Movie Review: Pitch Black

Pitch Black

When Pitch Black was released in 1999, a reviewer from the New York Times called it "nightmarish". I couldn't agree more. Watching this movie is almost like seeing your worst nightmare come to life. Those afraid of the dark will find Pitch Black petrifying; those who aren't afraid of the dark will be.

Pitch Black opens in the long-term sleep compartment of a space vessel underway. When the hull is unexpectedly holed by meteorites, crew members are awakened to take manual control of the ship, but it's too late to prevent the craft from entering the atmosphere of a nearby planet and crashing to the surface. As the survivors survey their situation, we're introduced to the docking pilot who barely managed to bring the ship under sufficient control to make the crash landing survivable; a devout Muslim on pilgramage with his young charges; an antiquities dealer; and others, two of whom are a bounty hunter and his most recent capture, a notorious murderer named Riddick.

Marooned on a planet boasting three suns and a desert landscape, the survivors place priority on burying the dead and finding a water source. As they reconnoiter their immediate area, they're awed but unafraid to find a large boneyard, home to numerous skeletons of large beasts long dead. Later, they're thrilled to find an old geology research station where they might be able to get water. Gradually, however, they realize there's a sinister reason the research station is deserted, and they begin to get an idea of what might have killed those huge beasts whose bones they found. Meanwhile, Riddick and his captor come to a gentlemen's agreement of sort, and Riddick is released from his restraints to help the group with their efforts. But just as hope seems warranted, a once-in-22-years phenomenon begins, and hopes of getting off the planet are a distant second to desperate attempts to merely survive the coming night.

Vin Diesel plays Riddick, a criminal with virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever unless you can count the most selfish of survival instincts as a virtue. Utterly uncaring about the fate of his fellows, Riddick can be trusted only to work toward his own ends, whatever they may be. The ship's pilot, now the captain of the small group, believes herself a coward and is determined to redeem herself whether Riddick supports her efforts or not. And the bounty hunter has his eye on only two things: his pocketbook and his own survival. As deals are made and broken, and as members of the group disappear one by one, the suspense grows nearly as choking as does the darkness in which much of the story takes place.

I like a good science fiction yarn, and Pitch Black is very good. A relatively low-budget movie ($20 million), it managed to make money in a lackadaisical movie season on the strength of its publicity as a horror movie. Although very frightening, I also thought it was a terrific showcase for Vin Diesel. This was the first movie I'd seen him in, and I vowed then that it wouldn't be the last.

NOTE FOR FANS: After his work on his latest movie, xXx, Vin Diesel was scheduled to begin filming a follow-up to Pitch Black, tentatively titled The Chronicles of Riddick. Riddick is a wonderfully evil and complex character and Diesel plays him perfectly. There's doubtless much more to Riddick than we see in Pitch Black, and I'm looking forwward to learning it all.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Pitch Black is rated R. The violence is extremely graphic; the language is rough; and the movie is, even as horror movies go, extremely frightening. I don't recommend Pitch Black for anyone under the age of 16. That being said, more mature science fiction fans will appreciate a good adult SF story, and action fans should love Vin Diesel.