Leviathansounds like an absolute success on paper. The director was an indie darling who recently stepped into blockbusters withRambo: First Blood Part IIandCobra. Writers David Webb Peoples and Jeb Stuart had recently finishedBlade RunnerandDie Hard,respectively. Stan Winston, the special effects wizard behindJurassic Park, Predator, and more, was attached. Peter Weller,Robocophimself, starred in the project. It sounds perfect, but its final product was almost more fascinating for its faults.
Almost any sci-fi action movie released in the 80s was compared toThe ThingandAlien. The comparisons were rarely favorable but almost always accurate. John Carpenterand Ridley Scott’s respectiveclassics defined their genre and taught consistently critical lessons. Riffs onThe ThingandAlienare still frequent, but the 80s was the era of calling out the similarities.
What isLeviathanabout?
Leviathanfollows an undersea mining operation led by geologist Steven Beck (Peter Weller). He brings Doc, Sixpack, Willie, Jones, DeJesus, Bowman, and Cobb. The crew worksout of a deep-sea base, exploring the ocean floor in pressurized suits. They discover a scuttled soviet ship called theLeviathan. The miners find records aboard detailing the gruesome and mysterious deaths of theLeviathan’s crew. Sixpack, the first man to find the shipwreck, dies suddenly, a disgusting mass of wounds on his back. Whatever infection takes him seems to spread rapidly. Beck and Doc try to surface, but a storm keeps them trapped below the depths. Corpses start to animate, combining and forming something terrible. The crew discovers unethical and haunting experiments aboard theLeviathan. A bottle of vodka stolen from the shiphas spread the infectionto their base. As their numbers dwindle and every victim becomes a threat, the remaining miners must fight to survive.
Who directedLeviathan?
George P. Cosmatos directedLeviathan. Cosmatos cut his teeth on war dramas in his native Italy. HisMassacre in Romeis an intense exploration of the execution of Italian hostages by the Nazis and the ambivalence of the Catholic Church. By the late 70s, he shifted his career toward blockbusters.Escape to Athenawas an excellent ensemble adventure movie set on a Greek islandduring World War II. His North American debut was the off-kilter horror filmOf Unknown Origin, which also starred Peter Weller. In 1985 and 1986, he exploded into the American market with two Sylvester Stallone action blockbusters.Rambo: First Blood Part IIandCobraearned poor critical reception and tremendous financial success. His next film wasLeviathan, which suffered the wrath of critics and audiences. Cosmatos' follow-up was his best North American film, the landmark 1993 westernTombstone. Cosmatos directed one more film afterTombstone, a widely-despised political thriller calledShadow Conspiracy, before his tragic death in 1997. His story has a sad ending, but his legacy lives on in his son.
George Cosmatos’s son is Panos Cosmatos. Few filmmakers have ever been as different as George and Panos. George directed gritty yet epic war dramas before transitioning into crowd-pleasing blockbusters. Panos Cosmatos' first film wasBeyond a Black Rainbow, which he reportedly funded with DVD residuals fromTombstone. His science fiction films are anarchic, brutal, and politically charged.His 2018 follow-up,Mandy, is considered one of the most engagingly unique films of the last decade. He’s spoken before about developing ideas from the covers of older science fiction films he was forbidden from watching, presumably in part by his father. George wasn’t around to see Panos' first feature. Their connection remains endlessly fascinating.
How doesLeviathanend?
The infection corrupts everyone it touches,turning them into monstersand animating their corpses. Sixpack is the first to fall. He infects Bowman, and their corpses merge into a dangerous creature. The crew forces their combined body out into the ocean. A severed tentacle awakens into an eel-like animal that attacks DeJesus. It captures his body and uses his mass to form more limbs. Beck catches the new monster eating bags of blood from a medical cooler. He tries to draw him into the same lock and flush him. Doc ejects the escape pods, ensuring no one can reach the surface and spread the infection. Cobb gets infected, giving it to Doc. Willie discovers that their employers have declared them dead. The creature causes a pressure implosion, forcing the remaining crew to don suits and escape. They reach the surface, where a Coast Guard helicopter finds them. Thecreature emerges and attacks. Jones sacrifices himself to save the others while Beck throws an explosive into the monster’s mouth, finally killing it. In the epilogue, Beck punches the crew’s employer for consigning them to death.
Leviathanis fairlycompared toThe ThingandAlien, but it’s still a fun ride. Cosmatos’s career is far more interesting through a macro lens than this one strange chapter.Leviathanexplores classic monster horror with a bit of gore and plenty of fun ideas. It doesn’t all work out, but it’s still worth a look back.
