Wonkette Movie Night: Pitch Black
'I absolutely believe in God ... and I absolutely hate the fucker.'
Are you afraid of the dark?
Being able to see the monsters might make you feel safer but monsters are still monsters and if they want to eat you, they just might no matter the light. Maybe the seeing that is needed is not entirely visual. To better fight what hides within it maybe it is better to understand why the monsters prefer the darkness.
Once again Movie Night connects to the real world!
Pitch black is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as:
Total darkness, with no light at all.
or
Completely black.
(That second definition can also been found under Things That Scare Republicans.)
But in tonight’s film Pitch Black, it is a bit of a misnomer because it would be a very hard movie to watch if it was filmed in darkness. The tension and thrill of the movie is how they use just enough light for you to find safety there, but increasing the fear because you know there are things just beyond where the light touches.
A merchant ship travels in space as its crew and human cargo rest in cryo-sleep on a long journey, except for Riddick. He is a prisoner, shackled and gagged. He seems almost like an animal, a very dangerous animal. At the beginning of the movie Riddick says,
They say most of your brain shuts down in cryo-sleep. All but the primitive side, the animal side. No wonder I’m still awake.
The ship is bombarded by micrometeoroids which blast through the ship and awaken some of the crew, who find a way to crash land on a desolate planet. The survivors include Riddick, the pilot, an imam, an antiques dealer, a young boy, Riddick’s guard, the Professor and Mary Ann.
I might be mistaken on those last two.
The planet they find themselves on has three suns and the group’s most pressing need is water not light. But after finding an abandoned mining camp they realize that darkness is coming and darkness means death. Uncertain about who they can trust the group must still work together in order for all to survive.
That survival means they must rely on the criminal and the cop. Riddick has eyes that work a bit like a cat’s, he can see what the others cannot, the creatures moving in the dark. As the group works to escape this nightmare of a planet they must also fight the demons inside themselves.
Pitch Black started the film franchise The Chronicles Of Riddick, which includes The Chronicles Of Riddick; Riddick; and Riddick: Furya (expected release this year.)
There was also an animated film, The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dark Fury. YouTube has some of the films for free (with ads) right now, I’ve included the links.
Pitch Black stars Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser, Radha Mitchell, Rhiana Griffith, Claudia Black, Keith David, and Lewis Fitz-Gerald. Directed by David Twohy.
Pitch Black is available for free with ads on YouTube; $3.99 in the usual places.
To make requests and see the movie lists and schedules go to WonkMovie.
The animated short is A Strange Song Stops an Army Cold by Klonox.
Next week’s Movie Night selection is The Jerk, it is available for free on OK RU; free on the Internet Archive (starts with a couple of ads). $3.99 in the usual places.
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𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀:
The creatures went through several different iterations, and were the fruit of extensive brainstorming sessions between Patrick Tatopoulos and David Twohy. "My first attempt at the Predator was very different from the final design," Tatopoulos recalled in an interview for Cinefex. "It looked a bit like a pterodactyl. We developed it from there in about two months' time. We had the luxury of time; and by the time David had to go to Australia [for location shooting], we had nailed something that everybody seemed to be pleased with." The final result was a sinuous beast with shark-like skin, long arms, and legs that acted as wings. From their wrists, the creatures could eject blade-like tentacles. The crescent-shaped skull could be used as a lethal cutting weapon, whereas twin projections on the sides housed sensory organs. Another key trait became the rows of razor-sharp, retractable teeth.
Animation of the Predators was based on real animal footage. Peter Chiang recalled: "we analyzed a lot of existing animal behavior, and decided that these creatures would be very economical in their movement, principally because of their conservation of energy and their feeding habits. There is almost a playfulness about them when they first break out after a long hibernation; but then the destructiveness and killing instinct set in as they begin looking for food. We were going for the beauty aspect, but at the same time we had to convey the volume of these creatures." For that reason, the creatures were shown as gliding rather than flapping consistently. The peculiar movement of the split tail was also based on rattlesnakes.
𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐔𝐒 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐕𝐈𝐀:
Originally shown as a human in Pitch Black, Riddick's race is later revealed to be Furyan in subsequent sequels. The Furyans are a warrior race nearly exterminated by a military campaign that left their home planet, Furya, desolate. Riddick is one of the last surviving members of this race. His eyes, a defining feature, allow him to see clearly in the dark, a trait associated with a specific caste of Furyans known as Alpha-Furyans. In Pitch Black, he implies that his eyes were surgically altered, but this is later attributed to his Furyan heritage. To protect his eyes from bright light, he wears tinted welding goggles.
Riddick's past includes a role as a member of a security force, eventually becoming a soldier. This background contributes to his complex character, blending elements of an antihero with occasional heroic actions.