Dark Space (2013)

Yawn. Poorly Filmed Snooze Fest.

A Major Disappointment

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie has some twists; it's different from the cliche of college friends vacationing their way through blackout drunks, vomiting, tits and ass, and the all-important, "Don't go in/out there!"It starts out funny, great characters, awesome sets, decisions were made, it hits the fan, then it's life-or-death (and a nice butt). Terrifying aliens. Good sides, bad sides, and survival for some, but not the ones I thought. Fantastic and well done!

OFF WORLD is another cheapo indie science fiction film which doesn't have the budget to do the subject matter justice. It's about a mission in outer space, where a bunch of diverse crew members interact for a while before crash-landing on an alien planet and fighting for survival. The main source of inspiration seems to be the video game HALO, and there's more effort in creating arty, sci-fi looking visuals than delivering concrete narrative.

Someone with absolutely no talent must have watched AvP and thought to themselves "hey I can do that". Oh how horribly wrong they were. Apparently they think that if one cheap jump scare is great, a hundred of them is even better!A taste: in one scene, an idiot hears a noise outside his ship (you always know it's an alien by the very loud and very generic "jump scare" sound that plays when the run by. Naturally, said idiot walks outside to investigate. He stands out in the open for what seems like forever making no attempt to conceal himself while the alien jump scares around. Seriously this happens dozens of times. It's never scary, and by the fiftieth time they try the cheap jump scare, you just want to mute the television. Anyway, while he is standing just outside the ship, right in the open, the alien walks inside the ship where a girl is lying unconscious. Oh, she also has a skin piercing, fully fractured, infected leg. The ship is a tiny one room vessel with one door. There is no other way in or out. Inexplicably the girl manages to sneak out of the ship, out into the woods, and back to the idiot outside, who is now hiding behind a tree. The alien completely misses the guy who made no attempt to hide himself at the entrance of the ship, and the girl with one leg in an empty small room. It's hilarious.Also, the look of fear on the actress's face looks more like she is trying really hard not to sneeze.Despite her horrendous acting, she's actually the best of the lot. The two other girls are completely emotionless. At least broken leg girl has a sneezeface. One of the actors, the "cocky", Hudson-from-Aliens knock off, seems to be trying really hard to remember his lines. Bless his heart. The men seem to be playing drunken frat boys, but look well into their thirties.Otherwise, the movie is poorly shot and edited. Much of the action is confusing if not completely cut altogether. There are plenty of shots of the party from behind bushes to give the sense they are being watched, random blood sprays in place of actual effects, and of course, the dozens upon dozens of lame jumpscares. Mostly it just looks like a cheap vacation video.The effects are weak. The space stuff is passable, but the beastlike aliens are ultra generic, and The invisible dudes' (*cough*predators*cough*) first appearance is particularly terrible. It seems that 99% of the budget was wasted on their admittedly nifty helmets. Good job, helmet design guy. You get the one star.One more great one: after the party is chased and one of them vaporized by what appears to be thousands of Predator knockoffs, our Hudson knockoff then recites the scene to his two friends... who were right there with him, as if they weren't there. Hilarious editing fail.Low budget or not, its no excuse. Worst of the worst, but as long as you have your finger on the fast forward button, its kinda funny in a so-bad- it's-good sort of way. Sort of.

reviews should consider that this is a low budget scifi b-movie, so benchmarks have to be set accordingly.the plot is not groundbreaking, special effects are not very special, characters are not developed and acting is student like.i've seen almost all relevant sci-fi movies, most of them with far higher budgets, and this one definitely has something special. somehow stupid, somehow brilliant. camera, editing and light are involving the viewer, technically well done. the idea of the film is worth more - with a 130 million "after earth" budget this movie would be a milestone.anxious in all aspects, "dark space" is a movie which delivers polarizing entertainment. a story, which is well told, with the given resources. for me, a surprise.