ideas of touching on a lost eighties classic, or an indie film that not many had heard of. I then realized that one of my favorite films of all time was touring the country in a glorious 35mm print. I saw it was playing here in Portland so I figured, problem solved.

That movie is Jim Van Bebber's classic "The Manson Family." I first head about "The Manson Family" back in roughly 2003 when I read Chas Balun's "Beyond Horror Holocaust." At this point it was called "Charlies Family" and was still not available in any real capacity. There were some bootlegs out there, but nothing I was able to get my hands on. I ended up pickingup an illustrated screenplay to it, and that was great, but I wanted to see this damn movie.

Finally in 2004 I found out it was gonna hit DVD. Not only was it finally coming out, but he was going to film some new footage and flesh it out a bit. I was intrigued. Well, after what felt like a Christ age of waiting I went and picked up the DVD as soon as I woke up on that Tuesday morning. I took it home and popped it in the player and sat back and had my brains blown out with awesome.

There have been many films made about the Manson exploits. I have spent most of my life intrigued by serial killers, so I have seen and read pretty much everything I could about the sickness that happened those two nights in 69. There are many things that set "The Manson Family" apart from all the rest. A big one is that it is directed by Van Bebber, so it has a style that only he could create. I love his work. "Deadbeat at Dawn" and "My Sweet Satan" both blew me away. I am a huge fan of the sleazy New York films of the eighties, and I always think of Van Bebber as one of the main names in this genre along with Henenlotter, Giovinazzo, and even Scorsese. Another thing is that Van Bebber used the story as a model, and plenty of it is factual, but he also took lots of liberties, and has been pretty open about that. I remember reading that he didn't want to interview any of them. He just made it his own.

Most of the film takes place during 69 as we see the family hanging out, fucking, taking many drugs, and killing a few folks. This is inter cut with a TV producer who is putting together a documentary on the family. At the same time this is happening a bunch of drugged up kids who love Manson are creating their own plan.

Now lets get back to the style. This thing is dripping with style, and blood of course. There are some truly sick moments here, but they are filmed in such way that you forget and just get sucked in. Every time I watch this my eyes are glued to the screen.

When he filmed the extra footage it had been more than a decade, so everyone looked older. This played to his advantage as it plays out like a documentary with flashbacks. So when everyone is being interviewed in prison, they actually have aged quite a bit. This is the kind of thing you can't plan, unless you are the most patient mother fucker in the world.

As I mentioned earlier I was able to see a 35mm screening of this. I have watched this film many times as I also stated earlier, and this was a great experience. I saw it at The Clinton Street Theater which is Portland's very own Grindhouse. It was a perfect way to see it. When I got there it was dead silent. I bought my ticket and my popcorn and entered the theater. The only other person in the theater was asleep, not just nodding off, but passed out like me after a night of debauchery. I love this theater. The seats are pretty uncomfortable, there is a hole in the screen, and you feel like you are probably walking on fluids you wish you weren't. This was a perfect way to see this film, for roughly my fiftieth viewing.

"The Manson Family" is a truly unique film. It took over a decade to make. Everyone involved put their all into it. The effects are great, the acting is overall pretty excellent for a film with no "professional" actors, and the music is perfect. I have seen it a ton of times, and that won't change anytime soon. In fact I woke up this morning to my limited edition of a hundred copies VHS that I ordered, so it looks like it's time to watch it again.

Television Review - Bates Motel: "The Truth"/"The Man in Number 9"

Bates Motel has moved slowly but surely throughout its plot so far in season one. We started out moving into the hotel with Norman and Norma, then we had a murder and a subsequent criminal investigation. With "The Truth", we move away from that area a little bit because things get shifted around quite a bit. The Asian sex slave has come to be a powerful ploy in the plot, and it changes the whole course of where Bates Motel was moving towards.

That's because Zack Shelby gets a reckoning in this episode. The man had been keeping the girl locked up in his basement, locked up on his boat, and once Norma found out about the whole thing, she began to move steadily away from the man. There's a huge shift in power here; now that Norma knows, she can make an informed decision about the man's character, and also move against him to get back the belt that he found in Norman's room.

That they do, and Dylan and Norman get a little bonding time as they head out to the boat to find the belt hidden in a secret compartment. Problem solved - now the murder investigation has no evidence. But Shelby stumbles upon his captive girl at the hotel, and all hell breaks loose. He begins to hold everyone hostage, threatening to kill anyone who gets in his way. Dylan comes to the rescue with some bold moves - it's in his character, and the show has been working him up this way for a while now with his job in the drug trade.

It's surprising that Bates Motel ended the whole investigation so soon, though. And "The Man in Number 9" wraps up the tension very quickly. Sheriff Romero, the dude who has been giving Norma such a hard time throughout her stay in town, easily writes off the murder of Shelby without even questioning anything. What if the whole thing had been an elaborate set-up? It doesn't really make sense, since Romero hasn't been the type of guy to shrug anything off in the past. It feels like Bates Motel backed itself into a corner, and the writers needed to get out of it fast.

