A Driller Killer
In the middle of the ocean a tropical storm threatens the safety of the men and women aboard an offshore drilling rig. With the non essential personnel evacuated just a small crew remain behind to try and keep the rig functioning. But when one by one the remaining crew start to disappear they discover that they are not alone and are under attack from a deadly creature. With no way of escaping they must somehow survive the stormy night before someone can come and rescue them.
"The Rig" is the sort of movie which only requires a brief glance at the DVD cover to know not only what sort of storyline it will be but also to tell you what to expect from the production. As such not only is "The Rig" one of those low budget horror movies which you tend to find on a lesser channel late at night but even before reading a synopsis you can guess this will be about a small group of people in an isolated location battling a deadly creature. There isn't anything more to it than that and it is a case of lifting the formula used in countless other movies and placing it on an offshore drilling rig to provide the isolated location.
Now I am one of those movie fans who don't mind when a formula is reused as if it is done well it can still make for an entertaining movie. Unfortunately in "The Rig" the use of the familiar formula is done in a poor way which makes it a movie which is a struggle. The potential to be good, to create atmosphere from the isolated location and claustrophobic conditions is there but the opportunity to do something good is lost in favour of ordinary camera work, thin characters with no depth and poor special effects. "The Rig" feels like a movie which has been made using a check list of essentials but with no attempt to do anything other than put a check mark on the list for each element included and that means as a horror movie it isn't vary scary.
As such "The Rig" also becomes one of those movies which employs trade tricks to try and lure you in to watching starting with William Forsythe. Forsythe only has a small supporting role but as the best known name in the cast it is the one emblazoned across the DVD cover to lure fans in. And ignoring the Forsythe factor then there are a couple of attractive actresses in there who act tough, look hot and take no sexist nonsense from the men but that is it.
What this all boils down to is that "The Rig" is not really a disappointing movie because the expectations before watching are low anyway. But it is a dull, predictable horror movie which uses a formula and does nothing new with it whilst employing low budget effects, dialogue and not a lot else.
