LEVIATHAN (1989) Blu-ray Review

Leviathan (1989) d. George P. Cosmatos (USA/Italy)

Days away from completing its tour of duty, the highly photogenic crew of Tri-Oceanic Mining Corporation’s Shack #7 encounters a submerged Soviet submarine and salvages one of the craft’s storage containers. A couple sips of pilfered noxious vodka later, several members are dead, with their bodies mutating into a strange and messy amphibian organism possessing tendrils, teeth, tails, and a terrible ’tude. With icy deep waters all around, the surviving rock jockeys pit their wits against the carnivorous monsters below and wait for help from the corporate monsters above (personified by oily Meg Foster), though they probably shouldn’t hold their breath.

Sorry, I had to.

DEADLY EYES (1982) Blu-ray Review

Deadly Eyes (aka Night Eyes) (1982) d. Robert Clouse (Canada)

Based on James Herbert’s classic novel Rats (and an earlier script from Lonon Smith), this hilariously earnest yet surprisingly bloody “B” ratfestation flick falls somewhere between the real-life rodent hordes of Willard and the costumed creepers of The Killer Shrews. Enter the Dragon director Clouse keeps the action moving along at a lively pace, perhaps to distract from the not-quite-convincing dachshunds-in-rats-clothing (no kidding) and the close-ups of snarling hand puppets.