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joelwright33
Reviews
Dead Sea (2014)
Interestingly different creature feature
Interesting entry in the creature feature subgenre, not because of the fact that is has monsters, but because it deals in prosthetics and suspense rather than CGI and schlock. Don't get me wrong, bikini girls DO show up and are quickly offed (which felt like a jab at the typical Two-Headed Shark Garbage that regularly appears on Syfy no thanks to Asylum).
Every thirty years a creature (and it's offspring) returns to a town in Southern California to feed until it is given a willing sacrifice. If it isn't given this, horrible misfortune comes to the town.
Set against the obvious backdrop of Salton Sea (though not set in it), the town is both beautiful and sad. You see fish skeletons lining the shore (which calls to mind the actual history of its filming location) and endless roadways made up by homes the time forgot.
Kier and Castor are inhabitants of the town, and the film's heavies. They are drugrunners and generally not very nice guys. Victoria is a marine biologist who at one point fled the town to escape her controlling father, Callan. Ariel (or Auriel? It is pronounced like the Little Mermaid) is a young girl who seems to be following in Victoria's footsteps.
There are a few holes here and there and occasionally but rarely the film's low budget comes through, but overall this is a rather nicely acted (which doesn't happen often these days) creature feature heavy on characterization and action violence. There are aspect of the film that a lot of different people will enjoy, without catering to one group or alienating another.