Leviathan Information

Leviathan is a 1989 science-fiction horror film about a hideous creature that stalks and kills a group of people in a sealed environment, in a similar vein to such films as Alien (1979) and The Thing (1982). It is one of many underwater-themed movies released around 1989, including The Abyss, DeepStar Six, The Evil Below, Lords of the Deep, and The Rift (Endless Descent).

Plot

Martin, CEO of Tri-Oceanic Corp, hires geologist Steven Beck for a six month assignment to command an undersea mining operation. While working outside their deep sea station in a pressure suit, one of the crewmembers, Sixpack, discovers a shipwreck. After repeated attempts to call him back, crewmate Williams searches for Sixpack and finds him excited over the chance at treasure. Doc can read Russian and identifies the ship as the Leviathan.

The crew salvage and break open a safe from Leviathan, finding records detailing the deaths of several crew members, as well as a video log from the ship's captain. Sixpack also finds a flask of vodka, which he quietly pockets. Bowman figures out Sixpack has the hidden vodka and persuades him to share it.

The doctor and Beck review the captain's video, which describes puzzling medical problems amongst his crew. They also discover that the Leviathan was scuttled.

The following morning, Sixpack feels sick and Doc discovers lesions along his back. He dies a few hours later, but Doc and Beck keep it quiet to avoid a panic. Doc begins checking the other crew to confirm no one else is sick, but does not have the chance to examine Bowman.

While Beck and Doc confer with Martin on the surface, Bowman also begins to feel ill. She finds Sixpack's corpse, which is mutating and growing. Beck and Doc request emergency evacuation, but Martin reports a severe storm on the surface that will delay the evacuation for 12 hours.

Doc finds that Bowman committed suicide, being unable to cope with the idea of dying like Sixpack. Her body is taken to sickbay, where it merges with Sixpacks's. They decide to dump both bodies. As they are about to "flush" the cadavers, the bodybag begins squirming. Believing someone inside may be alive, the crew opens it.

The creature inside claws Cobb before they can eject it. They realize that Leviathan was experimenting on its unwitting crew with mutagens. The mutagen was mixed with the vodka that the crew - and later Sixpack and Bowman - drank. The ship was scuttled when the experiment went out of control.

A piece of Sixpack's leg was severed when the corpses were ejected; it mutates into a lamprey-like creature that attacks Dejesus in the kitchen. Jones seals the kitchen's pressure doors and goes for help. He asks Cobb to watch the door, but when he goes to find something to defend himself, the creature assimilates Dejesus and rips its way out of the kitchen. It then grows tentacles that attack the crew.

The creature attacks the medical bay, devouring blood and plasma from the cooler. This inspires Beck to use a freshly drawn pint of his own blood to lure the beast to the area called the Swamp (where they suit up before entering the sea to mine) and attempt to flush this mutation the same way they did with Sixpack and Bowman.

Doc ejects the escape pods so that no one can escape and risk bringing the mutagen to the surface. Beck consults with Martin for emergency evacuation. Martin assures them that they will not be left behind, but that she cannot carry out the rescue because of a hurricane.

Cobb's injuries grow worse, causing him to mutate and infect Doc. Williams escapes as Beck and Jones try trapping the creature. Williams joins them but is almost captured by the creature. They escape to another part of the station.

The crew tries accessing weather information through the computer, but it is blocked. Williams asks the computer for a financial report from the company and they discover that the Tri-Oceanic Corporation has declared them dead, labeling it an accident.

The creature damages vital systems, causing the pressure to drop and an implosion to occur in a short period of time. They make a run for the Swamp, deciding to use their special dive suits to escape.

The creature attacks them, but is crushed by the lift as Beck escapes. They make it to the surface, which is perfectly calm and sunny, and they are met by a Coast Guard helicopter. The mutant surfaces nearby and tries to take Jones. He keeps it from escaping, at the cost of his own life, and Beck throws a demolition charge into the creatures mouth, causing it to explode.

After they are dropped off on a Tri-Oceanic oil drilling platform, the two survivors are greeted by Martin. Martin tells them she believed they would make it, smiling insincerely and asking how Beck feels. Beck punches Martin in the face, knocking her out.

Cast

• Peter Weller as Steven Beck
• Richard Crenna as Dr. Glen Thompson
• Amanda Pays as Elizabeth 'Willie' Williams
• Daniel Stern as Buzz 'Sixpack' Parrish
• Ernie Hudson as Justin Jones
• Michael Carmine as Tony 'DeJesus' Rodero
• Lisa Eilbacher as Bridget Bowman
• Hector Elizondo as G. P. Cobb
• Meg Foster as Martin

Production

Leviathan was directed by George P. Cosmatos. The film's story was written by David Peoples and Jeb Stuart. Stan Winston was the producer for the creature special effects.

Release

Leviathan was first released to theaters on March 17, 1989. It was shown at 1,393 theaters generating a box office receipt of $5,029,164 for its opening weekend.

Home media

Leviathan was first released to DVD on September 29, 1998. Sean Carlson of IGN compared the DVD release of Leviathan to that of Deepstar Six, giving the DVD 8 of 10 stars, praising the video quality but criticizing the audio and mentioning the only extra was the film's trailer.

Reception

Critical response

The film grossed $15,704,614 (USD) in 1,393 theaters and was the #2 movie the weekend it opened. However, it was received poorly and currently has an 11% percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes with only two 'fresh' and 17 'rotten' reviews.

Writing for the New York Times, Janet Maslin was reserved in her praise and wrote that it "compares favorably with the other recent aquatic horror film Deepstar Six but probably not with anything else" and that "The latter half of the film is one long feeding frenzy, guided by a familiar horror-film principle: survival of the best-looking."

Movie critic for the Chicago Tribune, Dave Kehr, criticized the movie, writing "In the dumb fun department, "Leviathan" is the movie of the moment-a lively, well-made schlock thriller that will doubtlessly be forgotten in two weeks." Regarding the film's writing he wrote, "The script has been attributed to David Peoples and Jeb Stuart ("Die Hard"), but it plays more like a collection of random pages from Alien, The Thing, Outland and Run Silent, Run Deep."

Audience response

Matt Roehler did a fifteen-minute review for the film and considers it to be one of his favorite films growing up, praising the characters, acting, dialogue, creature effects, score, production design, cast, and direction, calling it the best rip-off of all time, stating the similarities between Alien and The Thing. Roehler also did a fan commentary of the film.

Soundtrack

The score to the film was written by veteran composer Jerry Goldsmith. Goldsmith used a number of creative ways to identify the score to the film, such as incorporating the use of recorded whale sounds into the music during the opening credits. The soundtrack was released through Varèse Sarabande in 1989 and features eleven tracks of score with a running time just under forty minutes.

1. "Underwater Camp" " 3:23
2. "Decompression" " 3:16
3. "Discovery" " 5:24
4. "One Of Us" " 1:41
5. "The Body Within" " 4:33
6. "Escape Bubbles" " 5:37
7. "Can We Fix It" " 3:25
8. "Situation Under Control" " 1:49
9. "It's Growing" " 3:10
10. "Too Hot" " 3:27
11. "A Lot Better" " 3:31