The Bloody Reel team recently, excitedly, ventured to the theaters to see Underwater, a Thriller Horror Creature film in which a crew of scientists, deep at the bottom of the ocean in a drilling station, are thrust into a disastrous, horrific situation. Part Disaster movie, and part Alien-like creature flick, Underwater (released January 10th, 2020) has been the horror flick I’ve been looking forward to seeing out of the multitude of releases at the beginning of the new year.
From the previews, Underwater looks and feels like Alien and Aliens, perhaps even an underwater Cloverfield. It has that gritty grainy texture to the filming, which I love in Horror and Sci-Fi Horror. And those were all great reasons for me to get excited for this thriller that takes place 7 miles under the ocean surface.
The storyline is one we’ve seen done many times before: Humans poking and prodding (in this case, digging) where they shouldn’t be doing so. The result? Releasing some unforeseen evil entity, or monster, that ravages the humans doing said probing. Those creatures released run amok, creating pandemonium and attacking the humans in the story.
The main movie preview released shows Kristen Stewart’s character brushing her teeth in this dingy drab atmosphere. Creaking and thudding start to occur all around her, which you know can’t be a good thing when 7 miles deep on the ocean floor. This then leads into a tense disastrous sequence, where the subterranean laboratory gets demolished by some unknown source.
This is the opening scene of the movie!
I wouldn’t have guessed that, when watching the preview, this was how Underwater was going to open up. But away the movie went right out of the gates. Full Throttle and full speed ahead. From the very beginning of Underwater, credits and opening scene, the pace is set, and set well.
The movie, from this point, never slows. The characters are forced to survive this strenuous situation, with no moment to catch their breath. Heart wrenching pace, claustrophobic settings, and ultimate fear portrayed by the actors, of which you can almost taste and smell (eeew), all make for the pressurized ingredients of Underwater.
Murky is another way to explain the visual graphics. There are several scenes where we spend our trip inside the deep-sea suit helmets the characters are wearing. Using a, sort of, found footage style filming, we follow Kristen Stewart, and the others, across the bottom of the ocean to find safety and hopefully salvation. This Makes it harder to see anything, then you add in the shortage of oxygen in the suits, and the random brutal attacks by the creatures hunting them which all add up to a brilliant thriller with highly intense sequencing.
Also, I loved the characters in the movie. TJ Miller was hilarious and carried a lighter aspect to the dark movie. I know a few of you out there thought this was a distraction in the movie, but I felt it added a nice attribute to the film. My favorite quote of the film was when TJ Miller’s character was being introduced to us in a precarious way. He’s being helped out of the broken rubble from the disaster that befalls the drilling station, when he says to Kristen Stewart “You sweet flat-chested elfin creature!” I found myself laughing amidst this crazy disturbing setting!
Vincent Cassell has been one of my favorite foreign thriller horror actors in the past, given his roles in Brotherhood of the Wolves and Irreversible. So, it was great to see him in this one as the Captain of the crew.
Also, I was pleasantly surprised by Kristen Stewart’s performance in this one. It looks like there’s been a revival for her career seeing her in this one, and previews for other recent movies of hers (Seberg and Lizzie to list a couple). She is no longer the rinse repeat character that is dull, insecure, and shallow. We follow her through the entirely of this film, from the beginning to the bitter end! She portrayed the fear and stress of her character in this situation really well. Certainly no Ripley, but Norah was a good lead role to join this horrific experience with.
I know not everyone will like Underwater. As it is, Disney poured a load of money into this PG-13 movie, and hasn’t seen much of a return. It’s seemingly turning out to be a B-rate movie with a high-level casting. To some, it seems to be an Alien knock-off. However, this is actually one reason I liked the movie, and was intrigued to watch it. Give me more Sci-Fi Horror! Give me more!
I for one really enjoyed it and will watch it often. Give it a shot and let us know what you thought about it!
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