Deep Rising (1998)
Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Written by: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Anthony Heald, Famke Janssen, Jason Flemyng, Treat Williams
The one that Hughes Ross somehow forgot to mention in his list. Seriously, how do you forget a film like this??? Anyway, personal attacks aside, Deep Rising is a phenomenal movie. It gained cult status before it even got released. The talk of a new movie about a giant octopus attacking a great big posh cruise ship was just too much for people to wait for. Everyone loves a monster movie, and Deep Rising followed all the rules, and unlike most b-movie monsters, this one actually looked fantastic! The only monster film to rival this in the last 20 years would be Cloverfield? (I’m sure someone will have a suggestion of something else).
Anyway, I think this film had a small cinema release, however, it really found its home on dvd. I was running a rental shop with my Dad at the time this came out, and boy was it popular, and it was a non-stop renter for months and months, we even had to buy in a few extra copies. Word of mouth spread like a forest fire, and everyone wanted to see the King of the Nineties Monster movie! The plot to this beast couldn’t be more basic. A bunch of thugs have been hired by the owner of a massive, multi-million pound cruise ship to attack it, destroy its computer systems and sink it, so that the owner can get rich off the insurance. Unfortunately, the thugs arrive, on a boat they have hired off Treat Williams’ brilliantly witty, but tough character, only to find the ship pretty much deserted, with rooms filled with blood and body parts. Some giant sea beast has attacked the ship and pretty much killed everyone on board!
Treat Williams is great as the no questions asked boat captain to takes the thugs to the cruise ship, and he has a long haired, high pitch talking, well, idiot with him and his girlfriend. The idiot finds bombs on board, and the thugs realise they have been caught out. The thugs are all classic bad guys, tough as nails and don’t really seem to like each other at all. They argue over who is the toughest and blah blah blah, but this is exactly the kind of bad guys you want. They’re great, and when Treat Williams stands up to them and points a harpoon gun at their leader, it makes for great viewing! Once on the boat, we find a few survivors, the excellently corrupt cruise ship owner, oh, and a certain Famke Janssen, just for the men! As they all try to figure out what the hell has happened, giant sea slugs start to appear, and begin to kill them off one by one.
The chaos and terror of being hunted by these creatures is portrayed on screen perfectly, with Treat and the thugs boss going in head first to stop the creatures. There are some gruesome deaths, and some genuine moments of suspense, however, the film never lets go of its B-movie roots and there’s lots and lots of good natured humour. To say Deep Rising is fun is one of the biggest understatements of all time. It’s more than fun, its feckin fantastic, and I cannot believe that there is anyone on this thread that wouldn’t find some enjoyment from this! As the attacks get more and more vicious and more frequent, we see many of our cast killed off, we see a few moments that make us cheer (a certain nasty guy tries to kill himself rather than be eaten, you know how this ends up ) and amongst all the chaos and humour, we even find time for 2 love stories. Treat and Janssen are clearly falling for each other, however, it’s the long haired Idiots relationship with his girlfriend that actually manages to pause the film just for a moment as he gets back to the hired small boat to find her gone. It’s only brief, but the look on his face as he stares at the sea is very moving.
People have been killed, heroes have killed off slugs, romance, comedy, thrills, and shocks have all come and gone, but as with all good monster movies, you just know Daddy is waiting to arrive at the end! When the real beast arrives, its brief, but hell, it’s awesome and the special effects are superb! Deep Rising delivers exactly what you want, it serves all your basic needs, and leaves you desperately hungry for a sequel after the Lost type ending. There is talk of a sequel, but it’s gonna have to be one hell of a good sequel to top this classic! Oh, and in the words of Treat Williams “Now what!”
Rating: 
C’mon DJ, the greatest monster movies, where the hell is Tremors? I do have a lot of time for Deep Rising. It sounds like a porn movie and the scene with the regurgitated bloke is fantastic. I can’t remember if the equally ‘so bad it’s good’ Anaconda did this effect first. The movie even has the cheek to suggest a sequel. Make it now, please! B-movie brilliance.