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[The Rig]
Plot:As a hurricane builds its rage outside, the small experienced crew of an exploratory oil rig diligently works to lock down the rig and settle in for a stormy but secure night at sea. But their comfort is short lived when a crew member goes missing in the storm and an extensive search proves fruitless. But it isn't long before the true nature of the crew member's disappearance is revealed. Days before the storm hit, the exploratory rig had begun drilling in a new area, invading the habitat of a previously unknown creature.
As the storm rages, the deadly creature seizes the opportunity to attack the platform and extract its revenge, picking the crew off one by one. Surrounded by nothing but ocean in the midst of a raging storm, with no way off the rig and communication with the mainland lost, the remaining crew must survive the stormy night with an unrelenting creature hunting them down.
Cast:William Forsythe,
Sarah Laine,
Scott Martin,
Marcus T. Paulk,
Stacey Hinnen,
Carmen Perez,
Robert Zachar,
Dan Benson,
Jacob Bruce,
Dennis LaValle,
Eric Bivens-Bush,
Carolyn Fallin.
My Thoughts:Bland creature-feature.
Review:"The Rig" is another one of those "monster-movie-of-the-week" type of movies. We horror fans hit the video store every week, to score the latest theater release that's now on dvd, and then we see a film like "The Rig". Interesting cover art, but a very bland film overall. "The Rig" begins when a group of oil drillers are drilling beneath the ocean floor, trying to tap into a new supply. They don't strike any oil, but they do unleash a sort of, prehistoric sea creature or two.
Now...a storm that has engulfed a nearby oil rig, has washed these creatures right into the rigs perimeter. Once there, they immediately go on the attack against the crew. This movie had a shot, it had William Forsythe in it, a terrific veteran actor. And a diverse cast, but the movie doesn't work because of the script and the low-budget monsters. The monsters just aren't scary, interesting, or fearsome in any way really. They look kind of ridiculous actually.
And seeing them take people out, well...because of how the creatures look, it's just very non-believable to really feel the kills in this movie. They just come, and they happen, and it's over, Kaput, onto next victim. I have to give the movie credit on it's diversity in casting. The anglo's in the movie aren't the usual gap ad-looking types, and we get a latina female lead and a black guy who isn't always cracking jokes or trying to be bad ass. So atleast the film had that going for it. Now if they could just fix that monster.
Although how the monsters come about is an intriguing action, their background isn't delved into at all. I mean sure, amphibious creatures residing beneath the ocean attacking humans, has been a theme of many monster-scifi-horror films, but it would've been nice if there had been atleast some kind of small dialogue about what the creatures were and all. But I guess with a small-budget movie like this, keeping it simple is the key. The deaths are blood, gory, and gruesome enough for this sort of fair, and what I liked about the kills were their surprise-attack elements.
A lot of people get nailed by the monsters in this film straight out of nowhere, like during conversations or the most unexpected moments. Sure...these were some crappy looking killer-fish-octo-creatures, but they sure were vicious enough to be good movie monsters in the sense of an antagonistic threat to the films protagonists. And there's one death early on in the film that you don't really see coming, based on who dies and how. So again, for a small movie of small means, it tries very hard and is dripping with ambition, and the will to create an interesting flow and pace to it's goings-ons.
The conclusion of the movie works on some levels, but fails in others. Not a total failure, but I think the movie should've ended on a more somber note. Instead, it teases a somber ending, but then decides to attempt to brighten things up a bit. Not sure if it worked or not, seeing as how it looked kind of tacked on from the original ending. But overall, it wasn't too bad. "The Rig" is not a terrific creature-feature indie, but it's worth checking out on a boring Saturday afternoon or night, when you have nothing else to do.
Positives:Good performances, and a diverse enough cast. Brutal kills that had strong elements of surprise.
Negatives:The script is bland at times, as is the directing. Also the monsters just aren't very fearsome looking.
Overall:Two stars out of four.
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