Budget horror thriller The Rig has a good setting, but little in the way of top-shelf or even moderately sustained engaging execution, alas. When a tropical storm forces an offshore drilling company to evacuate non-essential personnel from their Gulf Coast oil rig, the small but experienced crew left behind hunkers down to ride out the fury of Mother Nature. Their routine is interrupted when a crew member goes missing, and
an extensive search proves futile. Slowly, rig boss Jim (The Devil’s Rejects‘ William Forsythe) and his crew discover that a deadly
creature is stalking the crew, eliminating them one by one. Surrounded
by nothing but raging ocean with no hope of escape, the roughnecks must
survive the stormy night with an unrelenting force of death hunting them
down.

Directed by Peter Atenscio, and boasting special effects from the team behind Aliens vs. Predators: Requiem, The Rig deserves credit for not tipping over into crazy, over-the-top CGI, unlike a lot of its direct-to-video brethren. Yet neither does its general emphasis on practical scares reveal a fantastically imaginative mode of suspense storytelling. There’s a quite nice sense of space and atmosphere, but David Twohy’s Below better conveyed tension through watery isolation. Many of the supporting characters come across as two-dimensional, and time spent detailing their stalking and bickering means that the powers of dramatic engagement that Forsythe’s mustache boast are not given their full due. For those still interested, the film also stars Stacey Hinnen, Serah D’Laine, Art LaFleur, Marcus Paulk and Dan
Benson.

Housed in a regular plastic Amaray case in turn stored in a cardboard slipcover, The Rig is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, with a Dolby digital 5.1 surround sound audio track and optional English and Spanish SDH subtitles. Bonus features consist of a feature-length audio commentary track with director Atenscio and producer James D. Benson, a 10-minute behind-the-scenes featurette that gives details on the movie’s location shoot, and trailers for the film and a couple other Anchor Bay releases. To purchase the DVD via Amazon, click here. C (Movie) C (Disc)