The Host 2006
June is Aquatic Horror Month for Retro Reviews as we Highlight Our Favorite Creatures from the Deep
The theme for our Retro Reviews for June will be Aquatic Horror to kick off the summer season. I wanted to dive into some of my favorite and lesser-known creatures from the deep movies. Therefore, here is an array of titles that feature all sorts of underwater nightmares from deep-sea monsters, alligators of unusual size, Lovecraftian monstrosities, and chemically altered ocean life.
What better way to start the swimming season than to frighten you from ever stepping foot in the water again. You’ll note that I left off anything shark-related, this is on purpose. Stay tuned in July and we might just have a whole slew of shark films to review.
[Related] ‘Shark Bait’ Review: It’s ‘Open Water’ Meets ‘Jaws’ in this Spring Break Creature Feature
Leviathan
This Aquatic Horror premiered in 1989 and starred Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Ernie Hudson, Amanda Pays and Daniel Stern. Perched on the hull of a wrecked Soviet freighter, a team of deep-sea miners led by head oceanographer Steven Beck comes face to face with a mutant creature. Leviathan is currently available to rent on Prime Video.
Lake Placid
Starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt, and Betty White. When a mysterious creature violently kills a man in a Maine lake, Jack Wells (Pullman), the local game warden, looks into the bizarre case, along with Sheriff Hank Keough (Gleeson) and visiting paleontologist Kelly Scott (Fonda). Along the way they discover a giant animal that shouldn’t be able to survive in the lake.
Tentacles
Tentacles is a film from 1977 that stars John Huston, Shelly Winters and Bo Hopkins. When numerous people go missing in a seaside resort town, reporter Ned Turner (Huston) helps to uncover the reason — a gigantic rampaging octopus. As the eight-legged monster continues to terrorize the coast, marine biologist Will Gleason (Hopkins) attempts to devise a way to stop the octopus before more tourists fall victim to the creature. Meanwhile, it appears that a corporation headed by Mr. Whitehead (Fonda) may be connected to the cephalopod’s violent behavior.
Deep Rising
A newly unveiled ocean liner, the Argonautica sets out on its first cruise, only to encounter dangers both on board and in the ocean depths. While the beautiful thief Trillian attempts to steal riches from the boat’s wealthy passengers, the ship encounters major problems, most notably a giant murderous sea creature with tentacles. Starring Treat Williams, Famke Janssen and Anthony Heald.
Cold Skin
A young man arrives at a remote island to take a post of weather observer only to find himself defending the watchtower from deadly creatures which live in the island shores. Ray Stevensen, David Oakes and Aura Garrido star in Cold Skin now available to stream on Tubi.
Dagon
A boating accident runs a young man and woman ashore in a decrepit Spanish fishing town which they discover is in the grips of an ancient sea god and its monstrous half human offspring. Dagon (2001) stars Ezra Godden, Francisco Rabal and Raquel Merono.
Underwater
This surprisingly good 2020 film stars Kristen Stuart, Vincent Cassel, Mamoudou Athie, and TJ Miller. Disaster strikes more than six miles below the ocean surface when water crashes through the walls of a drilling station. Led by their captain, the survivors realize that their only hope is to walk across the sea floor to reach the main part of the facility. But they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when they come under attack from mysterious and deadly creatures that no one has ever seen.
Deep Star Six
A group of U.S. Navy engineers, led by Capt. Laidlaw (Taurean Blacque), are building an underwater base when they inadvertently disturb the lair of a gigantic creature. After the exterior is breached, the increasingly desperate people become separated from one another, and the creature begins to pick them off one by one.
The Host
Before Bong Joon-ho hit the big with Parasite, his 2006 film The Host made waves across South Korea. Careless American military personnel dump chemicals into South Korea’s Han River. Several years later, a creature emerges from the tainted waters and sinks its ravenous jaws into local residents. When the creature abducts their daughter, a vendor (Song Kang-ho) and his family decide that they are the only ones who can save her.
If you’re excited about Aquatic Horror month of June, let us know in the comments, and stay tuned to ScaryNerd for these reviews coming soon.
About Post Author
K.B. O’Neil is an artist, writer and musician living in Cincinnati, Ohio. He loves movies, books, video games, snuggling his two pups and all things Horror. When not working he can be found getting into adventures with his wife and their new daughter.
Shock Waves (1977)