Cinema Files: Leviathan (Spoilers Included)

Leviathan. Released in 1989, the same year that gave us Deepstar Six, The Abyss and Lords of the Deep. Starring Peter Weller, Richard Crenna, Ernie Hudson and Evil Eyebrows Meg Foster. Oh, Daniel Stern is in it, too.

Basically, this movie is just another Alien ripoff with dashes of The Thing thrown in for flavor. Deep sea miners find a sunken Russian ship. Investigation reveals the Russians were trying to genetically alter the crew into super fish men. Daniel Stern's Six Pack (Worst macho movie nickname ever, btw) poaches a bottle of vodka from the wreckage that (suprise!) contains the mutagen. Monsterism ensues.

The story is not the reason I wanted to discuss Leviathan. It is the way the story is told. Now, we modern movie audiences have been programmed to anticipate plot twists and story arcs either explicitly from clues seen or implicitly from the obvious lack of information. Example of the latter: Two guys walk into a house. Fade out. Fade in on guy #1 dead on the floor and guy #2 on the phone telling a 911 operator his friend had a heart attack. See, that fact that we did not see this heart attack is telling us that there is more to it. We start to form theories. Guy #2 poisoned him. Guy #1 is really alive and this is a hoax. That's not Guy #1 at all, it's a double. Whatever, you get the idea.

Now in Leviathan, twice we are given the same basic setup. The first one is when Six Pack is obviously ill from the mutant vodka and Richard Crenna's doctor character (I forget the character's name. I think they just called him, Doc) is examining him. Scene fades with Six Pack looking sick and scared. It cuts to the miners returning from deep sea work and Peter Weller's Becky going to check on Six Pack. Once he arrives at the infirmary, Doc informs him that Six Pack is dead. Now, we did not see Six Pack die. No convulsions or vomiting. No clawing at himself then keeling over. So, with the lack of info we start to form theories. The doctor did something that will be revealed later. He killed Six Pack when he could have saved him, or subjected him to inhuman torture in the name of science before he expired. Something, right? Nope. Six Pack just died. Nothing fancy. No evil doctor scenario. No clues to the mystery hidden in the cut. So, why make it all mysterious? And don't say red herring. That'a a cop out for clueless directors.

The second time we see this device used is when Cobb (Hector Elizondo) is transforming into a monster. A gash in his hand forms into a fanged mouth and tries to bite Doc. Doc grabs his wrist and keeps the mouth at bay. Also present is Willie (Amanda Pays) who flees once Cobb attacks. The action follows Willie as she runs down corridors looking for hunky Becky and the Black Guy (Ernie Hudson) to protect her. When she finds them she says Cobb killed Doc. Did he? What did we see? Cobb grew mouth. Mouth tried to bite Doc. Wille booked. That's all we got. We didn't even get a blood curdling Doc scream. So, with the information we were not given, we have to assume Doc lived. Right? Again, nope. Doc got assimilated into the giant fish monster along with Cobb and the others. Ho-hum. So again I must ask, why make a mystery out of a simple casualty? If the monster got him, it got him.

Since both scenes featured the doctor prominently, I almost believe there was an evil doctor subplot. Maybe it was eliminated in editting or rewrites, but not wholly obliterated, leaving us with what we got. I'm going to see if I can find the script online, maybe that can answer my questions. Or, maybe you can. Got any theories, Leviathan fans?

One more thing. What the hell was with the ending? Becky, Willie and The Black Guy blow up the installation with monster inside and escape to the surface. As they are being rescued by the Coast Guard, the monster reappears and eats The Black Guy. It was like the monster, beaten and dying, floating around, clinging for life suddenly realized, "Hey! I forgot to kill the Black Guy! I knew I should have written down an action plan!" Seriously. The freakin' movie was over. Ernie Hudson deserves better. He's been the Black Guy in so many of our favorite films.