Film Review: 'virus' Curtis Can't Cure Hurd's 'virus' / She Works Over Another Alien, But Latest In Horror Genre Is Predictable

Jamie Lee Curtis may have thought she was having a tough time with Michael Myers, but little did she know that she'd soon be battling a whole shipload of alien life forms in this latest sci-fi/horror extravaganza courtesy of that specialty producer in the field, Gale Anne Hurd ("Aliens," "Terminator," "Armageddon," etc.). The long-delayed "Virus," which opened Friday without press screenings, does not represent a first-class addition to Hurd's resume. The film might score decent opening numbers with the teenage horror crowd whose girlfriends aren't dragging them to "At First Sight."

The thriller -- which more closely resembles "Deep Rising," last year's misbegotten entry in the burgeoning horror-at-sea genre -- takes place aboard a Soviet science vessel that has been taken over by an alien life form. The being transmitted its way onto the ship via the Mir space station (and they thought they already had problems). Coming aboard the seemingly deserted ship are the crew of the Sea Star, a small-scale salvage tug whose captain (Donald Sutherland) has dreams of a huge financial score, since maritime law dictates that abandoned ships can be redeemed for 10% of their value. (Fortunately, one can learn interesting facts even from bad movies).

Problem is, the alien has taken over the ship's computer and electrical systems in a bid to, well, conquer mankind, which it considers a virus. It only needs a few human spare parts to complete its deadly task and soon starts liberally helping itself to the hapless crew members. Curtis plays the spunky navigator who ultimately starts to kick ass, aided by, among others, a hunky engineer (William Baldwin) and the sole Russian survivor (Joanna Pacula).

As with most of these genre pics, "Virus," after an ominous beginning, eventually settles into a series of brief scenes featuring lots of loud noises, running through dark corridors and violent encounters between the humans and the various incarnations of the alien, who starts out by inhabiting various mechanical instruments and eventually harvests enough body parts to resemble the half-robot, half-human Terminator. Before it's all over, the less intrepid crew members have become alien fodder and the ship has been rocked by enough explosions to keep the Dolby, SDDS and DTS people working overtime.

In one of the more predictable plot developments, the scheming captain, who has apparently never been to the movies, attempts to strike a bargain with the creature -- with less than felicitous results. The formulaic screenplay, based on Chuck Pfarrer's comic book, features dialogue mainly on the order of "You're all going to die!" and "There's some really weird shit going on around here."

Director John Bruno, a special effects whiz (and Oscar winner for "The Abyss") who has plenty of experience in the