Think "Alien-meets-Leviathan-meets-Coyote/Roadrunner". In this cartoon of a movie, a nefarious UK organization sends an unlikely team to investigate loss of mini-sub off Scotland. We know from the intro it was tracking a "monster" out of Loch Ness into the North Sea. Attacked. Arrrghhh! Frantic radio transmissions. All dead.
A ridiculous team of 20-somethings joins a team of the Org's thugs on a search mission for the lost sub. They go to sea in what seems an endless overnight thunderstorm. On site, one young gal "the team dive expert" descends in a shark cage, no less, (a la Jaws) naively searching for wreckage -- while a dunce on the thug team in an armed mini-sub dives. Unbeknownst to her, to ride shotgun. It goes bad. Scary sea serpent appears... Munch! Goodbye girlie.
Then the Sea Serpent attacks the mother ship. YIKES! They all see it. Head thug gets spat on with goo. On death's door in the Sick Bay, the ditzy medical specialist gal attempts aid - with him constantly spewing foam and goo, yet she doesn't even put him into the recovery position. Her back turned, SURPRISE, a spidery monster bursts out of his body (a la Alien) and skitters around the ship (a la Alien). Remaining crew learn of the creature, get killed one by one, and the remaining "love Interest" 20-somethings head back to port, as the goof in the mini-sub does a kamikaze run into the mouth of the monster. BOOM. The End.
RIDICULOUS STORY!!! Sucks in premise, plot, and characterization. Fair acting, though.
What is GREAT about this movie, however, is its production. FIVE STARS!
The team goes to sea in a hearty naval ship, apparently able to be managed by a crew of seven. It is seen to be HMS Cavalier, an RN destroyer commissioned in 1944, end of service 1972, and made an alongside museum in 2007 in Chatham.
Amazingly, mainly night/stormy exterior scenes were done aboard Cavalier -- as, it seems, were many below deck scenes. Took me back to my own days serving aboard Cold War-era steam-powered destroyers. Mess decks and engineering spaces, all correct, Bristol fashion, right down to the red leathette mess seat cushions, door and hatch markings, and checkerboard below-deck tiles.
The ship's control room scenes clearly were filmed aboard a museum submarine, with the "search ship" being operated by one man at sub-type controls. As well, several of the below-deck scenes showed the rounded pressure-vessel bulkheads of a submarine. Possibly Oberon class... Several on musem display.
This is what made the movie. A believeable set in its nautical scenes.
A ludicrous story, sure. One-dimensional cartoon characters, of course. An meh acting? Sometimes it was good.
But GREAT production! Thanks for that.
