The Deep 1977

2009/06/24 at 22:01
Had to re-watch this. Only memory I had of this movie was something about a girl with a see-through shirt underwater and Voodoo stuff with a bloody chicken leg. I knew I was in for a ride.

So, we have this couple, David Sanders (Nick Nolte) and the hot Gail Berke (Jacqueline Bisset) scuba-diving for possible hidden treasures in the Bermuda. Great underwater shots for the time, no wonder James Cameron hired the guy for The Abyss.

Jesus, that wet T-shirt of hers has to be the highlight of the movie!

They come across the Goliath, a shipwreck from WWII resting at the very edge of a cliff. Since this was a military ship, this area is off-limits to everyone due to dangers of explosions from munition and the likes; but of course, that doesn't prevent our fearless duo from ransacking it! They unearth some useless stuff from the Goliath like forks and lighters but come across an old-looking medallion and an ampule with some orange liquid.

Now, there's this scary scene where Gail gets her arm stuck underneath the wreckage for no apparent reason and something keeps pushing and yanking her against it real hard, and I mean REAL HARD! So hard that apparently her stunt double got her shoulder dislocated because of this. Poor stunt doubles. When I was little I always thought it was a monster chewing her arm off or something but it's actually a giant Moray Eel living in the wreckage, though we don't see it yet. Fun thing is, when Gail breaks free, she rushes to the surface in panic, bubbles everywhere, whilst David keeps grabbing her leg actually pulling her down! Wtf man, just let her get to the surface and ask questions later! To top it all off, when they reach their boat he says: "What're you trying to do, kill yourself?!" Lol, how smooth, ASSHOLE! But since Nolte's so young here, plus he looks like a surfer with an awesome mustache, I'ma cut him some slack. And what's up with the surf behind them? I swear it looked like something big was about to emerge...

Later, the couple tells some people about their findings and attract the attention of a drug dealer called Henri Cloche (Louis Gosset Jr.) who's very interested in their findings and later starts to threaten and terrorize them.

"You see, I'm a businessman... oh Lord, titties!"

There's this one scene where his minions search them and the girl has to strip. Har! Romer then tells them to leave the island the very next day.

Just look at the satisfaction on this fucker's mug! Dayum!

Shaken, but not through yet, they decide to seek the help of a treasure hunter called Romer Treece (Robert Shaw) to help them identify that medallion they found. With the aid of a Super-Magnifying-Glass-With-a-Lamp-Thing, he comes to the conclusion that it's Spanish! We then learn from Adam Coffin (Eli Wallach), a fisherman and former crew member of the Goliath who survived it's downfall (and also, the UGLY character from the awesome1966 flick: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly!) that those ampules are actually morphine, making them very valuable on the market. Treece postulates that a recent storm must've exposed the cargo and that underneath the Goliath lies a much older Spanish ship, possibly loaded with treasure. Wahey!

But not eveything's butterflies and rainbows, oh no, not if Cloche has anything to say about this. So, while David and Romer dive to the wrecks, Gail rests peacefully at the hotel only to be RAPED BY VOODOO PEOPLE! Ok, not really raped, but has her shirt ripped open by them and her sexy flat tummy painted and splattered with a chicken paw dowsed in chicken blood! Oh, you sick fucks!

"Behold, the PAW!"
Easy there with the chicken leg, tiger! This almost feels like 70's porn. Now if it only had disco music...

Apparently, there is more to this scene then what was shown in the final cut probably because it was too graphic and extreme... I reckon it has something to do with the chicken paw going places... And guess what, that groping dude is there too! Dayum, nigga you got issues. Anyhoo, this is how Cloche scares people off.

Now that he proved his point and means business, Romer decide to make a deal and sell him the ampules he finds, or else he would blow the ship. Sounds like a plan to Cloche so he gives them 3 days. Afterwards, Romer offers them shelter at his lighthouse and the 3 of them start some research in old ship's manuscripts to reconstruct the history of the lost treasure ship. Despite the artifacts already found, to increase it's worth they have to establish provenance first, that is, a proof that the treasure they uncovered is really from that shipwreck. To do so, they have to research a list stating the ships cargo before sinking. Romer also wants to destroy the Goliath, thus foiling cloches plans; Cloche however, keeps interfering with their efforts.

While they're scuba-diving and retrieving thousands of ampules, they also secretly try to recover more artifacts from the Spanish vessel. That's when we take a glimpse of the ginormous Moray who downright cuts a fish in half to show them who's boss! Nobody fucks in it's lair so they better be careful not to disturb it again. In another instance, Cloche stops by and spills fish guts all over the water making sharks more aggressive and prone to attack and kill the group. I totally missed the point here. Why would he risk and kill them when he needs them at the moment, since the ship is rigged? Plus, a smart villain always waits for others to do his dirty work. Oh well...
Later, Romer stashes the ampules in the lighthouse and rigs it in case someone else tries to steal them.

Now, remember the Voodoo-Groping-Negro?Ok, this sick mother decided to go and kill Romer's friend with the Help of Addam Coffin, (once the Ugly, always the Ugly!). I fail to see the point here, these characters aren't even the least bit developed in this movie to begin with; but I guess Cloche had to kill someone and we needed some action between two huge dudes... or not.

He's ready for a beatdown but his facial expression stands the same. Satisfaction!

While the other guy is like "Why the happy face, niggra?"

The acting here is terrible and the fight is stupid... but hold your horses, OMG! Wait is that a..!

"Nigga, you betta start prayin' cuz I'm packin' propellah!"

You know the shit hits the fan when black dudes come at you strapped with OUTBOARD MOTORS! What a sick, sick man. I get the feeling that something could've gone very wrong while shooting this scene, I mean, he keeps waving the thing in front of the other guy's face while the propeller is clearly spinning, though apparently a prop one. In the end, Romer's friend gets it the hard way. Meanwhile, Coffin tries to double-cross the gang and steal the ampules only to go BOOM! since Romer booby-trapped the whole place. And there goes the ugly, plus the top half of Treece's house.

Finally, in their last dive they are attacked by Cloche and the Outboard Motor dude which David outsmarts and kills. Finally!

Here he is again! Why give him lines when he has the expression?

Gail stays alone in the boat and gets attacked yet again by an afro guy. Nothing she can't handle by now.

"You gunna get raped!"

Meanwhile down below, Romer ignites the fuse to blow the ship up, but suddenly gets his leg pierced by Cloche's Harpoon Gun! Oh noes! A fight ensues and Romer has to fight dirty, so he desperately shoves Cloche's head inside the giant Moray's lair who grabs a bite at him and crushes his head like a nut! How awesome is this? And with little or no time before the Goliath blows up, they manage to retrieve a dragon pendant which was actually in the ship's cargo log, thus effectivelly establishing provenance and possibly getting rich. End.

Concluding, this isn't exactly a flick for today's movie audiences because it's extremely slow-paced with bits of action going on here and there. The movie sets were great,detailed and credible, and not just the underwater ones. What bugged me was those day for night shootings aka shooting with a dark lens/editing the footage with some filter to simulate night time. Just shoot at night damnit. Every character was great, especially Robert Shaw's who really looked like an experienced sea dog. What other movies of this genre (like Into the Blue who borrows many elements from this one, or Fool's Gold who feels like a comedic version of this) can't top, is the eerie mysterious atmosphere of The Deep. You feel like something is watching them all the time and something bad is gonna happen any moment. And also, Jacqueline Bisset's hotness!

Definitely worh a watch.