Written by John Brosnan (and based on his novel) Proteus (1995) comes off as your typical
‘90s sci-fi-horror knock off of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). A group of
heroin smugglers are stranded in a boat on the open seas and finds safe haven
on what seems to be an abandoned oil rig in the middle of nowhere. Upon closer inspection the oil rig isn’t
completely abandoned as the drug smugglers begin to learn that the rig is
really housing for a secret government lab doing strange experiments away from
the prying eyes of the public. It seems
that the experiment got away from them and the monster that was created is
roaming free on the rig killing everyone that it comes into contact with.
It seems that the creature created in the labs of the oil
rig can be anyone it absorbs (and kills).
Now the group of smugglers must survive against a seemingly indestructible
foe that can be any one of them at any time.
Like true ‘90s horror film fashion Proteus doesn’t waste time getting to the point as the action
starts off from the beginning and never lets up. The oil rig is a maze in which the creature
can hide anywhere and strike out at any time which actually makes for some
entertaining moments in the film. The film
is bogged down with “character” faults inherent in all horror film cannon
fodder (such as the fact that characters always disappear from the group to
search out for loved ones obviously already dead) and there are very few
suspenseful or horrifying moments but the ‘90s were not known for creating
monster films that were actually terrifying.
The ‘90s were more known for creating entertaining and sometimes gory
displays of horrifying glory.
Proteus is an
easily forgettable film but it is not so bad that you won’t at least be
entertained for about 90 minutes which cannot be said of many of the derivative
films made today.
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