By Jason Collins | Published
Here's an unpopular opinion: there haven't been many horror films in the last 20 years since the genre was reduced to action scenes combined with jump scares and high-quality sound mixes. They all follow the same path and include dirty elements, such as demonic monks or killer dolls (this statement does not include Child's Play franchise.) However, there have been a few movies worth reviewing since their release, too Pandorum is definitely one of those movies.
Cannibals, INNNN SPACEEEEE!
Pandorum follows the story of the remnants of the human race who, following the depletion of Earth's resources due to overpopulation, board an interstellar ship, embarking on a 123-year journey to colonize an alien planet similar to Earth. Its passengers are put into hypersleep, and a rotating team of technicians and engineers wakes up every two years to maintain the ship. However, not everything went according to plan, and some time later, two members of the flight crew, Bower (Ben Foster) and Payton (Dennis Quaid), woke up.
The negative effects of oversleeping leave them with partial amnesia and Pandorum, a space-related disorder that causes mental disturbances when under stress. They also find the interstellar arc in a terrible state; their journey continues, but an unstable nuclear reactor causes a power surge throughout the spaceship, which Bower sets out to find. But instead of a faulty reactor, he finds space mutants that are now cannibals that he must avoid while trying to reset the reactor and restore normal power to the ship.
A Psychological Thriller Wrapped in Sci-Fi Horror
As it turned out, the mutant space cannibals had been riding for a long time, hunting several crew members who had been awake for a long time; some of them have suffered from Pandorum disorder. At the end of the film, several twists and turns occur, which keep viewers on the edge of their seats, as shocking truths about the ship, its inhabitants, and the mutants begin to reveal themselves, after which the fight for survival begins.
We will not spoil it Pandorum to any of our readers, but we will say that the text, which is actually a combination of two different but similar works, is good, with a good introduction to the story. The screenplay is also brilliantly done, while the whole story immerses the viewers in exploring the ship and its history and characters. The downside is that certain characters could have been developed better.
The special effects were impressive, but not enough to save Pandorum from a disappointing theatrical run. Despite a reported production budget of $33 million, the film grossed nearly $20 million worldwide. We often argue that the box office says a lot about the quality of a film, but there are always exceptions. Pandorum you are one of them. Its ambitious ideas and concrete premise deserved the best reception, even if the execution does not always live up to the strength of the text.
Despite its sci-fi setting, Pandorum first and foremost a survival horror movie. It explores alienation, madness, memory, and identity while forcing its characters to confront civilization's collapse into pure chaos. A tense, unsettling experience that uses its futuristic backdrop to heighten the horror rather than overshadow it.
Furthermore, its ending promised a sequel, which may have been canceled following the film's poor performance at the box office. They like to watch Pandorum can stream the movie for free on Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, and Amazon Prime Video.
