Just by pure happenstance, I managed to catch both Sean S. Cunningham’s Deep Star Six and George P. Cosmatos’ Leviathan.
Born out of the mini sci-fi boom of 1986’s Aliens, both are aqua horrors but with differing levels of restraint and pay-off.
Cunninghan, for me, has always been an accidental director. His legacy is confirmed with Friday the 13th, but he seemed to only direct it as he couldn’t get someone else to realise his vision. Fast-forward nine years and Cunningham’s career has its ups and downs, with his only directorial success, of sorts being the gritty teen drama The New Kids. He would be better known in these times for creating the topsy-turvy House series.
Deep Star Six seemed to be billed as his return to ‘proper’ horror, but it sadly lacks the edge to rise above being anything other than mediocre. Having said this, the monster from the film is superb but seldomly seen, which as you will see when it surfaces, is the film’s biggest tragedy.
On the flipside, we have Cosmatos’ Alien homage, Leviathan.
From the outset, this film clearly has the budget and the ambition lacking in Deep Star Six. Yes it’s plot is largely lifted from the Alien lore but when Leviathan gets nasty, it really goes there.
This is a body horror tour-de-force with some stunning and gooey practical effects and this is before we get to its monster.
The monster here is downright terrifying and all the more scary because of its practical mechanisms. You have to remember we are only two years out from Terminator 2 truly changing the film landscape forever with its special effects, so Leviathan feels like a worthy swansong of practical monsters.
Cast-wise Leviathan is also superior with Peter Weller, post-Robocop being our dependable lead, with able backup from Ernie Hudson, Richard Crenna and Meg Foster. Weller had worked on 1983’s Of Unknown Origin with Cosmatos, so was surely seen as a safe pair of hands to lead the film.
Cosmatos’ career is also at an interesting point, having directed Cobra (how much of it is left up to you) as well as Rambo: First Blood Part II. He would again fall into the trap of being overpowered by stars on the classic Tombstone three years later, before his final directing gig in 1997 with Shadow Conspiracy, featuring Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland and for those six degrees of separation; Linda Hamilton.
Despite my coldness towards Deep Star Six, I do feel like both of these films could be released today and sit shoulder-to-shoulder with monster features on the big screen. 2020’s Underwater feels like a love letter to this time, bridging the gap between the old and the new, effects and performance-wise.
But which aqua sci-fi horror do you prefer Leviathan or Deep Star Six? Let us know in the comments.
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