The term "Aliens clone" or "rip-off" gets thrown around so much it's kind of lost all meaning. Yet, I don't think it would be a hyperbole to say that Underwater bears more than a passing resemblance to the legendary sci-fi franchise. It's more Ridley Scott than James Cameron though, with the deep sea drill the characters inhabit calling to mind the Nostromo over Hadley's Hope. The set design is actually the movie's greatest strength. You can tell a lot of work and care went into the little details, be they scattered mementos or a personal touch that a diver added to their scuba gear, to make the environments feel lived-in and therefore believable. You can see the evidence of the life that once filled the facility before things went wrong which leads to a very haunting, solemn atmosphere and an ever-present feeling of loss that weighs on the survivors. It all ends up being somewhat squandered though as the film falls prey to the modern day cinema trapping of trying to make everything funny. I realize a little bit of humor can go a long way in a serious tale, but here we have a full-fledged comedian in T.J. Miller who is always ready with a sarcastic remark or amusing comment no matter what's going on, which constantly takes away from the gravity of the situation and severely limits the fear factor. Even as someone with thalassophobia, megalohydrothalassophobia, ichthyophobia, and countless other oceanic phobias there was never a moment that sent so much as a shiver up my spine, which is a letdown because on paper this should have been a pure nightmare for me. The biggest disappointment however is the handling, or mishandling rather, of the Lovecraftian elements. Stripped of any traces of cosmic horror, Cthulhu and The Deep Ones have been turned into generic feeling, albeit cool looking movie monsters, which has to be some kind of sin. I searched for any sign that something deeper was going on with these creatures to no avail. A shame because that really could have added something special to the story. All that aside, you can tell everyone involved really poured their hearts and souls into making this because they truly believed in the vision for the film, flawed though it may be. So while it's never as satisfying as it could have been, it is still a solid, charming creature feature with incredible visuals (the diving suits are dope) that I wouldn't mind watching again if someone were to put it on or I needed some background noise.