Given the poor state of science fiction films over the past few years, it's understandable that I approached Screamers with low expectations. Generations , Species , and others, relief came several weeks ago in the form of Terry Gilliam's wonderfully offbeat Twelve Monkeys . Happily, Screamers makes it two science fiction successes in a row. Despite a title that sounds like it belongs to a horror picture, this movie is closer to Aliens than to a bloodbath.
Screamers oozes atmosphere.
It's a dark film that borrows heavily from the likes of the Alien films, Dune, Blade Runner , and John Carpenter's updated The Thing . From start to finish, Screamers is shot in a manner intended to convey paranoia and claustrophobia. Set design is always impressive, if bleak, and consists primarily of ruined buildings and underground bunkers. Matte paintings of wrecked bridges and smashed cities form an ominous backdrop to much of the movie's action. The film opens with several paragraphs of background text.