Patching in reviews for old genre fiction favorites: 
 There are are few settings in pulp fiction more terrifying and claustrophobic than the ever-doomed Undersea Reasearch Station. Only the Artic Research Station comes close, and those are more agoraphobic than claustrophobic, I suppose. I never saw the movie version of this, but I did see Deep Blue Sea and Abyss, both of which probably owe something to this particular bit of thrilling absurdity. Also, early Crichton was often almost more horror than sci-fi, and so tenser. One of my absolute favorites of middle school.