"Harbinger Down" or "Inanimate" is written and directed by Alec Gillis, who is more known for his work in Special Effects and Make-up. It is no surprise then this film has a large dose of effects in it as the crew of a ship do battle with a mutated organism whose characteristics are like those of the alien in "The Thing" (1982).
The Harbinger crabbing ship is booked by some science graduates who want to investigate global warming effects on Beluga whales in the Bering Sea. When it dredges an old Soviet space wreckage the team of graduates have something else to study. Locked within the wreckage is an experiment gone wrong - the Russian's had been experimenting with tardigrades and space radiation. When the space craft crashed and froze in the sea, the mutated tardigrades lay dormant, waiting for the warmth of human interaction to wake them up. Once loose, chaos ensues, and the crew of the ship and its passengers have a fight to survive on their hands.
I was drawn to this film for two reasons; 1 - it sounded like a "The Thing" (1982) crossed with "Alien" (1979), and 2 - it has Lance Henriksen in it. Two points I will use for the basis of this write-up.
When reading the synopsis for this film it felt like it would be something comfortable, like an old sweater. It seemed clear that this film would kind of be a cross between "Alien" and "The Thing" so I figured I could just watch it without needing to use my brain. I figured there would be some jump-scares, there would be some cool effects, and there might even be lots of tension in a claustrophobic scenario. Some of that served to be right, it was an attempt to cross "Alien" and "The Thing", it just was not much more - it did not push any further and stayed safe rather than challenging. Within the first 10 minutes it is easy to see where the film is going and who is going to be more than just a victim by the end of the film. The writing could have been much better and maybe offered some tension of shocks, alas this never really happened. Having such potential left me disappointed that I got what was delivered.
The writing also seemed to affect the script, and thus the dialogue that would be encountered. As mentioned, one of the attractions was Lance Henricksen, and truth be told, it is not a film he will be remembered for. He will probably be glad that he will not be remembered for this with the lack of quality to some of the lines the script had him delivering. His character, like the others in the other characters written into the film are bland and poor. Some of the others were that stereotypical in fact that they could have been pulled from a number of other films to play a cliched roles here - the Russian lady for example (Svet), with that poor accent that kept slipping in and out, it made her sound like Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" (1985) - she could have been from any 1980's Hollywood film that had Russians in it. The script tried to convey that there was tension, but all it did was have characters argue and shout at each other. Once one argument finished, the arguments and shouting would be taken to a different part of the ship. It just never really went anywhere. I tend to argue that a good acting performance can make even a poorly written character look good, however that did not really happen here. Apart from Henriksen the acting does not really elevate the film much.
Having been conceived mainly as a vehicle to show off some cool creature effects then, the film unfortunately is a let-down in that arena too. Poor lighting and annoying shaky camera effects really get in the way of seeing some good visuals on-screen. While it is possible that having a low budget affected the delivery of the effects in some sense, it cannot be the sole purpose if I'm saying that the lighting and camera didn't help. Then some of the blame needs to be on the direction and cinematography too for not leading in a more visual way for the effects. Speaking of the cinematography, one thing this film got right in that field is the ship setting. If everything else had of been carried out successfully then the ship would have made things very claustrophobic.
This film is not the worst film I have seen by a long way, but it will not be one that I highly recommend to fans of the horror genre. Its heart is in the right place but there are other films which are practically the same, that are delivered a lot better than this. Having had so much promise when I read the synopsis of the film, I was left disappointed at the failed potential and the bad execution of it too. Rather than watch this, I'd be tempted to go for the film that inspired it and watch "The Thing" instead.
The Harbinger crabbing ship is booked by some science graduates who want to investigate global warming effects on Beluga whales in the Bering Sea. When it dredges an old Soviet space wreckage the team of graduates have something else to study. Locked within the wreckage is an experiment gone wrong - the Russian's had been experimenting with tardigrades and space radiation. When the space craft crashed and froze in the sea, the mutated tardigrades lay dormant, waiting for the warmth of human interaction to wake them up. Once loose, chaos ensues, and the crew of the ship and its passengers have a fight to survive on their hands.
I was drawn to this film for two reasons; 1 - it sounded like a "The Thing" (1982) crossed with "Alien" (1979), and 2 - it has Lance Henriksen in it. Two points I will use for the basis of this write-up.
When reading the synopsis for this film it felt like it would be something comfortable, like an old sweater. It seemed clear that this film would kind of be a cross between "Alien" and "The Thing" so I figured I could just watch it without needing to use my brain. I figured there would be some jump-scares, there would be some cool effects, and there might even be lots of tension in a claustrophobic scenario. Some of that served to be right, it was an attempt to cross "Alien" and "The Thing", it just was not much more - it did not push any further and stayed safe rather than challenging. Within the first 10 minutes it is easy to see where the film is going and who is going to be more than just a victim by the end of the film. The writing could have been much better and maybe offered some tension of shocks, alas this never really happened. Having such potential left me disappointed that I got what was delivered.
The writing also seemed to affect the script, and thus the dialogue that would be encountered. As mentioned, one of the attractions was Lance Henricksen, and truth be told, it is not a film he will be remembered for. He will probably be glad that he will not be remembered for this with the lack of quality to some of the lines the script had him delivering. His character, like the others in the other characters written into the film are bland and poor. Some of the others were that stereotypical in fact that they could have been pulled from a number of other films to play a cliched roles here - the Russian lady for example (Svet), with that poor accent that kept slipping in and out, it made her sound like Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" (1985) - she could have been from any 1980's Hollywood film that had Russians in it. The script tried to convey that there was tension, but all it did was have characters argue and shout at each other. Once one argument finished, the arguments and shouting would be taken to a different part of the ship. It just never really went anywhere. I tend to argue that a good acting performance can make even a poorly written character look good, however that did not really happen here. Apart from Henriksen the acting does not really elevate the film much.
Having been conceived mainly as a vehicle to show off some cool creature effects then, the film unfortunately is a let-down in that arena too. Poor lighting and annoying shaky camera effects really get in the way of seeing some good visuals on-screen. While it is possible that having a low budget affected the delivery of the effects in some sense, it cannot be the sole purpose if I'm saying that the lighting and camera didn't help. Then some of the blame needs to be on the direction and cinematography too for not leading in a more visual way for the effects. Speaking of the cinematography, one thing this film got right in that field is the ship setting. If everything else had of been carried out successfully then the ship would have made things very claustrophobic.
This film is not the worst film I have seen by a long way, but it will not be one that I highly recommend to fans of the horror genre. Its heart is in the right place but there are other films which are practically the same, that are delivered a lot better than this. Having had so much promise when I read the synopsis of the film, I was left disappointed at the failed potential and the bad execution of it too. Rather than watch this, I'd be tempted to go for the film that inspired it and watch "The Thing" instead.