Deep Rising (1998) - Fair or Foul Review
Originally published July 2018I remember when Deep Rising came out in theaters and trying to think of ways I could watch it. I was barely a teenager, so I didn't have an easy method of getting to the theater at the time. I also wouldn't have fooled anyone trying to see an R-rated horror movie at that age without going in with my parents, and they had better tastes in movies than me at the time. So I had to wait a while before I finally saw it. So long, in fact, by the time I saw it from start to finish, the special effects had already been dated to the point of laughter; this movie did not age well, in terms of its special effects. If you look past it, however, there's something charming about it that makes it almost worthy of being a cult favorite.
Almost a cult favorite, but maybe not quite. There are some flaws about Deep Rising that prevent it from rising to the cult classic status of films like Tremors—a film with which Deep Rising shares a number of similarities. In fact, depending on what you can and can't stand about a big-budget B-horror movie, this movie may run a bit foul for you. Which means... It's time for another Fair or Foul review.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
Plot Overview
Before we get to the various pros and cons of the movie worth calling out, here's a quick synopsis of the plot for those who may not know. A cruise ship carrying thousands of rich aristocrats its out in the middle of the stormy ocean. A mysterious person onboard destroys the computers and communication equipment, just before the ship suddenly slams to a halt on the open water. In the chaos of a ship suddenly stopping for no apparent reason, the wealthy passengers all panic. Before you know it, the mysterious thing that caused the ship to suddenly stop is killing everyone aboard. Meanwhile, a group of brigands has paid a trio of privateers to bring them out to open waters. The water-taxi drivers are unaware of the pirates' plan to steal their boat and commandeer the cruise ship to rob it. However, they're all oblivious of the dangers that await them.
Fair: Treat Williams
Treat Williams is an actor who has thrived in the B-movie market and deserved way more opportunities than he has ever gotten. He was the Bruce Campbell of the ‘90s, sans chin, of course. I've liked him in every movie of his I've seen—admittedly, I tend to forget his name a lot. He has a lot of charisma on screen and has the ability to switch on his comedy and his seriousness in the same way that Bruce Campbell does. Deep Rising deeply benefits from Treat's performance on-screen because he chews the scenery up.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
In the early parts of Deep Rising, Treat brings a great deal of confidence and sarcastic comedy into the fray to make things more interesting. By the end, it's understandable why Famke Janssen's character is taken with him. Treat has a knack for these types of characters in these types of situations because he's good at telling dark jokes in dark moments to lighten the mood and he's good at appearing confident and in control when coming up with how to handle a sticky situation. If you want an example of a similar movie in a similar scenario that has aged better in terms of special effects, but lacks the Treat Williams charm in the leading role, see Proteus. The plots and premises of the movies are not exactly the same, but both play out in a similar fashion. While the special effects of Proteus are way better, there's no one in the movie who manages to really capture your attention and latch onto in the same way. If only Treat had been available for that one.
Foul: CGI
Speaking of special effects, Deep Rising's CGI is atrociously bad. There was a period in film history where everyone thought anything that was built on a computer looked amazing or even better than practical effects. When the fever dream passed and people finally realized that movies like Lawnmower Man were terrible for yet another reason, suddenly the practical effects of the ‘80s were clearly going to age better than anything else in the future. Deep Rising came out during the CGI fever dream and got away with its monster effects looking like trash during a time when Anaconda was the pinnacle of special effects. It is truly some of the worst CGI I have seen in a B-movie with a budget. It's not Birdemic quality when it comes to its effects, but it pales in comparison to even the rougher moments of Jurassic Park.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
Consider, for a moment, how I alluded to Tremors earlier. Essentially, the monster of this movie is the same sort of thing as the worms of Tremors: they have a much bigger body than any of the characters expect; they use tendrils with mouths on the end to pull in their prey; they hunt by sound. The big differences are the scale of the monsters in comparison to each other, and the glaring fact that the worms of Tremors were all high-quality puppets and animatronics, while the sea beast of Deep Rising is 99% computer-generated garbage. Occasionally, you get a glimpse of a rubber tentacle that was actually there for the actors to interact with, and I wish that it was a more frequent occurrence. In some ways, Deep Rising is a better movie in the beginning while the source of the trouble aboard the cruise ship is still a mystery.
