The first half of "Leviathan" is competently made and surprisingly absorbing, with strongly drawn characters and good acting all around. In the second half, the film degenerates into an "Alien" rip-off (and later on, it even steals a classic scene from "Jaws"),with derivative special effects and too many familiar elements. But it is saved (and gets 6/10) by Cosmatos' professionalism; he certainly redeems himself here for making the absolutely terrible "Cobra" three years earlier.

Alien, The Thing and even Jaws are the inspiration for Leviathan.

I remember actor Hector Elizondo doing the publicity for this film prior to its release. He talked about its stellar cast, I guess he was being ironic as it included Robocop, the black guy from Ghostbusters and Rambo's superior officer. Elizondo and Daniel Stern would only find further fame a year later with Pretty Woman and Home Alone respectively.

Set in the near future, Tri-Oceanic Corp is another one of this shady organisations that care more for profit than the people it employs. Its deep water mining vessel led by geologist Steven Beck (Peter Weller) is on the final days of its operation. The crew encounter a Soviet ship Leviathan in the bottom of the ocean whose crew seems to have died in mysterious circumstances.

Pretty soon the crew in the vessel start to fall ill with some kind of virus. The doctor finds that whatever has infected them has mutated their genetics unleashing something monstrous that picks off the crew one by one.

Jerry Goldsmith provides bombastic music. There are some duff lines which I like to think has nothing to do with writer David Webb Peoples. Stan Winston does a great job with the monster effects which for the large part is unseen.

However the film is too generic and also too slow to get going for an aqua monster on the loose film. Especially as it emerges that the monster is sort of indestructible. It really is a B film with some good effects but not a good script. Director George Cosmatos is competent but could not elevate this film to be something better, you sense this as actress Amanda Pays is just eye candy seen several times in just her underwear.

Of the numerous monster-at-sea movies to have been made - and it's a big list that includes the good (THE ABYSS, DEEP STAR SIX),the not-so-good (THE RIG) and the plain crazy/awful (CREATURES FROM THE ABYSS),LEVIATHAN is probably the best of the bunch. When it comes down to it, it's a shameless rip-off of both ALIEN and THE THING, but when the production values and calibre of the cast are all so strong it's pretty hard to go wrong.

Veteran director George Pan Cosmatos (RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II) handles the directorial chores in this tale of an undersea base at the mercy of a sinister Russian creature which has the ability to infect those who come into contact with it. A cast of somewhat clichéd characters are thus forced to fight for their lives against the unknown menace, and there's plenty of horror, both in the form of icky effects and more unsettling suspense scenarios.

Cast-wise, we're treated to ROBOCOP's Peter Weller as the stalwart captain of the crew, and the ever-great Richard Crenna as the doctor, who plays probably the most interesting - and morally ambiguous - character. Amanda Pays and Lisa Eilbacher are easy on the eye as the female crew members, and there's an average-sized past for the ever-underused Ernie Hudson (GHOSTBUSTERS) as the token black guy. Watch out for Daniel Stern (VERY BAD THINGS) as a slobbish character, Hector Elizondo (PRETTY WOMAN) as another expendable and she of the glowing eyes, Meg Foster (THEY LIVE),as the stock corporate villain.

LEVIATHAN will win no awards for originality, but I liked it well enough. The pacing is strong, the deaths are well handled, and there's just the right among of gore without it feeling excessive. In addiction, the sticky special effects bring just the right level of eye-popping spectacle to the production. For reasons unknown I'm a huge fan of this underwater sub-genre, and LEVIATHAN just might be the best of the bunch.