With horror industry heavy hitters already in place from the 1970s, the 1980s built upon that with the rise of brilliant minds in makeup and effects artists, as well as advances in technology. Artists like Rick Baker, Rob Bottin, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff Jr., Tom Savini, Stan Winston, and countless other artists that delivered groundbreaking, mind-blowing practical effects that ushered in the pre-CGI Golden Age of Cinema. Which meant a glorious glut of creatures in horror. More than just a technical marvel, the creatures on display in ‘80s horror meant tangible texture that still holds up decades later. Grotesque slimy skin to brutal transformation sequences, there wasn’t anything the artists couldn’t create. It Came From the ‘80s is a series that will pay homage to the monstrous, deadly, and often slimy creatures that made the ‘80s such a fantastic decade in horror.
From 1989 to early 1990, aquatic themed sci-fi horror was all the rage. No less than five underwater genre films were released in that period; DeepStar Six, Leviathan, Lords of the Deep, The Abyss, and The Rift. It was Sean S. Cunningham’s DeepStar Six that made it to the theater first. The plot followed the crew of a deep sea Naval facility, comprised of blue-collar civilians, scientists, and military personnel. When a geologist discovers a strange cave system with a thriving primeval ecosystem, a high-ranking officer orders it to be collapsed via explosives, which in turn causes fissures in the ocean floor. It awoke and released a prehistoric creature, and it’s pissed.
Granted, it takes a long time for that creature to actually show up. Until then the audience is stuck with a lot of drama and bickering between the crew. Most of the cast was comprised of notable TV actors, and the characters they played were typical archetypes; the plucky hero, the love interest, the asshole, and plenty of supporting characters whose sole purpose would be to keep the body count at a fun number. But you don’t sign up for a creature feature for the humans, which can make at least the first half drag as you wait for the glorious, gruesome moment pictured on the movie’s poster and VHS cover box.
Once the creature does finally show up and makes its way into the station, the movie kicks in gear and turns into the entertaining monster movie we’d been waiting for. As per usual, a lot of the credit goes to the creature design and the special makeup and creature effects team for bringing it to life. The giant creature, a strange mashup of a crustacean and a scorpion, was initially designed by Chris Walas (Gremlins, Arachnophobia). He recommended Mark Shostrom (Evil Dead II, From Beyond) to handle the creature effects, who then made changes to the design based on production requirements.
It’s tricky and complicated enough to build a massive mechanical creature for a movie, but one that’s aquatic based adds a whole new layer of difficulty. Shostrom’s team comprised of nearly 30 people for the project, which included his main crew members- animatronics specialist David Kindlon (The Blob, From Beyond), Everett Burrell (Pan’s Labyrinth, Prometheus), sculptor Greg Smith (Hatchet II, From Dusk Till Dawn), Jim McLoughlin (Men In Black, The Cabin in the Woods), Gino Crognale (Sin City, The Walking Dead), Robert Kurtzman, and Greg Nicotero. The paint job was handled by Steve Wang (Predator, The Monster Squad). In other words, an A-team of horror effects artists.
The creature crew built a large monster rig for shooting, which required eight people to operate plus a stuntman. The rig was used in sequences where the monster looked alive and mobile. They also created a separate 12-foot long tail for diving as well as an insert tail for moments where the creature hit the characters with it. There were separate arms and heads for the shots that had the creature pop above the surface of the water. That Shostrom was juggling this project with his work on Phantasm II at the time makes this doubly impressive.
Sometimes all it takes to redeem a movie is a great creature with some gnarly kills. Distilled to its basic premise, DeepStar Six bears a lot of plot similarities to Leviathan (and Alien), which is the stronger movie in many ways. It doesn’t help that there’s a lot of waiting around through bland character melodrama before the creature is let loose. But between Walas, Shostrom, and the talented creature crew, they delivered a unique sea scorpion monster that gave us some memorable moments; like biting a hapless diver in half.
