Dark Star (1974)

I'm finally off the horror kick, apparently, which is a relief - next on the list would've been Alien, which I know for a fact that I know I can't watch without a run-up and a cushion to hide behind. It's a great film, as I'll no doubt explain lengthily at some point, but I've found in the past that it does leave me feeling rather as though I've been through the wringer.

Yesterday, though, I was definitely in the mood for some cult sci-fi. You know the sort - proper cult sci-fi, none of this fandom nonsense. I wanted shoddy effects and flat-out weirdness, and if it was made after 1990 I almost certainly didn't want to know. I asked Mr B, because In the nicest possible way, this is an area where his experience is far greater than mine.

His suggestion was Dark Star, which appealed for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it's John Carpenter - specifically, it's John Carpenter from the early days, when he was still interesting. Secondly, absolutely fit the bill when it came to low-budget, high-weirdness sci-fi. Finally, crucially, I'd heard it featured an alien made from a beach ball. How in the world could I resist?

The story, such as it is, concerns the four inhabitants of the scoutship Dark Star, tasked with heading into habitable star systems and destroying unstable planets that might put them at risk. The prologue, a sort of video voicemail to the ship's crew, explains this, and that although the ship has been badly damaged and the Commander is dead, it is not possible for any help to be provided and that basically, they're on their own. We follow them about their daily routines, inhabiting the cramped corridors and observing what might very well be the last hours and days of their lives.

Luckily, this is a whole lot funnier than I'm making it sound.

The good

I hadn't been entirely sure what to expect from this one, I confess - I'm a sci-fi fan, true, but not a huge one, and Dark Star is way, way before my time. Still, I went in with an open mind and an open heart, and I feel I was richly rewarded for it.

I loved this film in so very, very many ways, from its beautiful absurdity to the way in which it resolutely refuses to offer explanations. The audience are left to work things out for themselves, and from a personal point of view I found this added to the fundamental immersiveness of the experience. There was a real beauty in the way that some of the set-piece situations unfolded, as we shifted from one protagonist to another in a way perfected by today's soap operas; cliffhangers evolved, grew and were resolved like the creation and implosion of so many miniature universes.

Yet again, however, I'm waxing all poetic, when what I really want to convey is quite how funny it is. I laughed out loud, frequently, in delighted incredulity, and sometimes in sheer delight. 

The bad

Let's be honest: you know who you are. Not everybody digs absurdism in their sci-fi, or beach ball aliens. That's fine - it's a big world with room for lots of different people with lots of different movie tastes. If this doesn't sound appealing and you're more attracted by the likes of, say, Interstellar, that's absolutely fine. You monsters.

The verdict

At a scant 83 minutes (and with a 70-minute cut available), Dark Star is an absolute delight from start to finish. Highly recommended.