I remember coming across Harbinger Down on Kickstarter a couple of years ago. The gist of it was "hey, don't you hate all that CGI bullshit that's out there now? We'll here's you're chance to fund a monster movie dedicated to representing all practical effects!" Flash forward to November 2015, and it's finished and on Netflix. And to be honest, it's a little disappointing. It feels like a cheap, unsubtle The Thing rip-off, and while the monster stuff is okay, the design of it is so amorphous that you never really know what you're looking at. (I mean, you can tell it's practical, I guess. But as to what it's supposed to be... who knows?) I have no doubt that Harbinger Down has its heart in the right place... but the execution is lacking.
Our main story (after a brief pre-credit sequence) is about a trio of University scientists on a huge crabbing ship. (Is that what you call a ship that goes after crabs?) The ship, called "Harbinger," looks like a goddamned warship, but there's only a half-dozen or so crew members in addition to our three scientists. (I don't watch that Crab Adventures show, so I can't say if having a ridiculously oversized ship is standard operating procedure for crabbing.) Anyways, the science folks have permission to be on board because scientist Sadie (Camille Balsamo) is the granddaughter of the ship's captain, Graff (Lance Henriksen!) They are there to study the migrating patterns of whales or something... it doesn't really matter. What does matter? In an insanely obvious bit of foreshadowing, they talk about their DNA sequencer (or whatever), where they can put a sample in and see the genetic makeup of whatever is being studied. Hmmmm, I wonder if that will get some use? It's not entirely practical for a whale migration study... but I guess it comes in handy.
Anyways, the science team and the precisely diverse crew encounter a weird ice chunk floating just under the surface of the water. They bring it on board, and eventually find a Russian spaceship inside. And inside the spaceship? A long dead Russian cosmonaut... along with something else... A The Thing! It mutates and kills, mutates and kills, and so on. The Harbinger crew doesn't really have much to use by way of weapons, and (of course) their radio is down, so they must use their wits (and their liquid nitrogen) if they want to survive.
The biggest issue is that you aren't really ever sure what the monster is (other than a shape-shifting alien of sorts). It never really looks like anything in particular, and there aren't really any "rules" to how it operates. Supposedly, it can use the DNA of whatever life-form it comes across - I think it's supposed to be a giant crab at some point. But while it can drag you away with its claw or whatever, its blood can infect you too. And the infection makes giant tentacles shoot out from your back in a giant mass (like *way* more than could ever actually be in your body). The monster itself just feels too undefined and kind of like a catchall. The way things are set up it can do just about anything (except survive liquid nitrogen). So while it looks kind of cool, it's just not all that compelling of a Big Bad, you know?
The practical effects are decent, but not amazing. Part of this probably extends from the design - you aren't totally sure what it's supposed to be, so you never really get a grip on it. (Plus, it never really moves - it always just kind of comes from a corner or pops out of the ground - I feel like if it had some movement you'd get a better idea of it as a character.) But there's also the fact that practical effects designers don't really have as much of a chance to practice their craft nowadays. Or even if their creations are spot on, the crew may not necessarily know how to light or shoot the thing. It's never *bad*, but for a film that billed itself as being all practical (and awesome), you kind of want it to kick more ass than it does.
The okay monster stuff might be a bit more palatable if you were a little more invested in the characters, but it's pretty tough. Lance Henriksen is his usually enjoyable self and is putting some effort in here, but his character is just too gruff - nearly to the point of parody. And Sadie, our de facto hero is okay - Balsamo is all right in the role, but there's a major flaw with the way her character is written. The way I saw it, it was basically her fault that the monster got loose. So as far as heroes go, she's kind of tough to root for. There's even the typical asshole scientist along for the ride - why not let him mess everything up? And the supporting cast is about as generic as can be... you get an occasional laugh out of their antics, but on the whole they are entirely forgettable.
Horror/gore-wise? Like the monster itself, nothing bad, but kind of underwhelming. While the stalking/tense moments are decently done, there's definitely a feeling of been there/done that. There's a bit of gore and nastiness, but not as much as you might expect. While Harbinger Down is definitely a horror film, there's some action DNA in there as well. (It kind of plays like a less bombastic Aliens, come to think of it.)
So yeah, I had high hopes for Harbinger Down, and ended up being a bit disappointed. It felt like a straight-to-VHS action/horror hybrid, and I didn't think it ever lived up to its "OMG All Practical" hype.
I would not recommend this film.
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