David Twohy
Pitch Black

In an indeterminate future, a commercial spaceship is struck by debris from a comet's tail and, drawn by the gravitational field of an unknown planet with three Suns, forces its semi-hibernated occupants to a traumatic early awakening and a dramatic emergency landing.

Among the survivors of the impact on the planet's desert surface are a young crew pilot, an Imam with three young disciples, an engineer, a kid, an eccentric antiquarian, and a dangerous criminal chained and watched closely by the man who has custody of him. A criminal who can see in the dark because he underwent a modification of his visual receptors.

An initial exploration of the vast desolate environment leads to a series of clues that promise nothing good; hence, increasingly disturbing discoveries from which the survivors reconstruct a mysterious past and unveil the future that awaits them.

The tensions between the various individuals seeking answers and solutions for salvation intertwine with the sense of inevitability that overwhelms them, culminating in a terrifying experience of challenge and death with an unexpected enemy, whose presence and strength are determined by unfortunate astronomical circumstances (a very long eclipse).

The first feeling that emerged upon viewing the film at its release (it was 2000) was that Alien continues to set the standard even decades later. Which, on the one hand, may be relevant for certain narrative mechanisms and iconographic choices, but on the other hand, leads one to automatically identify many other cinematic reminiscences. Because the film by Australian director David Twohy reworks various clichés of the genre, without, however, descending into cheap referencing.

The opening has something similar to the unfortunate events of the Nostromo with Dallas and Ripley: it is diverted from its route, waking passengers prematurely from their hibernation state. The terrifying creatures hunting the unlucky ones have sharp, retractable teeth. Partly, the planet's aesthetics mimic certain archeo-mechanical sets that Giger had designed to characterize some passages of Alien (the gigantic skeletons). But unlike Alien, there is no metallic, damp claustrophobia; the dynamics activated among the characters are determined more by a social and cultural background than a hierarchical one. The desert-like planet setting then recalls titles like Forbidden Planet and Screamers, while the discovery of the abandoned base camp has illustrious precedents in many science fiction films. And the alien creatures that fear the light seem to be the result of a mythological blend: attracted by blood and with a shape reminiscent of a hybrid between a bat and a dragon. Ultimately very different from the "facehuggers" that infested the LV-426 satellite.

This blend of references and inspirations certainly does not corrupt the effectiveness of the work. Twohy, working with a very reduced budget compared to the average sci-fi production, aimed determinedly to achieve a compelling product, capable of overcoming the risk of sounding entirely derivative with various narrative expedients.

It is worth noting that a good portion of the appeal is owed to the character of the extremely dangerous convict (Richard B. Riddick, played by Vin Diesel) who makes efforts for communal survival and stands up to the monsters. Riddick belongs to a long tradition of boisterous villains with a certain sense of justice. He immediately triggers strong fascination in the viewer, proving to be the decisive man - although not completely salvific - and will, in fact, become the protagonist of a successful saga centered on his misadventures.

The rest of the cast is loaded with somewhat stereotypical characters here and there, yet overall forming a heterogeneous group that manages to function, despite the predictability of many behaviors. Directed with one eye on general cynicism and the other on irony, thanks to the macho cues from Diesel's lines and his antagonist, the cold heroin-addict cop Johns.

More significant, perhaps, is the result in the numerous optical and digital effects, effective and never over the top. For example, I mention the initial emergency landing scene, the scene with flocks of aliens emerging from pinnacles on the horizon, and the beginning of the fast-approaching eclipse scene. These are moments full of tension and pathos, pure action cinema at times capable of a spectacle that leaves no one indifferent. Especially remembering once again that it's a 2000 film and it only cost about twenty million dollars: a very low figure even then for a work of that scope.

The subsequent chapters of the Riddick saga, on a side note, no longer had the emotional and visionary impact of the first one. For various reasons, their overall characteristics fall outside the spirit that animated Pitch Black. And so, they did not receive the same approval. Nevertheless, the new chapter Riddick: Furya is currently in production.