“Leviathan” (1989) is hurt by direct comparisons to “The Abyss” – which came out later that year – but it holds up as an entertaining “Alien” knockoff. Fans of this year’s “Underwater” might enjoy it as a historical precursor, as it features walks on the deep ocean floor, bulky diving suits and crumpling habitat modules.
While the cast is filled with good character actors, the creature steals the show – but I wish director George P. Cosmatos (“Rambo: First Blood Part II”) would’ve given us clearer shots of it.
Camaraderie and banter
Written by David Webb Peoples (“Blade Runner,” “Soldier”) and Jeb Stuart (“Die Hard”), “Leviathan” builds slowly, but the camaraderie and banter among this bedraggled mining crew is entertaining – and appealingly dated in one way.
Sixpack (Daniel Stern, “Home Alone”) – so named not because of his abs, but because he drinks a lot of canned beverages – is a serial sexual harasser, but even the women see it as a case of Sixpack being Sixpack.
Cosmatos and his editors build tension off the bat when the suit of DeJesus (Michael Carmine) malfunctions and the doc (Richard Crenna) is nowhere to be found, failing to follow protocol that says the doctor must be on the bridge during excursions.
It’s not malicious, but Doc Thompson — and most of the crew — have lost their edge as their 90-day tour of duty nears its end.
Even leader Beck (Peter Weller) — who is a geologist, not a miner, dammit – is going stir-crazy, and is frustrated by the seeming lack of sympathy from his corporate boss up on the surface, Meg Foster’s Martin, who ends every conversation by clicking off her screen.
She values silver above the safety of the crew, and if I had learned this company is called Weyland-Yutani, I wouldn’t be surprised.
Throwback to B-horror
The writers sketch out this crew but mostly allow the actors’ personalities to drive the chemistry. Amanda Pays’ Willie has Final Girl status once Lisa Eilbacher’s Bridget succumbs to the creature. Both women are shown off in towels or underwear, another throwback to B-horror of a bygone era.
Ernie Hudson’s Jones survives fairly long in the adventure for a black man, and “Leviathan” deserves credit for its diversity, as DeJesus and Cobb (Hector Elizondo) are Hispanic.
The special effects team, heavily influenced by “The Thing,” practically creates this creature a few months before “The Abyss” revolutionized digital effects. It’s perhaps not as well-constructed as the creature in “The Thing,” because the director is shy about really showing it off.
It always leans creepy rather than cheesy, though, in all its incarnations. Its most disgusting trait is that victims get absorbed into it; one victim’s face – on the side of the creature – begs the survivors to kill him. Of course, this moment is borrowed from “Alien.” “Leviathan” certainly doesn’t rack up many originality points.
But some of the scares are clever. My favorite is when Jones visits the infirmary to check on Sixpack, who Jones presumes is tossing in his sleep when he moves under the sheet.
We already know Sixpack is dead and that his corpse is being taken over by the monster that has infected him. DeJesus later undergoes the reverse of “Alien’s” chestburster scene when an eel-like creature burrows into his stomach.
Riffing on better movies
As long as I’m tallying nods to other (better) movies, I have to mention Beck’s one-liner before throwing a bomb into the creature’s mouth: “Say ‘ah,’ m*****f*****!” A blatant nod to “Jaws,” it’s the movie’s funniest line, and also inappropriate since Beck had seen a colleague get killed right before that.
It’s also rather random that Beck happens to have a bomb on hand. The flamethrowers from earlier in the action are also amusing, as they appear far too lightweight. Better movies — such as “Aliens,” where Ripley totes a flamethrower – sell the legitimacy of the weapons.
Still, “Leviathan’s” infrastructure and equipment details are mostly on point, and it has amusing moments and one-liners. While the actors generally take all of this seriously, the lingering impression left by Beck’s closing zinger to the monster is that the filmmakers know this is a knockoff – and they know viewers know.
But it’s not presented as a self-aware dark comedy. It’s content to be what it is: a slick B-movie that portrays contemporary deep-sea mining and then unleashes a monster romp that will engage you for 98 minutes and not a minute more.