Leviathan (1989) – Review

Directed by George P. Cosmatos, this film takes viewers on an underwater adventure that attempted to combine the creature-feature thrills of John Carpenter’s Thing with that of claustrophobic tension of Ridley Scott’s Alien, in an underwater horror entry that, despite its viscous sea monsters who relentlessly stalk our valiant heroes, the true victim of this flick was originality.

Set in the not-so-distant future, the story revolves around a group of deep-sea miners working for a powerful corporation called Tri-Oceanic Corp. Our cast of characters includes crew Steven Beck (Peter Weller), ill-mannered Buzz “Sixpack” Parish (Daniel Stern), the film’s chief damsel-in-distress “Willie” Williams (Amanda Pays), next is the grizzled but lovable G. P. Cobb (Hector Elizondo), followed by the “I’m black and will definitely not survive this” Justin Jones (Ernie Hudson), next is Switzerland obsessed Tony “DeJesus” Rodero (Michael Carmine), and then there is the film’s other damsels Bowman (Lisa Eilbacher), unfortunately for her we can only have one Final Girl so she won’t survive either, and finally we have the crew’s doctor, Glen “Doc: Thompson (Richard Crenna), a man who may have heard of the Hippocratic Oath but only in passing.

“I don’t think this is a case of the flu.”

Their mission is to extract valuable resources from the ocean floor, however, what starts as a routine operation quickly turns into a nightmarish battle for survival when Sixpack accidentally discovers a mysterious sunken Soviet shipwreck and brings a little contraband back to their facility. Turns out that the sunken ship “Leviathan” was doing some experimenting on its unwitting crew with mutagens and genetic alterations and the ship was scuttled when an experiment went got out of control – which is to be expected whenever “mad science” is involved – and when Sixpack shares a flask of vodka he had snuck off the ship with Bowman, well, things go really bad rather quickly.  Now it’s a question as to who is infected.

“The rubber glove is for your protection.”

One of the main issues raised by critics is that Leviathan borrows heavily from other sci-fi and horror films, and one cannot deny that the film liberally borrows from Ridley Scott’s Alien and John Carpenter’s The Thing and that this derivative and unoriginal plot was an attempt to capitalize on the success of those movies and despite being a horror film, Leviathan struggles to maintain a consistently tense and suspenseful atmosphere. Once the horror element kicks into gear, with the remaining crewmembers trying to figure a way to the surface, complicated by the fact that company exec Ms. Martin (Meg Foster) has written them off and has already notified the authorities that all onboard have perished, which leaves our heroes left trying to find a way to fend off the monster before the facility implodes and Martin’s premature declaration is made fact.

“I’m definitely going to file a complaint with OSHA.”

Stray Observations:

• Leviathan was sandwiched between DeepStar Six and The Abyss, this film and was only one of six underwater films released in 1989, which certainly didn’t help things. It’s kind of the over-looked middle child.
• It’s never explained how the scuttling of the Russian ship would have stopped a genetic infection that causes the victim to morph into a creature that can survive underwater.
• The doctor has several mentions of insubordination in his file as well as the juicy fact that he created a serum that killed a few people, so exactly why would you want that guy on the bottom of the seafloor in a high-pressure environment?
• Six Pack is a crew member that is not only an HR disaster but he is a character who if not killed by the monster would mostly likely have been fragged by one of his crew mates before their tour was over.
• Tri-Oceanic Corp hiring people with questionable backgrounds and attitudes makes sense when you realize that one of the company execs is Evil-Lyn from Masters of the Universe.

This is what you get when you take referrals from Snake Mountain.

On the production side of things, the designs by Ron Cobb for the undersea mining rig are quite good and the practical effects overall do an excellent job of immersing the audience in the bleak and otherworldly setting, evoking a constant feeling of dread as the crew members face one gruesome and terrifying encounter after another. Then when it comes to the monster itself we have legendary Stan Winston on hand to deliver the goods, unfortunately, as good as Winston is at creating monsters the creature designs for Leviathan are not entirely unique and while they are visually horrifying at times they are more or less uninteresting when compared to other iconic movie monsters, and the film could have benefited from a bit more screen time for the monster, as its sporadic appearances occasionally leave the audience wanting more.

Note: The glimpses of the creature are done with either quick cuts or obscured by smoke and shadow. One must assume that the filmmakers were not all that confident in the monster’s appearance either.

At its core, Leviathan is not just a creature feature, but also an exploration of human nature under extreme circumstances. As the crew faces the unknown and grapples with their own fears and demons, however, the film does suffer from some pacing issues, with certain segments feeling slower than desired and certainly not helped forcing us to follow along with a rather bland cast of cliches. The character development could have been more robust, as some of the supporting characters lacked depth, making it harder for audiences to form a strong emotional connection with them, and caring who loves and who dies is kind of important in a horror/sci-fi film. Where it really falters is in its occasional reliance on familiar horror tropes and predictable plot developments as most of the scares on display here can be anticipated by any seasoned horror enthusiasts, which may reduce the impact of certain key moments.

“Not scared yet? Well, talk to the hand.”

In conclusion, Leviathan remains a funny if silly gem of 1980s sci-fi horror cinema and while it does manage to successfully blend some elements of suspense, terror, and psychological drama to create an atmospheric and gripping experience it didn’t achieve the same level of recognition as some of its contemporaries. Fans of this genre will find Leviathan to be a worthwhile and enjoyable watch if not all that groundbreaking. Prepare to be submerged into a world of fear and wonder as you accompany this brave crew on their spine-chilling voyage into the depths of the abyss.