DeepStar Six (1989)

[Henry88]

how would you like your crab or more specifically how would the crab like you, the crab monsters looked great by the way.

[Dai]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, you get bitten in half by a crab.

I always thought this was the weakest of the late 80s glut of underwater SF movies. Leviathan was a more disturbing horror movie and The Abyss had a more compelling story.

[Jinzo Ningen]

One of my unashamed favorite 'guilty pleasure' movies. I liked this one better than Leviathan, actually. I think it was due more to the fact that this one's more of a 50's throwback, with touches of the 70's 'nature run amok' genre tossed in for good measure. The monster(s) while doofy at least looked more kaiju-esque, too. The Leviathan monster looked dumb and unscary, IMHO. And DeepStar also had a pretty amazing TV "C"-level cast, from Hill Street's Taurean Blacque to Riptide's Thom Bray, to a surprisingly decent turn by leading man, bearded B.J. McKay (sans 'The Bear'). And of course who could forget loose cannon Miguel Ferrar (RIP, buddy) doing his usual lovable A-hole extraordinaire routine.

My God, why hasn't someone (I'm looking at YOU, Scream Factory!) not remastered this and released it on hi-def Blu-ray with a bunch of fan-pleasing goodies?!?!?!?!?!?!? I'd love to see some interviews and/or a nice full-length audio commentary with the cast & crew. '

Summer popcorn frights-n-fun at its best. Ahhhh, good memories. (Now I've gotta dig out my crappy pan & scan DVD and watch it tonight!)

[Dai]

Yes, the creature's final form in Leviathan was a bit underwhelming, aside from the creepy detail of the still-living faces on its body. It was the body horror that made it more memorable for me. In The Thing, it was always ambiguous how much of the original person remained in the copy, but in Leviathan the person remained aware while their body was slowly taken over, which scared the hell out of me when I first saw it. The scene where a cut in someone's hand turns into a fang-filled mouth was especially memorable.

[Jinzo Ningen]

Yeah, I don't mean to slight LEVIATHAN, because I actually enjoy it, too. Just, as you say, the final creature was... underwhelming. The mouth was so fragile-looking, there's no way I'd be scarred of it hurting me from a bite. One smack from a rolled up newspaper would've likely broken its jaw. LOL. But the body horror aspect absolutely made up for any practical F/X shortcomings. And the film has a much more high-polished look, being from MGM and having more money thrown at it. Too bad the endings to both were almost identical as well. At least LEVIATHAN is on Blu-ray. *SIGH*

[Dai]

I was just looking into what home versions of these movies are available in the UK. Leviathan has never had a DVD or blu-ray release here, which surprised me a little. Deep Star Six had a DVD-only release from Momentum, but it's anamorphic widescreen, if you're looking for a slight upgrade and can play region 2 discs.

[O.Supreme]

I have seen all these films, and recognize The Abyss is so tonally different from DS6 and Leviathan, and yet because they came out all within eight months of each other, It still takes me a moment to sort out in my mind which is which...I just remember that Camerons film came last and he tried to do a major Sci-Fi epic, whereas the other two are straight up B-Movie horror, which is fine. .

[mr.negativity]