DARK MATTER (close window to return)

Dark Matter
A Film by Mol Smith and Maurice Smith
Review by Jason D. Brawn

From the makers of Tainted Love comes another folk horror tale with a science fiction subject.
Space scientist, Dr James Reynolds (Dominic O’Flynn) succumbs to depression, following the death of his beloved wife, a year ago, and soon hears a crashing bang in the garden of his residence.  He discovers a small meteorite and later a form of an alien woman descends from this mysterious rock that holds the key to humanity.  

What can I say?  A much better effort in terms of its production values, and found it very hard to believe that the budget was five grand.  I loved the style and CGI effects, placing it better than most of the mega budget sci-fi blockbusters churned by Hollywood.  The score was haunting and melancholic, and loved the setting.  As a screenwriter, I learned a great deal about the importance of using a single location to tell an eighty-five minute story.  The film also had tones of Norman J. Warren’s 1977 shocker Prey.  

The alien’s costume was impressive and the actress who played the alien (Jamie-Jodie Shanks) gave a fine performance.  Despite the impressive visual effects, there were some problems with the script.  I felt at times the plot points were confusing and there were too many flashback scenes featuring his wife.  A sci-fi film like this should have had a simple story and stuck with it.  It had lots of ideas, but got carried away.  Regardless, I did like the character arc of Dr Reynolds and also loved the idea of having him experience some kind of breakdown when seeing glimpses of his wife.  This made me think of both versions of the film Solaris.   The story would have worked better if he thought that the alien were his wife, when dealing with a psychological matter.    

Despite the minor criticism, this film is worth a view and should get a greater exposure.