PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Growing up as a teenager in the late ’80s was a blast — especially if you were a sci-fi/horror fan! While the ’80s ushered in the golden era of slashers, genre films like The Terminator, Aliens, and The Fly blended sci-fi and horror seamlessly. Video stores ruled the home entertainment landscape. VHS as a format was in its prime, and Blockbuster Video was on the rise. To learn about big studio films and runaway hits, you had television commercials and magazine ads. But how did one learn about smaller and/or less successful films? The absence of the Internet meant you had to learn about movies the hard way: by word of mouth, or by trial and error. Sometimes, they just showed up at the video store on New Release Day. Such was the case, for me, with Sean S. Cunningham’s DeepStar Six. This underseen, undersea sci-fi/horror film was released on January 13, 1989.
My hometown, population 1,200-ish, was too small to have a Blockbuster. My history with DeepStar Six started at a local rental joint, VIDEO CITY, where I walked in one day after school to play Road Blasters and saw this…
DeepStar Six: Love At First Poster Sighting
What’s not to love? The DeepStar Six poster has not one, but TWO great taglines on it! The “Not all aliens come from space” tagline, along with the cut-in-half diver suit, tells me I’m going to get a badass monster. “Save your last breath… to scream,” tells me this movie is out to scare the shit out of you. SOLD!
There’s an old saying that I’m fond of: “Be first, or be the best.” Back in 1989, I can honestly say DeepStar Six wasn’t the best. It was, however, the first. It was the first of, like, half a dozen undersea sci-fi horror films to come out that year (or shortly after). There was Leviathan. There was The Abyss. You also had The Rift and Lords of the Deep. Didn’t I tell you it was a great time to be a teenage sci-fi/horror fan? Everyone wanted to jump on the undersea horror train!
Director Sean S. Cunningham of Friday the 13th (1980) fame acknowledges the adage himself in an interview with Starlog Magazine:
“I was always aware of Leviathan. I wanted to be the first or I didn’t want to do it.”
What’s that? You’re not familiar with the film? Well, check out the trailer, and read on for more details… and the rest of my story!
DeepStar Six Synopsis
A group of U.S. Navy engineers, led by Capt. Laidlaw (Taurean Blacque), are building an underwater base when they inadvertently disturb the lair of a gigantic creature. The monster attacks, and the crew, including lovers Collins (Nancy Everhard) and McBride (Greg Evigan), tries to evacuate, but the facility is badly damaged. After the exterior is breached, the increasingly desperate people become separated from one another, and the creature begins to pick them off one by one.
Taurean Blacque? Nancy Everhard? Greg Evigan? Not exactly big-name stars… no offense. You could safely say this movie had an ensemble cast that included Matt McCoy, fresh off of replacing Steve Guttenberg in Police Academy 5, and Miguel Ferrer, just two years removed from snorting cocaine off of call girl breasts in RoboCop. The lack of a true, marquee star meant the opening credits were done in alphabetical order.
At The Movies
DeepStar Six hit cinemas on January 13, 1989, splashing down in just over 1,100 screens. Despite being one of just 3 new releases that week, the film debuted in 8th place with an opening haul of $3.3 million. Yes, the movie sunk back into the depths behind holdovers like Rain Man, Twins, Beaches, Working Girl, and The Naked Gun. The film was out of theaters shortly thereafter with a box office take that barely matched its $8 million budget. Its inability to make a splash on the big screen is the reason I caught it afterward on video.
Why did the movie not resonate with moviegoers? It’s hard to say. Sean S. Cunningham was very successful in the 1980s, not only with the Friday the 13th films but with other horror projects as well. The studios involved, however, were not. Carolco had only ever done a handful of horror films, including The Changeling, in 1980, Angel Heart in 1987, and The Watchers in 1988. Distributor TriStar also had similarly limited experience. The relatively small budget also meant you weren’t getting any kind of media blitz. This film seemed destined for home video viewing.
The Good
DeepStar Six is a sci-fi action film in the same vein as Aliens. Even though it isn’t set in space, it might as well be. The underwater base gives you the same claustrophobia and tight-chested “holy shit, we’re gonna run out of air” feeling that the best space action films have. As with the solar system battles in Star Trek, you’ve got system failures and explosions… gas leaks… shit breaking everywhere. It’s a fight for survival, and on that level, it works.
The creature is cool. Is it the inspiration for the graboids in Tremors (1990), a year later? It very well might be! The similarities are remarkable. This thing is badass, dangerous, and it fucks things up. It was initially designed by Chris Walas, who did creature FX for The Fly (1986). Mark Shostrom (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors) finalized the design. Hell, I even saw Greg Nicotero’s name in the credits! This movie, despite the budget, has an incredible FX pedigree.
Lots of movies have That One Scene (TM) that makes them memorable. You have the foot smash in Misery. There’s the head explosion in Scanners. DeepStar Six has the Miguel Ferrer decompression scene. If you ask someone for their thoughts on this film, there’s a good chance that’s the scene they’ll mention!
There’s also the soundtrack! Wherever you’ve got Sean S. Cunningham, you’ve probably got Harry Manfredini. Of course, I love his iconic scores for the Friday the 13th films. His DeepStar Six score is equally as awesome. Speaking of ties to Sean S. Cunningham, here’s a fun fact: Kane Hodder of Friday the 13th fame was the stunt coordinator and a stunt man on this film!
The Not So Good
The movie takes a while to get going. I didn’t notice as a kid, but a more recent viewing had me wondering how a creature feature could go so long without showing the creature. I bet it’s a good hour before the shit even starts to hit the fan.
The acting is serviceable, but the dialogue is not great. The film also suffers from having two actresses in key roles who look, dress, and sound a lot alike. If you’re only casually watching, you may find yourself saying, “Wait, which one is she now?”
The FX and production design – outside of the creature – are pretty low rent. You can see there are props and view screens recycled from other sci-fi films. The film supposedly takes place in the relatively distant future, but at one point, one of the characters is asked to record some footage and says, “Start the VHS!” Oy.
Final Thoughts
Watching DeepStar Six in 1989 after randomly discovering it at the video store was a lot of fun. I had the benefit of seeing it with 16-year-old eyes, and of finding it before Leviathan, The Abyss, and other similar films. That’s probably why I still remember it so fondly. It was a time when you could go into watching a movie truly blind without trolls on social media poo-pooing or spoiling everything, a time when a movie poster or a VHS cover was enough to make a person say, “That looks cool! I wanna see THAT!”
The movie is available on DVD and recently got a Blu-ray that’s loaded with special features, including a commentary with Sean S. Cunningham, documentaries, and an interview with the aforementioned stunt coordinator, Kane Hodder.
I watched it again recently when I learned the anniversary was approaching. Is it as good as I remembered? I’m sad to say, no. But I think it’s still worth checking out, especially for Aliens movie lovers. Be sure to check out the nifty little “making of” featurette and a couple of TV spots I found on YouTube below.
Thanks for reading!
