I am a huge fan of sci-fi horror. No way around it. I am a sucker for anything that makes the viewer feel alone, destitute, and scared. Pandorum was a Starz original when it dropped in 2009 if I recall correctly. Pandorum really checks all these boxes in my opinion, and I want to delve into why. Check out the trailer here
The Review
Pandorum opens like several Sci-fi movies. Someone wakes up on a ship, confused, they don’t know why they are the only one awake. This is a Paul WS Anderson production. I am a fan of most of his work, and a lot of folks are not. To each their own I guess. Ben Foster does an amazing job on this movie. He plays the main protagonist and is utterly alone for the start of this film. Atmosphere, sound, visuals all play a role in making a Sci-fi horror convey dread and creepiness. The Dread of having to walk into the next hall, the fear of being alone, all of that while in reality would be terrible–when experienced as a movie or video game does something special for me. The use of lighting in the movie is excellent, with blue used in an interesting way.
Admittedly, it doesn’t take much for a movie like this to capture my attention for a few hours. What I appreciate about Pandorum is the story took me in a direction I didn’t expect. It has the chops of a great action movie, littered with eerie horror and dialogue. I am a huge fan of the video game Dead Space, and this movie is about as close as you can get to it–other than maybe Event Horizon. The protagonist (Bower) is also an engineer not unlike Dead Space’s Isaac. The end of the movie wraps up the story in a nice way as well. I am not a huge fan of abrupt non-endings to a movie. Ben Foster plays a huge role in selling this story, and Dennis Quaid does an amazing job of illustrating the movie’s title and the meaning of it.
Conclusion
If you are a fan of Sci-fi horror and haven’t seen Pandorum I implore you to watch it. It is an amazing movie and will keep you interested the entire time. In my opinion this movie is overlooked, and it shouldn’t be.
Unforgettable quotes
Nadia – Running is always the best option.
Payton – I said stand down corporal!
I am always a scaredy-cat on horror movies, but you sold me. I will give it a try.
It’s not too terribly scary. Worth a shot for sure!