Delayed Reaction: Pitch Black

Premise: Some people on a space ship land on a planet with three suns and creatures that attack when all the suns set.

SciFi is really useful to me to understand when people don't like horror. You see, I like SciFi, but I won't go out of my way for it. When someone tells me about some great new series on Syfy, I nod along with no intention of actually watching. The holes in anything but the best SciFi I have a hard time ignoring. When the effects aren’t quite good enough or the acting is lacking, the ideas behind the movie or show aren't enough to carry me through. I find this helpful, because it explains how other people feel about horror. I'll watch the hundredth variant of a found footage horror movie with actors who wisely never worked again and eat it up. Then I won't get how other people aren't as head-over-heels for the movie. That's because I have those SciFi blinders but for horror. I'll ignore bad acting and plot holes if I think the styles or scares are cool enough.

I think Pitch Black is laughably bad in a lot of ways. It looks like crap. Some of that is intentional; lighting effects of the multiple suns. But it makes the movie look washed out and cheap. The effects show their age badly. Vin Diesel with the goggles looks more silly than cool. The cast is otherwise filled with more faces than names. I think there are some interesting ideas in the movie, specifically with the protective power of light, but this just isn't a genre where I have the right blinders to ignore the weaknesses.

Verdict: Strongly Don't Recommend