Lords of the Deep
| Lords of the Deep | |
|---|---|
 DVD release cover | |
| Directed by | Mary Ann Fisher |
| Produced by | Roger Corman |
| Written by |
Howard R. Cohen Daryl Haney |
| Starring |
Bradford Dillman Priscilla Barnes Daryl Haney |
| Music by | Jim Berenholtz |
| Cinematography | Austin McKinney |
| Edited by | Nina Gilberti |
| Distributed by |
Concorde Pictures MGM |
Release dates |
USA: April 21, 1989 |
Running time | 78 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Lords of the Deep is a 1989 science fiction/horror film about an underwater colony being attacked by alien life forms. Starring actors included Bradford Dillman and Priscilla Barnes.
It was one of many underwater-themed movies released around 1989; similar films distributed during that time-frame included: The Abyss, Leviathan, DeepStar Six, The Evil Below, and The Rift (Endless Descent).
Plot
Set on board an undersea laboratory in a near future ocean where the Earth's ozone layer has been depleted and new means of habitation and survival are being explored, biologist Claire is working on an unknown specimen when she experiences psychic visions. Meanwhile a routine crew replacement is inbound in a mini-submarine when an undersea quake occurs. Contact is lost with the sub and a search sub is sent out to investigate the silence while one of the labs crew works on exterior repairs in a diving suit. The search sub discovers the relief sub is now derelict and the hatch blown with no sign of the crew and is promptly attacked by large stingray-like creatures. After repelling one creature with an electrical discharge the sub is overpowered by more of the rays and contact is lost.
The crewman working outside the lab is then attacked and the crew find him half out of the lab's moon pool. When his mask is removed it is revealed he has been totally transformed into a gelatinous mass. Commander Dobler orders the mass quarantined, but Claire and Barbara the medical officer over-ride him and the mass is moved to the lab where it is discovered to be both identical in composition to the substance Claire was studying, and also to be mutating into a man-sized stingray-like creature.
The creature escapes its tank and proceeds to move about the station while crew attempt to find it. Claire experiences more visions and is called too. A crew-member is discovered dead after finding himself unable to get out of a room and the commander denies autopsy. Quakes continue periodically and a sub sent out to salvage one of the lost subs is also taken by the creatures outside.
Claire and her lover O'Neil must work to uncover the mystery of her visions and the contradictions of the creatures behavior when crew are vanishing or being killed.
Cast
- Bradford Dillman as Dobler
- Priscilla Barnes as Claire
- Daryl Haney as O'Neill
- Melody Ryane as Barbara
- Eb Lottimer as Seaver
- Gregory Sobeck as Engel (as Greg Sobeck)
- Richard Young as Chadwick
- Stephen Davies as Fernandez