If the screen had been pitch black for 2 hours...

Rating: 5/10 (18 February 2000)

I would have been much happier than I was after seeing this film. This is the worst time of the year for movies. Right after Christmas and before the Oscars. All the movies being released now are slotted at this time of year for a reason; the films are weak and would be no competition for the holiday or summer blockbusters, but you'd probably go see something new before shelling out cash to see the re-release of the Oscar nominated pictures. Pitch Black fits perfectly into this category.

At this time of year, I'm an easy mark. It has been almost a month since I saw a movie at the theatre. That's an eternity! Anything halfway decent would probably get high marks. Pitch Black is not halfway decent.

The premise is actually interesting, and has some possibilities. Simply put, a band of space travelers are stranded when their ship crashes. The suggestion can be inferred that the dangerous criminal, Riddick (Vin Diesel) that is being escorted may have caused the crash in an attempt to escape.
Once on the planet, the people discover that the place has no life and almost looks deserted. It's not until one of the people is killed and they get past the obvious suspicion of Riddick do we get down to the meat of plot. There's something dangerous lurking in the caves below the surface. Things get really serious when it's determined that an eclipse is about to take place and that the creatures will have free reign once darkness envelops the surface.
I won't take you much further. Getting to this point took almost an hour, and from this point on things go down hill. The film then takes on the standard serial killer formula. The heroes try to fend off the killer but he's getting them one by one.
No one gives any kind of notable performance, and the story quickly loses any plausibility that it may have had. Keith David has a part in the film, and the most entertaining for us was saying "Franks and Beans" at inappropriate moments in reference to his role in Something About Mary.
All I can say is thank goodness this was free. I can watch just about anything for free. Don't blow your hard earned money at the theatre on this one. It stinks...