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Taiwanese horror thriller “Abyssal Spider” fuses monster movie madness with loads of human drama. With renowned director Joe Chien (錢人豪) at the helm, of “Buttonman,” “Zombie Fight Club,” and “The Apostles,” acclaim, “Abyssal Spider” benefits from a solid cast, claustrophobic setting, and great effects. Despite its science fiction elements, the core cast of characters keeps the film grounded.
Marine rescue squad veteran A-jie (Sunny Wang 王陽明) falls into a deep depression in the wake of an accident at sea resulting in the demise of his squad captain while, coincidentally, his wife dies in labor on the same evening. Several years after the incident, A-jie seeks to reform his life for the sake of his daughter. Making an emotional appeal to his father-in-law (Andrew Lin, 連凱), A-Jie is allowed on an upcoming fishing expedition.
However, most of the crew despises A-Jie openly. Prior to the ship’s voyage, several of the crewmembers even threaten A-Jie with physical violence. As such, when spider-eqsue crabs, many of gargantuan proportions, attack the ship, the threat doubles. A woman floating in the ocean (Chia-Yen Ko, 柯佳嬿) mysteriously appears and is rescued by the ship. All the while, a mutiny boils below decks.
The seafaring setting provides a confined atmosphere. Coupled with a multi-faceted threat posed by monsters and mutiny, “Abyssal Spider” is a clever creature feature. By anchoring its plot in human drama with A-Jie’s crippling guilt, a hostile, mutinous crew, and menacing ocean-dwelling behemoth. The charcters are impressively fleshed out with clear-cut explanations for their emotions. While the CGI isn’t spectacular, the effects are certainly good enough. Cleverly, the monsters are briefly shown so as to not dwell upon any low-budget graphics.
An ambitious film, “Abyssal Spider” occasionally juggles too many plot lines. And while the characters themselves benefit from amble backstory as well as personality, the narrative is confusingly sparse in spots. The strange woman floating in the ocean appears important, but her character arc fizzles out. Once the monsters initially attack, the sense of dread dissipates as the crew seemingly forgets about the threat, instead focusing on mutiny and a near-universal hatred for A-Jie.
Still, shifting the concentration on its robust characters highlights the brutality of the human condition. Even when faced with a crustacean-like leviathan, the sea-dwelling monstrosity remains almost an afterthought while thoughts stay centered on executing a mutiny and harassing A-Jie.
With its haunting void-like vastness, the ocean can provide a sinister stage perfect for terror at sea and underwater horror flicks. “Abyssal Spider” paints a bleak picture of humanity wherein the creatures play a secondary threat. Although the storytelling includes a few too many layers which unnecessarily complicate the overall narrative, it’s a nonetheless unique monster movie with a fully-fleshed-out cast of characters and good effects.
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