HARBINGER DOWN [2015]

 I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE BOOS THIS MOVIE GETS. 

Here we have an above-average creature feature that many compare to John Carpenter's THE THING but in reality it's more like ALIEN meets DEADLIEST CATCH with some THE THING tropes tagging along just for fun.  I can see why there are comparisons with THE THING since the creature effects very much echo the flailing tentacles that were iconically crafted for Carpenter's epic.  Stan Winston protege Alec Gillis (writer/director) and Tom Woodruff Jr. (producer) made this movie with a Kickstarter campaign in order to champion the art of practical effects over CGI.  There's a good reason for that because their practical effects company Amalgamated Dynamics has worked hard on several bigtime movies (THE THING prequel, the first SPIDER-MAN, I AM LEGEND) only to have their practical effects replaced with CGI by the studio.  They posted their original practical effects on their on youtuber channel and got such a tremendous response (as well as astonishment as to why the studio would replace their practical work with CGI) that they kickstarter-funded HARBINGER DOWN in order to showcase a creature feature with practical effects.  Additional funding was provided by Dark Dunes, who released the film.  The general response, however, has been kinda mixed with some thumbs-downing the movie.  I really don't get this at all.  While no classic, HARBINGER DOWN does provide a really entertaining and fun creature feature with well-delineated characters that I actually cared about.  

The whole shebang takes place on the commercial fishing boat Harbinger captained by Cap'n Graff (Lance Hendrickson himself).  A university group of biology students led by their dickwad professor Stephen (Matt Winston - son of the late great Stan Winston himself) also includes Graff's granddaughter Sadie (Camille Balsamo) and student Ronelle (Giovonnie Samuels).  The Harbinger's crew is made up of Bowman (Reid Collums), Big G (Winston James Francis), Dock (Mike Estime), Atka (Edwin H. Bravo), Svetlana (Milla Bjorn) and Roland (Kraig W. Sturtz).  While probing underwater for whales, Sadie discovers a huge chunk of ice with a blinking red light encased in it.  Hauling it aboard, they discover that the remains of a crashed Soviet moon lander from 1982 is inside the ice.  Once thawed, the remains of a cosmonaut is inside is relieved of a skin sample by Sadie.  Once alone with the corpse, Stephen stupidly touches the remains and gets some goop on him.  Sadie discovers the moon lander is carrying lots of those microscopic lil water bears called tardigrades (you've seen them on the Science Channel). 

Unfortunately, the cosmic radiation they absorbed has mutated them and given them the ability to grow huge and shapeshift into all sorts of monstrous creatures (here we have THE THING tropes).  Stephen, now 'contaminated', shortly goes into convulsions and turns into a slimy creature; during this process possibly 'infecting' the others with his explosive glop. 

The rest of the movie continues on an ALIEN-like vibe as the crew runs around trying to avoid the creatures and wondering who, if any of them, is going to turn into a creature next (more THING tropes).  Absolutely no new ground is sewn here but, really, what film ever really sews new ground anyway.  What's that old chestnut about there being only 6 stories?  It's how you do it and HARBINGER DOWN does it, I think, rather well.  As I said, I really liked the characters here (except for the deliberately unlikeable dickwad Stephen who is expertly played by Matt Winston).  Winston James Francis and Milla Bjorn are particular favourites as Big G and Svet while Bravo, Estime and Collums also create strong, likeable characters in the crew.  Samuels as Ronelle is also hugely likeable while Balsamo's Sadie is almost as good.  Hendrickson as crusty old Cap'n Graff is like the Hendrickson of old; bringing a strong performance evoking his past glories.  The much-lauded practical effects are quite excellent -- what we see of them.  Perhaps budgetary restrictions caused the filmmakers to underlight them but they are still quite effective nonetheless.  All in all, a quite good creature feature set on a boat which I think delivers.