The Rig

The Rig

Action (Horror)

2010

Rated: R

Running Time: 90 minutes

Starring: William Forsythe

Directed By: Peter Atencio

Rating: 0 out of 10

Outline

A crew on an off shore oil rig must try and survive against an unknown terror stalking the place.

Review

I was shocked to find out this film was from 2010. I thought I was watching a film from the mid 90’s if I am going to be honest with you. If I was to rate this strictly, then this is a really shitty movie. If I am going to be fair and rate it as the B grade monster flick that it is, then it is still really shitty. The Rig is the story of an off shore oil rig in the process of drilling for oil. In their search they inadvertently opened up a deep ocean cavern and release an unknown terror. They have been reduced to a skeleton crew as a huge impending storm is about to hit the area, and they must fight to stay alive until help can arrive.

Just like it seems strange that aliens travel light years to administer anal probes to humans, it seems just as strange that rare evolved sea monsters seem super determined to kill humans. I like sea monster movies and usually give them a lot of leeway but I just couldn’t with this one. The film starts out and the low budget production is distractingly noticeable. The camera quality is reminiscent of the stuff you see late night on the Space Network channel. Couple that with some of the lowest grade acting I have seen in a while and this film is laughable (not in the good way.) A quick introduction to the drill opening up the ocean cave and the film gets underway. We get introduced to the crew as they are battening down all the hatches for the impending storm. What transpires next is 80 minutes of the crew running around the rig being stalked by a creature that is reminiscent of the creature from the black lagoon (but with somehow crappier make up.) the films lower budget means you never get to see the creature in its entirety. Its claws kill at lightening quick speed and blood is all that is left in its wake. The film is never able to scare you or make you give a lick about the crew members dying on screen. Because there is no tension built up, you are painfully reminded of how bad this movie truly is.

The acting is not even worth my time to comment about but here we go. The characters seem to be reading right from a script as they interact with each other. It doesn’t matter if it casual conversation or scenes of heightened anxiety. They never seem to deviate from the grade school play quality of acting. The characters have zero chemistry and scenes of sex and nudity are carelessly thrown into the film. There is the unreasonably irate captain, the amateur comedian cook, the super aggressive female, and any other clichéd characters that you can think of. I could go on but why bother. The acting was sub standard but that wasn’t much of a surprise.

As I was watching this film I really found myself dissecting the creatures design and intentions because that was my only enjoyment. We are supposed to believe that a creature trapped in a deep ocean cave evolved into a bipedal amphibian, which can depressurize itself, and has a hankering for hunting humans. It also has specialized claws and teeth that are perfect for that job. Not to mention the creature is eerily quiet and fast on land,(specifically anything made of metal) and has the ability to open doors and set up complex traps. Anyways I found it funny. When it comes down to it the film is just dumb. The characters are poorly thought up, the creature is a joke,and the tired stuck at sea angle during a storm is nothing new. Most importantly the scares are nonexistent as the crew get reduced one by one. I can appreciate a low budget monster movie I just hated this one though.

It is hard to critique director Peter Atencio because budget restraints were clearly a huge factor. The lack of quality cameras, decent actors, and the design of the sea creature were not really his fault. He could have used better quality angles and had the characters make more reasonable decisions but it wouldn’t have helped the movie that much. I will reserve most of my criticism but he needs to work on properly trying to scare the audience through tension or gore.

I cannot recommend this film as it is 90 minutes of pure garbage.

T Factor + If you are really into low budget monster movies then this could score higher on the rating scale.

T Factor – None.

If you liked this film reel recommendations: The Relic, Deep Rising.