Why So Blu?

Brian Suffers From Pandorum

Suppose you were in the mood for a good science fiction/horror recipe.  And no, I am not talking about Jason X.  Let’s first throw in a tad of the chilling suspense found in the original John Carpenter Halloween.  Next, let’s add some enticements.  Remember the heart-pounding clenching fear you felt while watching the original Alien film?  Well, let’s put some of that in there.  While we are at it, keep in the back of your mind that we are in outer space and we are talking about the future here.  Finally, let’s embrace the horrifying and blood curdling creatures, called the Crawlers, we all came to love and hate so much in 2005’s The Descent.  I think we have all the ingredients we need for a good futuristic horror film.  So let’s get that GNC cup out of the cupboard that you never use, with the mixing ball in it, and let’s shake it all up.  What we have as an end result is a terrifying trip down memory lane trying to put all the pieces together of what really happened to the human race, while at the same time, figuring out what forces of evil are the most dangerous…the disorienting medical condition known as Pandorum or the savage human-like creatures ready to fatally strike around every corridor.  Welcome ladies and gentlemen to world of Pandorum. 

Pandorum is an American/German science fiction/horror film that stars Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Cung Le and newcomer Antje Traue.  I have to admit that this is alien (no pun intended) seeing Dennis Quaid in a role like this, but this is Dennis Quaid like you never seen him before.  Don’t worry!  I won’t ruin any of the surprises.  And all I have to say is wow, can Paul W.S. Anderson pick them!  Wait until you see the ferocious and heroic antics of Antje Traue.  Take the best qualities of Milla Jovovich and Doomsday’s Rhona Mitra and you have your self an a#$-kicking female heroine incarnated by Antje.  The film was written by Travis Milloy, directed by Christian Alvart and produced by Resident Evil’s Paul W.S. Anderson.  Starz Media’s Overture Films is handling the distribution of the film in North America.  Filming took place last year August in Berlin and we recently premiered exclusive coverage of the movie at this year’s Comic-Con panel in San Diego. 

Pandorum starts out with two astronauts awaken from quite the long slumber aboard an abandoned spacecraft, or at least they thought it to be so.  They wake up in total disorientation and in complete darkness.  They can’t remember anything.  They can’t remember who they initially are, where they are going or their family’s whereabouts.  That’s almost as bad as taking an upper cut to the chin from your wife while sound asleep, not that it has ever happened to me before.  The crew splits up in a gallant effort to reach the ships reactor to restore power before all is lost.  It’s only then that the spaceships deadly, gory and shocking secrets are revealed.  Like fielding a sucker punch to the solar plexus, the astronauts unwieldy learn the grim truth of the pressing matters at hand as they quickly realize that their own survival is suddenly more important they could have ever imagined. 

Of course I can go on and on about the plot of the movie, but to do so will severely spoil all of the out-of-the-seat popping fun you will have with this sci-fi/horror thriller.  Another question you probably all have on your curious minds is what is referred to as the medical condition named Pandorum.  Again, to answer that would also take away from the element of many surprises yet to come.  Something’s are just better left unsaid.  However, let me guarantee you the following.  This is the film that American audiences have been craving for ever since we got our first taste of Neil Marshall’s British horror film The Descent.  If you like what you saw in 2005 and don’t mind the outer space setting, then I think you have a winner on your hands here.  So cash in your chips, head straight to the nearest cinema and strap yourself in for a screaming good time as we got some serious a#$-kicking and exploring to do in the dark corridors of a futuristic space vessel far from home.  (Grade: B)

 Pandorum opened nationwide today September 25th.