Serious sci-fi shenanigans

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 2001)

When they crash land on an unknown planet, the passengers and crew have to plan a way off before the impending solar eclipse. When darkness falls the planet is beset by millions of marauding monsters who live underground in the daylight. Unfortunately, for the crew, this planet of perpetual sunlight is about to be plunged into darkness for the first time in 22 years - which is the worst bit of bad luck since Janet Leigh decided to pull in at the Bates Motel!
Full of cliches, and a cringeworthy script, 'Pitch Black' is at least one of a rare breed nowadays - a sci-fi movie that takes itself seriously, and one that delivers a real scare. The monsters are pretty terrifying, and it's an ingenious device to show them mainly through the eyes of Riddick, a prisoner who has had his eyes adapted to see in the dark (an amazing bit of good luck!). In fact, it's the look of the film that really puts it apart from others in it's class. There is an ethereal glare to the whole planet, either sepia toned, or tinted blue, which makes for a genuinely distorted view. it's also a relief to see an unknown cast, which always benefits this type of story because you don't identify with any one character.
Although it's budgetary limits are sometimes plain to see, and it's heart at one with the best of the B-movies, it's still worth a rental if you're sick of seeing the same 'Alien' rip-offs.