Endless Descent

[Dave Coleman]

as the screenwriter hired to literally rewrite the project in a matter of weeks for juan piquer simon and executive producer dino de laurentiis, i had to combine earlier drafts by such diverse talents as colin wilson (great draft but literally 200+ pages of scientific jargon, accurate but deadly dull), a young duo who sold the pitch, etc.

the producers had already built the sets.  i was flown to spain to 'rewrite' the script with a week's notice and had to scramble just to get a passport in time for the departure.  in spain, i was told that each day, my writing would be read by dino via fax in the united states.  if dino liked it?

the project kept going.  if not?  they pulled the plug, because they'd already spent a ton of dough on the sets and didn't want to waste any more on, you know, a writer.   

finally, they liked what they read, because while it was ALIENS and the other underwater flix in 'hommage,' the real love and drive were for the Godzilla and 'bad' 50's SF flims which i missed so much.   i tried to sneak in every reference i could to other films of these genres, because i figured this would be my best shot.

nobody cared that it was cliched, as it was shootable.  i felt like quite a pro.

the film is undeservedly obscure.  one of the editors cut FIVE EASY PIECES and worked on CONAN!  the sound score by joel goldsmith is very good for a low budget film and ditto for the efx, far better than you would ever expect.

the story?  utter nonsense, as folks have rightly critiqued.  still, i would be remiss if i didn't say that in its own goofy way, the twisted logic of the story is as nightmarishly "incoherent" as a true nightmare (similar to the one i was living at the time attempting to write my way out this mess). 

hope the notes helped!

[Giant Claw Jr]

ind of like that 60s sci fi series VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA where they would meet some pretty strange underwater ceatures like plankton monsters,fosslemen,seaweed ceatures,giant spider,underwater pirate ships,giant octapuss,sqiuds,sharks,sawfish,and being swollowed by a whale

[Joe the Destroyer]

I still intend, one day, to force myself to sit through this.  I was enjoying the ridiculous monster count, but I think the dialogue was what got me. 

[FLU-BIRD]

I can remeber a movie THE NEPTUNE FACTOR(OR DISASTER)WHERE THEY SEND THIS EXPERIMENTAL SUBMARINE DOWN TO SAVE THESE GUYS TRAPPED WHEN THE SEALAB SINK AFTER A QUAKE and can anyone ever remember VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA i mean the TV show came out with all sorts of monsters i mean like a GIANT OCTIPUSS ROCK CREATURES,A LIVING FLAME MONSTER A PLANKTON CREATURE A GIANT SEAWEED MONSTER AND EVEN A UNDERWATER SPIDER MONSTER AND EVEN WEREWOLVES AND MUMMIES

[Ramadwarf]

It's cheap, very cheap. It's watchable though, very watchable. You've got R. Lee Ermy, Jack Scalia, Ray Wise and that bird walking about acting. REALLY bad monsters killing people and a plot borrowed from all over the place. Plus Jerry Goldsmith's brother doing the music!  I thought it was really enjoyable for a one off hit. Nowhere near as good as 'Leviathan' (which to be fair was a complete rip off of John Carpenter's 'The Thing) or the big one, 'The Abyss'; but I think entertainment-wise it's on the same level as 'Deep Star Six' and 'Lords of the Deep'.

I will admit to having rather high expectations for this film, mainly because I'd read so many reviews shouting about how many monsters there are in it. They're all sauntering about in the dark or blowing up just before you can make out the detail! And the trailer mentions the the effects were created by the makers of 'Alien' or 'Aliens' (don't remember), which is a pull. Then you catch a glimpse of one of them and wonder whether it was the guy who made the tea for the 'Aliens' special effects team that did it.

Nevertheless I'll give the film a sweet thumbs up