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Review: ‘UNDERWATER’ Is a Surprisingly Effective Terror of The Deep

Published

4 years ago

January 8, 2020

Aqua Horror as a sub-genre has always held a special place for me. Perhaps it’s because I grew up near the ocean or I consumed a slew of 1989 deep sea movies when I was younger. Or perhaps it’s because the ocean and its briny depths still fascinate and horrify me to this day. Regardless, when a big budgeted journey into the unknown comes along like William Eubank’s Underwater, I am thoroughly intrigued and happy to say it delivers what it promises!

Image via IMDB

Underwater follows the crew of a deep-sea mining rig and station 7 miles down along the Mariana Trench, one of the deepest known locations on the planet. Norah Price (Kristen Stewart) is a technician just going through her daily routine when the worst-case scenario happens, leaving her and a few other survivors left in their now critically damaged station. Now, they must make a perilous journey through the collapsing machinery of the base, through the barren ocean floor, and to the now derelict rig. However, along with the dangers of broken machinery and water pressure, they must contend with a mysterious aquatic threat stalking them at every turn…

The movie jumps right into the action within the first few minutes as everything goes to absolute hell in the station. Kristen Stewart stands front and center as the protagonist, complete with some inner monologues to hint at her background and motivations. She’s already on edge and anxious from past traumas and the world literally falling around her isn’t helping any. Stewart gives a stellar performance in fear to the disasters both manmade and the unknown.

Image via IMDB

The rest of the cast is rounded out by Vincent Cassel as the determined Captain of the vessel. Haunted by tragedies of his own, he will do anything to avoid further loss of life. T.J. Miller plays the typical comic relief/pop culture referencer (Miller currently a toxic presence due to a myriad of reasons in real life, though his casting and the film’s production being around three years prior) Mamoudou Athie is the first survivor that Stewart’s Norah encounters and helps unite with Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher Jr.’s characters to round out a motley crew of survivors. The dynamic between the surviving crew isn’t the most compelling since we don’t have much background on the characters, but it keeps the story moving forward and without any bad performance.

What really hooked me was the production design and settings of Underwater. William Eubank (The Signal) does an exemplary job of making almost every scene as claustrophobic and nerve wracking as possible. Be it having to crawl through flooded wreckage, or tip-toe across the ocean floor while horrifying undersea beasts roam about. It truly captures the aspects of ‘survival horror’ that have made horror movies and games like Alien and Resident Evil so popular. And back on the creatures, I don’t want to talk about them too much as they carry some surprises but they scared the hell out of me. Plain and simple. Establishing a loose Lovecraft tone that makes the movie even more otherworldly and its monsters all the more eldritch. Including one particular scene of oceanic fear, my jaw dropped!

Though not the most groundbreaking sci-fi horror movie, it is a rare class in it of itself: a big budgeted B-Movie. It’s hard for genre films to have the budgets to back up their scares and scenarios, so to have something like this come along, like a lost entry in the 1989 ‘wave’ of aqua horror movies following James Cameron’s The Abyss is a rare and welcome treat. Underwater is a shocker that deserves to be seen in theaters, on the biggest screen possible for the full intensity of the experience. Despite its standard plot and characters, with such performances, production, and style, it is all but guaranteed to be a cult classic.

Underwater opens in theaters Friday, January 10th

Image via IMDB

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

Published

1 hour ago

April 26, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

20 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

22 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.