A group of seven women are on a boat chasing a trawler that is illegally poaching fish. When they get lost in a fog bank, one of them spots a man in the water. They bring him aboard and, while checking his vitals, he goes nuts and whispers to one lady, "Kill me. Kill yourselves. End this." After one of them kills him (hey, he asked politely), they discover his body has small circular welts on it and they believe he has a deadly virus.
I tuned into this SyFy premiere last night because I have previously enjoyed the work of writer-director Sheldon Wilson. He made an impression with the film SHALLOW GROUND (2004) and has worked steadily since, delivering enjoyable low budget fare. I was with this one for the first 50 minutes as the mystery reveals intriguing new twists and the atmosphere builds well. Unfortunately, at that point the plot lays itself bare and you realize this is just Sheldon Wilson's John Carpenter's THE THING (1982). Once that revelation hits, everything else pops into place. Ah, an all female crew instead of an all male team. Ah, the team watches a video on the stranger's phone of his team uncovering something. Ah, the stranger's team ended up discovering an previously unknown "alien" life form in the deepest part of the Arctic ocean. Ah, this squid looking thing jumps from person to person to remain alive. Bummer. I was hoping a film with an all female cast - who are all good - would have done something more original.
I tuned into this SyFy premiere last night because I have previously enjoyed the work of writer-director Sheldon Wilson. He made an impression with the film SHALLOW GROUND (2004) and has worked steadily since, delivering enjoyable low budget fare. I was with this one for the first 50 minutes as the mystery reveals intriguing new twists and the atmosphere builds well. Unfortunately, at that point the plot lays itself bare and you realize this is just Sheldon Wilson's John Carpenter's THE THING (1982). Once that revelation hits, everything else pops into place. Ah, an all female crew instead of an all male team. Ah, the team watches a video on the stranger's phone of his team uncovering something. Ah, the stranger's team ended up discovering an previously unknown "alien" life form in the deepest part of the Arctic ocean. Ah, this squid looking thing jumps from person to person to remain alive. Bummer. I was hoping a film with an all female cast - who are all good - would have done something more original.