''DeepStar Six '' (released in the Philippines as ''Alien from the Deep'') is a 1989 American

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

horror film about the struggles of the crew of an underwater military outpost to defend their base against the attacks of a sea monster (possibly a giant

eurypterid Eurypterids, often informally called sea scorpions, are a group of extinct arthropods that form the order Eurypterida. The earliest known eurypterids date to the Darriwilian stage of the Ordovician period 467.3 million years ago. The group is l ...

). It was released in January 1989. The film's main actors and supporting players included

Greg Evigan Gregory Ralph Evigan (born October 14, 1953) is an American film, stage, and television actor. He began his career in theater, appearing in the Broadway production of ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', followed by a stage production of the musical '' Gr ...

Taurean Blacque Taurean Blacque (born Herbert Middleton Jr.; May 10, 1940 – July 21, 2022) was an American television and stage actor, best known for his role as Detective Neal Washington on the series ''Hill Street Blues''. He stated that he chose the name ...

Nancy Everhard Nancy Everhard (born November 30, 1957) is an American former actress. She became known for her roles in the films ''DeepStar Six'' (1989) and '' The Punisher'' (1989). She also appeared in television series such as '' Reasonable Doubts'' (1991� ...

Cindy Pickett Cindy Pickett is an American actress. She is known for her 1970s role as Jackie Marler-Spaulding on the CBS soap '' Guiding Light'' and Dr. Carol Novino on the television drama '' St. Elsewhere'' in the 1980s. Pickett, however, is best known to a ...

Miguel Ferrer Miguel José Ferrer (February 7, 1955 – January 19, 2017) was an American actor. His breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in the 1987 film ''RoboCop''. Other film roles include Quigley in '' Blank Check'' (1994), Harbinger in ''Hot Shots! Part D ...

Nia Peeples Virenia "Nia" Peeples (born December 10, 1961) is an American R&B and dance music singer and actress. Peeples is known for playing Nicole Chapman on the hit TV series '' Fame''; Pam Fields on the drama '' Pretty Little Liars''; Karen Taylor Wi ...

, and Matt McCoy.

Plot

''DeepStar Six'' is an experimental deep-sea US Naval facility, crewed by a mix of 11 military and civilians, now in the final week of their tour. The project is headed by John Van Gelder, to test underwater colonization methods, while overseeing the installation of a new nuclear missile storage platform. Already nearing his deadline, Van Gelder's plans are threatened when geologist Burciaga discovers a massive cavern system under the site. Van Gelder orders the use of depth charges to collapse the cavern, to the dismay of Dr. Scarpelli, who wants to study the potentially primordial ecosystem inside. The ensuing detonation collapses part of the seabed, forming a massive fissure in the ocean floor. Submarine pilots Osborne and Hodges send an unmanned probe to explore, but lose contact and venture in after it. Upon finding the probe, they detect a large sonar contact moments before being attacked and killed by an unseen entity. The aggressor then attacks the observation pod, leaving Joyce Collins and a dying Burciaga trapped inside as it teeters on the edge of the ravine. Captain Laidlaw and submarine pilot McBride - who is also Collins' lover - attempt a rescue. They dock with the pod and rescue Collins, but the unstable hatch door closes on Laidlaw. Mortally wounded, he floods the compartment, forcing McBride and Collins to return to their ship and leave without him. The remaining crew now prepare to abandon the base, but the missile platform must first be secured. Without Laidlaw, facility technician Snyder is forced to interpret the unfamiliar protocol. When prompted by the computer to explain the reason, Snyder reports "aggression" (due to the creature). The computer jumps to the conclusion that an enemy military force is attacking and advises the humans to detonate the missile warheads. Snyder complies and the resulting nuclear explosion creates a shockwave that damages DeepStar Six and the cooling system for the base's nuclear reactor. With failed life support, they begin repairs to restore power and pressure for the decompression procedure. Engineer Jim Richardson ventures outside in a

JIM suit The JIM suit is an atmospheric diving suit (ADS), which is designed to maintain an interior pressure of one atmosphere despite exterior pressures, eliminating the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving. Because there is no n ...

to effect repairs, but the creature comes after him, leading Scarpelli to conclude it is attracted to light. The crew retrieves his suit and hauls him through the airlock, but the creature forces its way inside and bisects him. The team retreats as the creature consumes the panic-stricken Scarpelli. Arming themselves with shotguns and harpoons with explosive cartridges, they venture back in to finish repairs. They succeed, but the creature attacks and Van Gelder dies when he accidentally backs into Snyder's harpoon. They escape to the med lab. Already badly stressed, Snyder quickly begins to unravel with guilt and fear. After a hallucination of Van Gelder, Snyder jumps into the escape pod and launches. However, since he has not undergone decompression, the pressure change from the ascent causes him to burst. McBride swims through the flooded base to the minisub, to use it as their means of escape. While he is gone, the creature bursts into the med lab and Diane Norris attacks it with an overcharged

defibrillator Defibrillation is a treatment for life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, specifically ventricular fibrillation (V-Fib) and non-perfusing ventricular tachycardia (V-Tach). A defibrillator delivers a dose of electric current (often called a ''coun ...

