I didn't know what to really expect with this movie, I'm not a massive Rutger Hauer fan, but I've seen a few of his works and have enjoyed all of them I have seen. The plot sounded familiar (however, as it turns out, it was very different than what I thought), so I expected to see a run-of-the-mill action horror movie. I was surprised though, I found myself enjoying it more than I had expected.
In the future (2008), global warming has caused rising sea levels and flooding of the cities. Harley is a psychic detective on the hunt for some one (or something) that had killed his last partner. He is lead to a club where a girl gets her heart ripped out. The police chief has Harley work with Dick Durkin, a more "by the books" detective, and the two are lead into an apartment type area where another murder has taken place. The killer left behind a memento, Harley's last partner's gun. They find a clue on the ceiling, a Scorpio astral sign. This leads them to looking about the occult and the astrology. They continue tracking down the killer, who strikes every new moon when the tide rises. DNA tests reveal that the thing has the DNA of all its victims, as well as Harley's. Dick believes that the thing captures the DNA and soul of its victims, similar to how primitive tribes believes they gained courage from eating the hearts of their victims. As they continue tracking it down, they find a body with a similar sign carved into its body as in the beginning. They use this as a map to track the thing down into the sewers where it dwells. As the two make their way through the sewers they come face to face with the creature. A Xenomorph-esque type creature that prowls under the water. Harley blasts at it with a big gun that resembles a minigun, and Dick uses a big explosive to blow away the subway the creature is in. However, it is still alive, so Harley grabs a bunch of electrical wires, and they shock the water. It still isn't dead! Harley and the thing grapple and wrestle for a moment, and then Harley rips it's heart out. The three (Harley's old partner's widow was being held hostage) ride off at the end.
This movie was pretty enjoyable, I liked the plot and thought the occult and astrology elements as well as the creature stealing the DNA of its victims was a nice touch and pretty fresh for this type of movie. The special effects were well done, but weren't as abundant as I expected. The sound effects, especially for that minigun thing were very cheesy and laughable. The creature was pretty generic, but effective nonetheless. There were a lot of clichés in this, and some of them were laughably bad, however, that didn't really take away anything from this movie. Rutger Hauer stole the show here, his character, Harley, was an enjoyable tough guy, and some of his witty retorts were genuinely funny. Alastair Duncan was enjoyable as Dick Durkin, it was great seeing him at the end go to a cold, hard killer, who handled his own when face to face with the thing. Overall, a pretty enjoyable experience, warrants repeated viewings, would recommend to any '80s action or horror fan.
In the future (2008), global warming has caused rising sea levels and flooding of the cities. Harley is a psychic detective on the hunt for some one (or something) that had killed his last partner. He is lead to a club where a girl gets her heart ripped out. The police chief has Harley work with Dick Durkin, a more "by the books" detective, and the two are lead into an apartment type area where another murder has taken place. The killer left behind a memento, Harley's last partner's gun. They find a clue on the ceiling, a Scorpio astral sign. This leads them to looking about the occult and the astrology. They continue tracking down the killer, who strikes every new moon when the tide rises. DNA tests reveal that the thing has the DNA of all its victims, as well as Harley's. Dick believes that the thing captures the DNA and soul of its victims, similar to how primitive tribes believes they gained courage from eating the hearts of their victims. As they continue tracking it down, they find a body with a similar sign carved into its body as in the beginning. They use this as a map to track the thing down into the sewers where it dwells. As the two make their way through the sewers they come face to face with the creature. A Xenomorph-esque type creature that prowls under the water. Harley blasts at it with a big gun that resembles a minigun, and Dick uses a big explosive to blow away the subway the creature is in. However, it is still alive, so Harley grabs a bunch of electrical wires, and they shock the water. It still isn't dead! Harley and the thing grapple and wrestle for a moment, and then Harley rips it's heart out. The three (Harley's old partner's widow was being held hostage) ride off at the end.
This movie was pretty enjoyable, I liked the plot and thought the occult and astrology elements as well as the creature stealing the DNA of its victims was a nice touch and pretty fresh for this type of movie. The special effects were well done, but weren't as abundant as I expected. The sound effects, especially for that minigun thing were very cheesy and laughable. The creature was pretty generic, but effective nonetheless. There were a lot of clichés in this, and some of them were laughably bad, however, that didn't really take away anything from this movie. Rutger Hauer stole the show here, his character, Harley, was an enjoyable tough guy, and some of his witty retorts were genuinely funny. Alastair Duncan was enjoyable as Dick Durkin, it was great seeing him at the end go to a cold, hard killer, who handled his own when face to face with the thing. Overall, a pretty enjoyable experience, warrants repeated viewings, would recommend to any '80s action or horror fan.