Still, the show is swiftly moving somewhere. Now that the murder investigation is concluded, Norma is free to focus on the actual motel business - something that has been significantly lacking from a show titled Bates Motel. She starts networking throughout town, but no one really wants to help publicize a place that has been under so much scrutiny.

But a man named Abernathy (Jere Burns, fresh off of Justified) comes snooping around, wanting to know why his previous arrangement with the other owner of the motel, Keith, hasn't been honored - he has an open invitation to stay in room 9. He says he's a salesman, but his mysterious attitude is only heightened by the fact that he's a good friend of the pervy, rapey Keith.

Jere Burns is seriously great in the role, and when he asks for the whole block of rooms to be reserved for him and his coworkers, one can only imagine what kind of dark deeds might be going on in there. A massive orgy? A drug cartel? Who knows! But that's what makes Abernathy such a great character, even if he's rarely onscreen and little information has been divulged.

As the title suggests, the truth also comes out about how Norman's father died, as well as the relationship between Norman and Bradley. I don't want to give anything away, though, so we'll save discussions on that for later episodes. Also surprising is a scene involving a dog that Norman has taken a liking to. It seems obvious at first what's going to happen to it; it's no surprise that serial killers start out by killing animals. But that isn't the case here, and Bates Motel throws a curveball at the viewer by shaking their expectations up a little bit.

Everything is proceeding nicely, even though it does feel like Norman and Norma are getting off a little easy with the murder thing. But thankfully, the motel is now open for business, and it looks like it will be attracting all kinds of unsavory guests. That's going to be important going into the show's final episodes for the season, and I can't wait to see where we end up.

MAYBE IT'S MAYOWEEN/MAY MONSTER MADNESS: Movie Review - Leviathan

So you're looking to make a cool horror film. Where do you begin? Well, you could riff off of the major slashers of the '80s, but in 1989 that might have been too overpopulated and the genre was already beginning to wane. You could do vampires, but Fright Night and The Lost Boys were still fresh in the minds of horror viewers. But wait a second: it's been almost ten years since Alien and The Thing, and The Thing was pretty freaking cool. And it was set in the Antarctic, too, so it had great atmosphere. What if we made a film just like The Thing, except this time it's undersea!

That little scene is probably just what happened during the discussion panel for Leviathan, because for all intents and purposes Leviathan is nearly identical to The Thing except it's set in a submarine instead of in the biting cold, and it doesn't have Kurt Russell's beard icicles. Even so, Leviathan owes nearly all of its ideas to John Carpenter's classic.

Set aboard a deep sea sub working at a silver mine for 90 days, Leviathan begins during the crew's final work days. A shift change is coming, and they're only days away from returning to the surface for some much needed R&R. The motley crew is led by Beck (Peter Weller), a geologist thrown into a position he's not really ready for just because he seems to know what he's doing. He struggles to corral his group: he's got Sixpack (Daniel Stern in a pre-Home Alone role that foreshadows what's to come for the Sticky Bandit), a pervy dude who gropes the women and steals the liquor; Doc (Richard Crenna), the insubordinate doctor who forgets to watch the group during a harrowing ordeal; and then of course there's the lovely chick Willie (Amanda Pays) who brings it all together.

The crew stumble upon a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea; the boat's Russian, with the name "Leviathan" scrawled upon it. And the crew decide to investigate, finding a box full of treasure inside the wreckage. Included is a bottle of vodka and a flask of alcohol - from here, it's pretty obvious what'll happen, and I'm sure you can guess that the alcohol is tainted with a mutating parasite that infects each crew member, genetically altering them into a twisted, tentacled monstrosity.

Leviathan's entire plot is fairly obvious, and that's one of the reasons why it hasn't really been well received since its release. In 1989 it was already too much like Alien for its own good; it even has a chest-bursting scene, though you can be sure it's not as good. It also suffers from poorer characterization; while The Thing focused on paranoia since none of the group could be sure who the alien inhabited, Leviathan plays it pretty straightforward. It's obvious who is infected, and there's nothing to keep the crew on their toes besides a clever scene where a body that's supposed to be dead rolls over.

The special effects aren't the greatest either, and when the alien beings actually come out to play, there's a lot of laughable moments where the "monster" lacks gusto. Part of the problem is that Leviathan never uses the underwater scenes to its advantage; once the alien attacks, Leviathan could be set in the same spaceship that Alien uses, because all of the industrial metal looks exactly the same whether it's underwater or in space.

With that said, if you enjoy those other movies than Leviathan wouldn't be a bad choice for viewing; sure it's a less effective knock off, but there's a reason these creature features are one of the best in the genre. Even if Leviathan doesn't do it as well, it's still good enough to warrant a journey down to the bottom of the sea at least once; think of it is a genetically mutated Alien, only of worse quality.

Leviathan on Rotten Tomatoes