I love these movies. Isolation is a great setting. Whether it be in deep space on a cavernous spaceship...or on an oil rig in the gulf during a hurricane. The outside world can't get to you so if someone has a toothache...tough! Or, if a slimy and irate creature gets aboard...tough! Today we will look at the 2010 film, "The Rig," directed by Peter Atencio.
A hurricane is moving in and non-essential personnel are flown off the oil rig and back to mainland. This leaves a crew of...essential personnel. What makes them essential? Um...well, they have some great pre-marital sex and gratuitous shower scenes. Hey...not just anyone can do that. Jim (William Forsythe) heads the rig and stays aboard. Just before the storm moves in, the drill entered some cavern thousands of feet below the surface and a creature came out and boarded the rig. No one knows this...yet. Carey (Sarah D'Laine) is Jim's hot daughter and lover of roughneck Dobbs (Scott Martin)...he grunts a lot. The two have steamy sex. Meanwhile, roughneck Freddy (Stacey Hinnen) has some steamy sex in the shower with babe roughneck Rodriguez (Carmen Gloria Perez). Oh...while this passion is going on, the storm rages, and the slimy and irate creature begins murdering essential personnel.
The creature is vicious and really dices up its victims. Now, after passionate pre-marital sex, the essentials realize the monster is hunting all of them. The cavernous oil rig is a perfect setting for this monster film. The essential roughnecks will attempt to protect the babes...but they are roughnecks and grunt better than fighting monsters. One by one the essentials are pureed. A few plans are hatched to battle the creature...none any good. Then the essentials get mad...except for Carey, she just cries and screams a lot...but remains looking really good. Now its roughnecks versus creature...both sides seem mad...and both sides seem bent on annihilating their opponent.
Does the slimy creature from the depths merely want love, just like the roughnecks have on the rig? Will gratuitous and steamy showers be interrupted by thrashing and blood spurting? Is this film a metaphor for the carnage caused by the Obama Administration defunding safety and medical expenses for off-shore drilling? This is a good one. Great acting, great beef, and great cheese. For some creature feature type entertainment, see 'The Rig."
Your comparison between "The Rig" and films like "The Mist" or "The Fog" is spot-on, focusing on the theme of isolation and the ensuing chaos when faced with unseen threats. It's interesting how these movies, despite their different settings, manage to evoke similar feelings of dread and helplessness among the audience. The aspect of characters dealing with extreme situations in confined spaces, whether it's an oil rig or a mist-enshrouded town, really amplifies the tension and the horror elements.
ReplyDeleteThe noise aspect you mentioned is quite relatable. Intense scenes, especially with a lot of screaming, can indeed necessitate a volume adjustment, especially to avoid disturbing others. It's a testament to the immersive experience these films provide, drawing you in with their suspense and sometimes making you forget your surroundings.
The mention of a crazed dentist in your comment adds another layer to the discussion, pointing towards the broader trope of 'improvised horror' within confined or isolated settings. This kind of scenario, where characters must use whatever is at hand to survive or inflict horror, is a common thread in such films, adding to the raw and visceral feel of the narrative.
It's fascinating how these films, despite their fantastical elements, tap into very real fears of isolation, the unknown, and the breakdown of societal norms in the face of disaster. The comparison to "Obama care" introduces a humorous but poignant reflection on how real-world issues can sometimes feel as daunting and surreal as the scenarios depicted in horror films.