M.A.L. : Mutant aquatique en liberté

"DeepStar Six" is just another "Alien" clone, to be ranked with all "Alien" clones as just another time waster. This might be what it deserves, however, it can be noted as a few notches above other "Alien" clones for its excellent cast, which, even when the story and writing become pretty silly, sticks to it and keeps things running smoothly. The characters are pretty convincing as well, epecially for such low standards as this. And while most of the film is talkly and uneventful, I will proudly state that the last half hour are great and very tension-filled. I was very pleased with the climax, and even the monster was acceptable. If the whole film had been as surprising as gripping as the last half-hour, this might have been the greatest "Alien" clone around. Instead, it's just a pretty good, low-budget flick that's worth watching once or twice if it comes on cable.

**1/2 out of ****

I remembered watching DeepStar Six on TV as a kid, about the same time I first watched "The Abyss." While this movie is not as suspenseful, dramatic and adventurous as "The Abyss," I still found it to be quite entertaining and fun.

The film starts off with a crew in a sub doing some sort of experiment on an underwater nuclear base. However, their presence then disturbs an unidentified giant sea creature, which I thought resembled a large lobster. The creatures attacks the sub and crew and then the rest of the movie is basically a struggle for survival with some intense monster action.

The movie is sort of predictable and the cast of characters weren't as memorable as I recalled, but it has a quick-paced plot with good special effects and intense monster action one might find enjoyable.

Grade B-

The late eighties were full of Aliens rip offs and this is one of the better versions. Obviously it was never gonna be as good as it's more illustrious brother but it's not a total waste of time. An underwater team are exploring the bottom if the ocean when they discover what could be a mysterious cavern. Some of the crew want to explore it but the teams leader wants to plant detonators to collapse the cavern. This is a bad idea as soon creatures appear from the cavern and it's now a battle of the fittest, or most sane to be honest.

It's not a terrible movie, it's just not good enough to be classed as great. The cast are ok but it's pretty obvious who is going to survive so the tension is not a great as it could've been.

At the time of writing, IMBD users give this film a 5.3. I have generally found that most movies < than a 6 are not worth my time, but this is that rare exception.

The plot is far from perfect. But it is fine for what it is: an undersea adventure gone awry. Special effects still hold up pretty well in modern times, and the movie is just one of those flicks that is fun to watch.

Absolutely worth a watch on some late Saturday night.

Okay, it's no The Abyss or anything, but for a knock-off of a knock-off, it's pretty damn decent.

The effects, though pretty low budget, are nonetheless well done. The creature design is pretty cool. The characters are likeable and well-written enough to keep me invested in what was happening.

It's no game changer to be sure, but if you're looking for some b-movie monster fun, you could certainly do much worse than this.