Pandorum

I will start my review with an invective: Kill the editor! It’s been very long since I saw action scenes so confusing, there were many times when I couldn’t be sure whether a monster got a person or a person a monster (and I’m complaining about this as someone who loves REC, Seventh Moon, Cloverfield...!) Given the premise, Pandorum could have been an incredibly depressive and oppressive film, but Alvart conceived it as an action B-movie (instead of a new Alien, it’s a new Resident Evil, in space), and only at the very end does it show the masterpiece it could have been. The twist and its outcome are not as original as it’s sometimes claimed (a couple of months ago I read something very similar in a book), but they do feel fresh. Unfortunately, however, the script doesn’t deliver them with the force they deserve. Thumbs up for the premise, the atmosphere, the monsters, the final insanity and the twist, thumbs down for the editing, the flaws, the characters and the lack of horror. 70% (10.11.2009)

A solid and mainly atmospheric sci-fi horror that has a couple of really nice aces up its sleeve. Both Foster and Quaid are very good and the former is the powerhouse of this movie. The surprise in the finale got to me and I was pleasantly surprised in fact by the overall feeling of the movie. This style simply appeals to me. I wasn’t bored for a moment. (10.11.2009)

Anderson, Marshall, Cameron... the director has borrowed quite a lot. With the production supervision of Anderson, he has made an impressive horror/slaughter film that puts the cards on the table without much fuss and then rides the frantic rhythm of a space slasher, which shows that the director enjoys this genre and serves up all the B-movie clichés side by side. It doesn't matter that he answers the viewer's "What the hell is behind this?" question in the most banal way. The cast on this darkened spaceship does what was expected of them, and Ben Foster in particular deserves a few extra claps. It's not a radical film in the history of horror, but as a representative of thematically similar colleagues from previous years, it will be missing in this year's movie theater offerings. (10.11.2009)

On one hand, the film is firmly rooted in B-movie territory, not so much in terms of budget, but more in overall execution and cliché motifs, whether in the script or the directorial approach. On the other hand, it features decent performances, at least from the central duo of actors, has a respectable visual design that creates a properly claustrophobic atmosphere of mystery and horror in some scenes, and most importantly, it has a premise with immense potential that could lead to outstanding results under certain circumstances. These circumstances would require refining the script and particularly the film's dialogues, which at times made me bite my lip to hold back laughter, introducing the monsters much later and changing their appearance so as not to resemble something out of a generic horror film like Hellraiser, and most importantly, putting effort into developing the characters and eliminating a lot of cliched nonsense. I do not deny that Pandorum has its entertaining moments, its ability to be frightening in some moments and create tension in others, but with this execution, it's something I would enjoy at the age of 14 and nowadays I have to either switch off my brain or take a detached view of what's happening on the screen. Overall impression: 50%. (30.09.2010)

Pandorum is a sophisticated sci-fi survival drama that skillfully combines the atmosphere of a Gigerstyle spaceship, psychedelic shades of Event Horizon, and a well-paced space-monster horror movie with a realistic (and thus more frightening) foundation. It also features well-written and played characters whose entries to the scene are unexpected and move the story forward. Better than most of the bigger-budget, star-studded blockbusters (Sphere, Life). (21.09.2018)