164. Sea Fever; movie review

SEA FEVER
Cert 15
90 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, horror, injury detail

Just when you haven't seen a sea monster flick for a while, along come two within a few weeks.
Sea Fever may have a smaller budget than Underwater but I found it more compelling and convincing.
It stars Hermione Corfield as a loner marine biology student who goes on a trip with a trawler crew on the West Irish seas as part of her research.
Straightaway, the more wizened mates see her as a bad omen because of her red hair. How right they turn out to be.
Things begin to go rapidly pear-shaped after the trawler hits an unseen object and it becomes marooned, hours from land.
Meanwhile, it soon becomes clear that a creature from the deep could be threatening the crew's lives in an unexpected and insidious way.
Consequently, Neasa Hardiman's film becomes a full-on battle for survival.
Corfield's scientist leads the fight despite her inexperience at sea while the boat's captain (Dougray Scott) continues in denial about the disaster which is unfolding.
Sea Fever is a claustrophobic movie - with nearly all of the action taking place on a vessel in which the crew are living cheek by jowl.
Consequently, tension steadily rises until it is difficult to distinguish the greater threat - a previously unknown enemy or each other.
Hardiman does a pretty good job of keeping the audience on edge, throwing in surprises which maintain the tension.
While there is blood, so doesn't overdo it, relying more on psychological terror than gore.
And, as all cinema-goers know the mind terrifies much more readily than the eyes.

Reasons to watch: Original sea horror
Reasons to avoid: Melodramatic rather than out and out scary

Laughs: None
Jumps: One
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 6/10

Did you know? Every year almost 2,000 marine species new to science are added to the World Register of Marine Species.

The final word. Neasa Hardiman: "What I wanted to do was to unpack this clichéd screen scientist that you so often see in cinema, who’s often depicted as void of emotion or lacking in insight." Screen Anarchy

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