Okay, this is a movie I am 100% going into blind. I have no knowledge of what this movie is or what it is about. But, after reading a brief plot summary without spoilers, I learned that this is a film about science fiction horror and Lovecraftian entities. And already, I was sold. So let’s see if 2009’s Pandorum is worth the attention of others.
The film takes place over a hundred years into the future. Earth’s resources have been completely diminished and a ship is sent into space to find the planet Tanis, in the hope of starting a new life. Two men, Bower and Payton, awaken from their cryogenic sleep, having no memory of what happened to them or who they even are. As they explore the ship, they find some survivors, but also run into creatures that have been driven mad by Pandorum, a sort of madness that is caused by being trapped in space. Now Bower, Payton, and the other survivors have to survive and escape the ship, while uncovering that there may be more to all this than they are lead to believe. Now let me say this right now, I’m a little disappointed in the Lovecraft aspect here.
I know, the films low budget, so the idea of seeing a giant entity, probably not going to happen. Instead, it’s to a lesser extent of Lovecraftian horror. Instead of fearing the unknown, it’s more of the fear that is brought by being driven to the brink of insanity. The creatures in this ship were once human, but due to being stuck in space for years, they were driven to a sort of primal state and left to cannibalize anything that came their way. And then there’s the Pandorum itself, the disorder that drives anyone to that brink slowly, but surely. I think that the idea of it is used rather well. It manages to portray the fear of being driven insane pretty well. Not on the scale of Jacob’s Ladder, but it gets the job done.
That being said, let’s talk about these creatures. And again, I’m pretty disappointed. I know that they were once human beings, so I can’t expect much in that design, but man, these things just look really uninspired. They look like the Falmer from Skyrim… Actually, given those fuckers, this is pretty damn terrifying. I just don’t like the idea of a humanoid creature in a Lovecraftian horror setting. Look, if it didn’t even work for Call of Cthulhu, it ain’t ever gonna work. That being said, the creation of these creatures is a little fascinating. I never thought I’d give a shit about the lore of any of these films, but here we are. And I’m pretty sure this has something to do with an underlying theme of evolution, given it’s the future and there are these primitive savages running around the ship, but details.
Pandorum is an… interesting film. I don’t hate it, yet it’s not the greatest film out there. I’m not disappointed, mostly because I came in with no expectations whatsoever. I guess I wasn’t expecting much from a film that was produced by one Paul W. S. Anderson. Somehow, I had a feeling this man was involved and that worries me. I guess, if you are interested in this film, you can give it a try. And if this was mostly just me being upset that this was a poor excuse of Lovecraftian horror, yeah………….. Okay, bye now.
The film takes place over a hundred years into the future. Earth’s resources have been completely diminished and a ship is sent into space to find the planet Tanis, in the hope of starting a new life. Two men, Bower and Payton, awaken from their cryogenic sleep, having no memory of what happened to them or who they even are. As they explore the ship, they find some survivors, but also run into creatures that have been driven mad by Pandorum, a sort of madness that is caused by being trapped in space. Now Bower, Payton, and the other survivors have to survive and escape the ship, while uncovering that there may be more to all this than they are lead to believe. Now let me say this right now, I’m a little disappointed in the Lovecraft aspect here.
I know, the films low budget, so the idea of seeing a giant entity, probably not going to happen. Instead, it’s to a lesser extent of Lovecraftian horror. Instead of fearing the unknown, it’s more of the fear that is brought by being driven to the brink of insanity. The creatures in this ship were once human, but due to being stuck in space for years, they were driven to a sort of primal state and left to cannibalize anything that came their way. And then there’s the Pandorum itself, the disorder that drives anyone to that brink slowly, but surely. I think that the idea of it is used rather well. It manages to portray the fear of being driven insane pretty well. Not on the scale of Jacob’s Ladder, but it gets the job done.
That being said, let’s talk about these creatures. And again, I’m pretty disappointed. I know that they were once human beings, so I can’t expect much in that design, but man, these things just look really uninspired. They look like the Falmer from Skyrim… Actually, given those fuckers, this is pretty damn terrifying. I just don’t like the idea of a humanoid creature in a Lovecraftian horror setting. Look, if it didn’t even work for Call of Cthulhu, it ain’t ever gonna work. That being said, the creation of these creatures is a little fascinating. I never thought I’d give a shit about the lore of any of these films, but here we are. And I’m pretty sure this has something to do with an underlying theme of evolution, given it’s the future and there are these primitive savages running around the ship, but details.
Pandorum is an… interesting film. I don’t hate it, yet it’s not the greatest film out there. I’m not disappointed, mostly because I came in with no expectations whatsoever. I guess I wasn’t expecting much from a film that was produced by one Paul W. S. Anderson. Somehow, I had a feeling this man was involved and that worries me. I guess, if you are interested in this film, you can give it a try. And if this was mostly just me being upset that this was a poor excuse of Lovecraftian horror, yeah………….. Okay, bye now.