The Night Diver

Space horror is a horror subgenre that has always captivated me ever since I got into the horror genre in general. The setting of a claustrophobic space station in the lonely expanses of deep space becomes a canvas for many bone-chilling and creative stories that I absolutely look forward to. One of the best examples of this is the Dead Space game series, which in my opinion, is one of the best horror game experiences out there. It was because of this game that I began my voyage into space horror altogether.

But this week, I have also been drawn into these horrors because of the newly released Alien movie, which is also a space horror franchise that has really influenced much of the genre we see today. I will most likely bring my review of Alien Romulus in the next coming week or so, but I wanted to find something a bit more hidden in this horror genre. We all know about the greats, like Alien and Event Horizon, but I wanted to see an example of Space Horror that not many people have known about.

It was during this search that I heard some whispers about Pandorum. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was getting into, but it was getting a fair bit of a cult classic reputation online. Furthermore, it was unclear as to what kind of horror I would be looking at in the movie. Much of the discussion online kept the nature of the type of monster vague, and nothing indicated it being an alien movie. Even one of the movie posters just didn’t look like anything remotely recognizable. At this point, my curiosity was more than piqued, and I was set to watch it.

To begin, the movie follows an engineer who wakes up from Cryosleep, aboard a seemingly abandoned space station. Here, I absolutely enjoyed how the movie created an immersive atmosphere while also keeping everything mysterious and disorienting, much like how the main character was feeling. There was also the usage of claustrophobia in a lot of the scenes, which really heightened tension throughout the film. The lighting and sound design really sold the uncanny experience of being alone in an enormous space station while feeling that constant threat of being not being entirely alone. I think the movie is very well worth the price of admission for just the environmental design alone.

Furthermore, the cast does a really good job in selling the overall story. Ben Foster and Dennis Quaid have a great presence on the screen as the engineer and captain respectively. They played their roles quite well, alongside great performances from the supporting cast as well. These are all greatly written characters brought to life by their actors, and they make the story much more believable and enjoyable throughout the runtime. The most enjoyable part of the movie to me was the overall mystery, and trying to piece it all together before the twist that comes at the end. While the twist is surprising, it does not feel like a contrivance at all. Instead, it makes the movie feel quite different (for the better) upon reviewing the events. I feel like twists are a very hard thing to pull off flawlessly, but I think this movie is one of the few that handles it very well.

The only complaints I really have are with the camera and editing work at some points of the movie. There is a use of under-cranking in the camera work that is somewhat jarring to me, but I do remember this kind of filming being very common around 2009, so I can live with it. Also, without heading into spoilers, I think the monsters/antagonists in the movie are great in terms of how they are written into the overall worldbuilding, and they are a very threatening presence. However, I personally was not a fan of how they were used visually. But I think this doesn’t take away from the overall horror atmosphere and intriguing story that was given in the movie.

Overall, I think this movie is a good time if you are a fan of Sci-Fi and Horror, especially within the Space Horror subgenre. While there are certain details that the movie could have done better, it is a very solid work in the genre. The themes of isolation and survival in space, as well as the great work in acting and set design make this movie a very interesting watch, and really support the claim of it being a sort of cult classic.

My final rating for this movie is: 3.5/5 stars