It’s a foursome of modern day creature features. So which was my fave?
SEA BEAST (2008)
Pure SyFy creature fodder from the 00s, this film made me nostalgic for the days when they actually aired films like this. The creature is a mixture of goofy CGI and practical effects during close-up attacks, and a pretty cool creature it is.
The plot is typical—people begin turning up dead in a small fishing town, and no time is wasted in telling us why. There’s a “sea beast” that can go invisible, spits a fluid that renders victims immobile, and most importantly, walks on all fours and spends most of its time on land.
The creature is very campy, as are little clones that seem to pop right out of its back to start their own reign of terror. Like, they’re literally offspring…
We have a fisherman, the sheriff, and a biologist trying to figure out what’s going on, the local men going on a hunt for the sea beast…in the woods, and body parts chomped off left and right, so there’s a satisfying amount of cheesy gore. There’s even a total knock-off of the Quint character from Jaws.
TRICLOPS (2016)
This is essentially a playful remake of The Cyclops, which I just blogged about, complete with stop motion creatures and a throwback feel. Personally I would consider it an homage, not a spoof.
Don’t stop me even if you just heard this one before on my last blog. A woman assembles a search party when her man disappears.
This time their plane crashes when they are bombarded by giant birds. Once they hit the ground, rather than just normal giant critters, these critters are all deformed, some looking like dinosaurs, others like giant creepy crawlies right out of the spider pit scene in the 2005 King Kong.
Difference here is it’s made abundantly clear the triclops is her man…he even starts by picking her up and plucking off some of her clothes (so King Kong 1933) before putting her in a cage. Kinky triclops.
The other fresh twist is how the deformity issues start affecting the search party. Cool. But I do think this one is better appreciated if you’ve seen or are a fan of the original.
BEAST (Biest) (2014)
If you like slow burn wilderness creature feature movies, I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t be satisfied by this 66-minute movie.
A couple heads to a cabin in the woods to try to repair their fractured relationship, which doesn’t go very well.
In the meantime, a man comes knocking asking if they’ve seen his missing wife.
Through a series of suspenseful, atmospheric events, they end up in the beast’s lair. Eek. I found the final act of this short film to be a classic style monster movie in which the only CGI used is for an explosion and fire.
UNDERWATER (2020)
I saw this big Hollywood movie on cable with the hubby, so I figured I’d just slap it onto the end of this blog.
If you are a fan of movies like Deep Star Six, Leviathan, Alien, and Deep Rising, Underwater is like a throwback to that era, with a splash of 47 Meters Down thrown in (without the cage or the sharks).
Kristen Stewart stars as member of a team working in an underwater complex when the place suddenly starts blowing up. This leaves the cast spending a good chunk of the film moving from one location to another and one means of transportation to another to survive flooding. It’s all kind of boring.
We get a glimpse of a baby sea creature in the mix there, but the real fun starts one hour in. When we first see the creature, it’s pretty damn cool and frightening. The unique aspect of this film compared to the films mentioned above is that the creatures don’t infiltrate the team’s domain…the team actually goes out onto the ocean floor and gets attacked.
Suspension of disbelief comes in handy, but we do get an awesome final boss that looks and acts like something out of a Resident Evil video game, and for those who are into it, Kristen runs around in a skimpy bikini in the final act.
