Proteus

This low budget sci-fi horror film starts off pretty badly, but gradually gets into gear. PROTEUS is one of the thousand generic monster movies which rip-off ALIENS, THE THING etc, which is sometimes entertaining if you're in the mood and know what to expect. This one is probably worth a cheap rental since the creature is interesting. What I don't understand is, how can this be based on a novel, unless the novel is about thirty pages long - since there's hardly any plot or characters to speak of.

A group of heroin smugglers finds shelter on an abandoned oil rig after their ship had exploded. Soon they find that the oil rig was just a cover for biological experiments. One of the results is Charlie, a shape-shifting monster with the ability to absorb the memory of its victims.

The only really good thing about this film is the inclusion of cult actor Doug Bradley, and unfortunately he plays a very small role. The special effects and makeup are also pretty decent, but it seems like a waste to have included them in such a terrible film.

Maybe I should have caught on by the time they ripped off the "Terminator" theme song, but this was just a boring, none-too-interesting movie. The concept is good, even if not strictly original. But it is executed in a way that is quite boring and never allows us to actually care who lives or dies.

Bob Keen (the make up and special effects wizard behind Hellraiser 2-3 and Candyman among many others) directed this alien film set in the oil rig. A bunch of drug smugglers have their boat sunk and they have to go to one oil rig they accidentally find while floating in the middle of the ocean. They go on board only to find it's completely abandoned with some menacing voices and dark rooms. Soon they learn there's something nasty and hungry in the rig and it's going to get the new visitors, too.

There are two things which make this film worth watching even couple of times. They are soundtrack and lightning with the usage of camera. The theme played during the credits and during the film isn't too effective or special, but the ominous and low sounds heard in the soundtrack to create suspense are indeed effective and creepy, thanks to the talented film makers who knew what sounds scary. The green and dark mist is present in the film all the time and the images of the abandoned oil rig are very scary again and show only little information about the place.. There are also some effective shocks which make the viewer almost jump, and fortunately they are not too plenty as then they would've lost their power and become gratuitous.

Otherwise this film isn't too noteworthy. The characters are not too deep or interesting and speak and scream things which reveal bad script. The ending is too cliched and the monster too big and becomes little unintentionally comic as the budget didn't make it possible to create more convincing monster. They should've kept the monster smaller in order to make the film look more serious. The ending has also one bit of unexpected gore as the full monster arrives, and it looks little different now that the entire film is practically bloodless and without gore. There is also one brief scene which raises the puke-o-meter pretty high as one nasty alien tentacle goes inside one character's mouth while she's sleeping!

After all, this film has enough atmosphere and horror elements to make it worthwhile for the fans of horror and scifi cinema, but otherwise this isn't too revolutionizing picture even in its own genre. If you appreciate the genre, rent or buy this (if you get it cheap) because it could be MUCH worse than this.

5/10

This is based on a book called 'Slimer' by Harry Adam Knight. Whilst the book is a tense, gripping and claustrophobic thriller packed with interesting characters and some truly chilling scenes, the film just stinks of a disgustingly wasted license. Another opportunity completely flushed down the drain by people not talented enough to produce and direct the home video footage of a family party.

The plot, for lack of a better word, involves drug smugglers who are shipwrecked and wind up on a deserted oil-rig where sinister experiments are taking place. After a lot of wandering around they meet a scientist with a Germanic accent which sounds nearly as realistic as Professor Tryst's in 'Dr Who:Nightmare of Eden' (which, believe me, is no great achievement). The characters are Z-grade and the film doesn't even attempt to follow the story in the original book. Before long the laughable monster (imagine a cut-price Jaws on legs) appears to sink the film to even greater depths. Doug Bradley (Pinhead in the 'Hellraiser' films) makes an appearance, but even he's wasted in a minor role as a rather cliched mad company boss.

A painful experience. That saying 'the old ones are the best' certainly applies to monster movies. Recent monster films like this waste of (very little) money aren't worth the tape they're printed on.

A group of drug smuglers are ship wrecked, and seek shelter on a near-by oil rig. As it turns out, it's not a oil rig at all, but a high-security genetic engineering where things went wrong, now there's monsters running around. This has to be one of the best film's I've ever seen! Excellent special effects, spectacular monsters, creative premise, a refreshingly non-routine script.....This is perfect! I want it on DVD!!!!!!!! Great twist at the end, too.