Retro Horror Review ‘DeepStar Six’: A Giant Sea Monster Crashes an Underwater Naval Base

In the summer of 1989, Batman fever took hold of the nation, but it was also the year of the underwater horror/ thriller. Movies such as The Abyss,  Leviathan and DeepStar Six took audiences to the ocean depths to reveal the wonder and horrors of the big blue. The third is the lesser-known of the aquatic horrors of the late 80s, despite being directed by the creator of Friday the 13th, Sean S. Cunningham. 

DeepStar Six was written by Lewis Abernathy and Geof Miller and starred Greg Evigan (House of the Damned), Nancy Everhard (The Punisher), Matt McCoy (Hand That Rocks The Cradle), Cindy Pickett (Sleepwalkers), Marius Weyers (The Gods Must Be Crazy), and a personal favorite Miguel Ferrer (The Stand).

With less than a week to go after spending six months on the ocean floor, the US Naval facility DeepStar Six crew are finalizing their setup for a nuclear missile storage platform. When they discover a series of caverns beneath their site, project leader Van Gelder (Weyers) orders depth charges to be deployed to fill in the caves. Scarpelli (Nia Peeples, Fame) objects as there could be undiscovered life forms. 

A massive fissure opens in the sea floor after the explosion, and an unmanned probe is sent down to survey the damage. When it goes offline mysteriously, two mini-sub pilots go in to retrieve it, and all contact is lost from them as well. While trying to contact the sub from their observation pod, Collins (Everhard) and geologist Burciaga (Elya Baskin, Spider-Man 2) are attacked by an unknown aggressor. 

McBride (Evigan), the unit’s hunky sub pilot, manages to pulls Collins out from the pod before it topples to the ocean depths, killing their Captain. With the remaining crew prepping to abandon the project, the nuclear warheads need to be secured before leaving. When Synder (Ferrer) misinterprets the ship’s protocol, he accidentally detonates the nukes. Thus damaging the facility, cutting off the cooling systems, life support, and decompression capabilities. 

The movie now becomes a race against time to repair what they can to keep them alive long enough to escape the ensuing nuclear reactor meltdown. One problem the crew forgot about was the giant Eurypterid monster hunting them. As it picks them off one by one, they’ll need to get creative if they plan on leaving the ocean depths before the reactor goes nuclear. That or becoming lunch.

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DeepStar Six is billed as a monster movie, but sometimes you forget about it as so much of the drama and damage isn’t caused by the monster but human error. In a sense, it’s much more of a disaster movie than a creature feature. Faulty hatches, and Snyder himself kill more people than the creature. There is an Alien vibe, which so many ensemble movies of this kind have mimicked. However, I appreciated how the equipment and vehicles feel lived in and worn. It always grounds the setting and puts a real-world feel into the environment, lending authenticity to the storytelling. 

What sets DeepStar Six apart from another kind of ‘trapped with a monster’ movie is the empathy in the characters. When someone dies, they take a beat to mourn them, at least at the beginning of the narrative. Even in the best kill of the movie, when sea pilot Jim Richardson (McCoy) gets bitten in half. Despite the gore and chaos, they take a beat to show the anguish on his girlfriend’s part. You don’t often see that in most horror films, but it adds weight and meaning to the loss.

Despite the low budget and race to come out first, as two other sea movies were competing for the first release; the movie doesn’t look or feel cheap. It doesn’t have any “stars” in it, but the cast feels natural and does a fine job even though many don’t get as much screen time as the others. Miguel Ferrer is the standout as the surly tech Synder. For better or worse, he is a large part of the plot, showing the anguish and inner turmoil for causing such destruction. He is also someone trying to present this bravado front but is terrified and losing his mind. His death is horrendous, but he had it coming. 

The creature, despite the sparse screen time, is well done. Initially designed by Chris Walas (Gremlins, Return of the Jedi) and then passed on to Mark Shostrom (Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead 2), it was clearly in the hands of SFX legends. Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero of famed studio KNB (Army of Darkness, Kill Bill) worked on the effects, and Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood) was the stunt coordinator. Clearly, Cunningham had the best of the best working on this project, and it shows.

At full length, the puppet was anywhere from 17 feet to 25 feet long, and unfortunately, due to the set restrains, was only shot in sections. Much of the first 35 minutes of the film is POV with the cast reacting to seeing the monster, and viewers are left wondering what is so frightening. I would have loved one shot with the beast fully assembled swimming around the DeepStar Six base, but that never happened. 

DeepStar Six is a little-known gem with solid performances, significant special effects, and a compelling story that holds your attention even without a 25-foot sea monster. It does sometimes drag, but the main characters are likable enough that you stick with them. If you’re into underwater thrillers with plenty of gore, fun miniatures, and creature effects, do yourself a favor and give this one a shot.3/5

★★★

You can check out the trailer for DeepStar Six below and the film is currently available to stream for free on PlutoTv. Be sure to follow ScaryNerd for more horror, sci-fi, fantasy and everything in between.

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