Fair: Self-Awareness
If you're a film director and you're tasked with making a low horror movie, there is a simple question to ask: serious or fun? Sometimes, it works out in the favor of the film to choose serious, like Halloween by John Carpenter, or A Nightmare on Elm Street with Wes Craven. Both of these directors took a limited budget for their films and ended up starting some of the biggest horror franchises of film. But we're not all Wes Craven, and without a team of truly skilled individuals, seriousness in a B-movie can run pretty flat. So, it can sometimes be better to go down the fun road and just try to make a movie that is aware of how dumb it is and just tries to have some fun along the way.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
A moment in particular stands out as a good example. During the early parts of the movie, the group of pirates starts shooting their goofy-looking guns that wouldn't work very well in real life at something they thought they saw or heard—it's similar to the scene in Predator when they're mowing down the forest with bullets. As they continue firing, Treat raises his hands and shouts in frustration to get them to stop, even though he's their hostage at the moment. They do, but then, a couple just start firing again for the hell of it, to which Treat responds by throwing his hands up and rolling his eyes.
Even at the very end of the movie, there's a tease for yet another giant monster scenario with Treat's voice coming over the black screen as an angry and exasperated "Now what?!" There's no reason for it to play out this way if you are going for just horror and tension. If you wanted tension, you'd do what they did in Predator when they stopped firing and have a long moment of silence, allowing the tension to build. Deep Rising is going less for the tense atmosphere of Halloween, Predator, or A Nightmare on Elm Street, and more like the fun and goofiness of The Mummy remake with Brendan Fraser. Speaking of...
Foul: "Joey!"
Alongside Treat is Kevin J O'Connor, who plays the boat engineer Joey. He was the slapstick "comic relief" character in The Mummy, whose whiny and wheezy voice made him perfect for the role of dumb henchman for the mummy. He's the annoying "comic relief" character type here as well, but he's the best friend of Finnegan (Treat Williams) and way less likely to die being a hero character. Deep Rising didn't need this character archetype since there were clearly other moments that could manage to evoke humor with the help of Treat Williams. However, Joey is here to stay and to cause as much trouble as possible in the process. He's supposed to be an idiot savant with a knack for engineering and boat engines, and a complete doofus with everything else. As a result, he's not a fun or necessary character, just an annoying one.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
Fair: Stunts and Set Use
The inner environment of this cruise ship gets pretty roughed up, as do the hard-working stunt people. During the opening section of the film when the monster attack happens, the ship suddenly stops and loses all its momentum, sending people and sets flying. It's all pretty convincing and impactful. People get tossed and slammed around during this segment in a way that was very impressive and almost painful to watch. The panic section that follows is just as rough-looking as people are running, falling, and getting run over by other people as is typical of a real-life panic scenario.
Later on in Deep Rising, there are numerous moments where the set is stretched and destroyed by creature attacks. Walls bend and stretch in cool (albeit, unconvincing) ways and floor panels fly apart in a style that is straight out of Tremors. It's all made more impressive by the amount of the movie that is submerged in water. Water-based environments are notoriously difficult to film and can lead to big problems and financial disasters for movies that are bold enough to attempt it. Deep Rising manages to make good use of the sets and has a pretty good sequence towards the end where the characters are riding a jet ski through the tight, flooded corridors of the cruise ship. The sequence is not very believable, but this is a self-aware movie that's trying to have fun, and the jet ski sequence is pretty damn fun.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
Foul: Music
Despite being a self-aware horror movie, the music was a missed opportunity to play into that sort tone. The music ranges from forgettable, run of the mill horror, to just weird, dumb horror. It's not exciting. It's not interesting. It doesn't add to the tension when it's meant to be tense. It distracts more than anything else. It would have been better off using the soundtrack from Suicide Squad with a bunch of random pop songs instead.
Verdict: Fair
Even though Deep Rising has some of the worst-aged special effects of a ‘90s B-level horror movie, a lame sidekick character, and some dull music, I would still recommend Deep Rising to any fans of stupid, fun horror. It doesn't strike Tremors balance of horror and humor, nor does it match the Tremors level of quality deserving of a cult classic, but Deep Rising still goes for it manages to edge out ahead into Fair territory.
Image: Buena Vista Pictures
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