. Norris electrocutes herself and the creature as it attacks her, allowing Collins and McBride to escape, fleeing before the reactor goes critical. The sub breaches the surface, where they deploy a raft, only for the creature to emerge. McBride discharges the minisub's fuel, then fires a flare, killing the creature as the sub explodes. McBride soon resurfaces and joins Collins, as they wait for a Navy rescue team to arrive.

Cast

as Captain Phillip Laidlaw, station commander *

as Joyce Collins *

as Dr. Diane Norris, physician *

as Snyder, mechanic *

as McBride, submarine pilot * Matt McCoy as Jim Richardson, submarine co-pilot *

as Dr. Scarpelli, marine biologist *

Marius Weyers Marius Weyers (born 3 February 1945, in Johannesburg) is a South African actor. He lives with his wife Yvette, an artist in her own right, in Rooi-Els in the Western Cape. He received international attention playing Andrew Steyn, a bumbling s ...

as Dr. John Van Gelder *

Elya Baskin Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books o ...

as Dr. Burciaga, geologist *

Thom Bray Thomas Edward Bray (born April 30, 1954) is an American actor and writer perhaps best known for his role as Murray "Boz" Bozinsky in the detective TV series ''Riptide''. He made his film debut in the slasher film '' The Prowler'' (1981) and l ...

as Johnny Hodges, submarine pilot *

Ronn Carroll Ronn Carroll is an American actor known primarily for his work on Broadway, with over twenty credits to his name. Career highlights include ''Oklahoma!'', directed by Trevor Nunn, ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'' with Matthew ...

as Osborne, submarine co-pilot

Production

Producer Cunningham developed the idea in 1987, with the express purpose of being the first release on the slate of upcoming underwater action/sci-fi films. Originally,

Robert Harmon Robert Harmon (born 1953) is an American film and television director. He is best known for the 1986 horror film '' The Hitcher'', starring Rutger Hauer, as well as for films like '' They'' and '' Nowhere to Run''. His television work is dist ...

was going to direct the film. However, when he left, Cunningham stepped in to direct the film with a budget of $8,000,000. The creature was initially designed by

Chris Walas Christopher James Walas (born 1955) is an American special effects artist, make-up effects artist, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his work on the film '' The Fly'' (1986), for which he won an Academy Award and was ...

, who then turned his production designs over to FX head Mark Shostrom. Shostrom made slight alterations and changed the creature's color scheme. The underwater scenes were shot in Malta, in The Rinella Tank at

Fort Ricasoli Fort Ricasoli ( mt, Forti Rikażli) is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding th ...

Release

The film was released by

TriStar Pictures TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...

in the United States on January 13, 1989. It opened on 1,117 screens and debuted in eighth place with a weekend total of $3,306,320. Its final box office total was $8,143,225. In the Philippines, the film was released as ''Alien from the Deep'' by Solar Films on April 27, 1989. ''DeepStar Six'' was the first release of several underwater-themed feature movies released between 1989 and 1990, including ''

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...

'', '' Lords of the Deep'', '' The Evil Below'', ''

The Abyss ''The Abyss'' is a 1989 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron and starring Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and Michael Biehn. When an American submarine sinks in the Caribbean, a US search and recovery tea ...

'', and '' The Rift'' (''Endless Descent''). With the exception of ''The Abyss'', none of these films were box office hits.

Reception

, on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film had a rating of 15%, based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' said the film was "diluted by implausibility" due to the monster's appearance being unrealistic rather than threatening, also criticizing the lack of centralized characters. '' Time Out'' criticized the film's predictability and dialogue, stating that the only inventive aspect of the film was the design of the monster. Summarizing, "Cunningham apes Ridley Scott and James Cameron competently enough, and there are scary moments, but he has not got the 'vision thing'. This simply rehashes the phony trappings of countless TV shows, to baldly go where we have been before".

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

from ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' criticized the film's predictability, lack of suspense and dialogue.

References

External links

* * * * {{Portal bar, Geography, Film 1989 films 1980s science fiction horror films 1980s monster movies 1980s science fiction action films 1989 horror films American action horror films American monster movies American natural horror films American science fiction action films American science fiction horror films Carolco Pictures films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Sean S. Cunningham Films scored by Harry Manfredini TriStar Pictures films Underwater action films 1980s American films