Derelict

Following up his success with the unfinished Fear, I was wary but anxious to see Derelict for more reasons that Mousenator's skill with 3dmm. For starters I had my own concerns about its similarites to my own venture into science fiction. For another, Derelict was always the flagship movie of the film fest, discounting Vlarion for appearing in a form of its own four years ago. These reasons, coupled with the latest accusation that its modelled heavily off Aliens, I pressed play with cautious eyes. I needn't have worried - Derelict is, while far from flawless, the best indirect horror movie I've ever seen in 3dmm. Not to mention a careful homage to some of the best sci-fi movies made in the Star Wars era.

To clarify Mousenator's success I'll say this: I don't scare easily. I'm hard pressed to find genuine thrills from horror movies and nas such I've had no luck with 3dmm movies. The closest resemblance being Gnomes, which was weighed down horribly by self-indulgent drama and a poor sense of pace. I therefore wasn't expecting Derelict to put me off-guard, and despite the predictable nature of it all, it is genuinely creepy. Johnson nails darkness, atmosphere and claustrophobia, not only with one of the most unpleasantly grim color palettes to date but with some damn fine direction. The premise of Derelict is elementary: a ship's crew land on an unchartered planet searching for their crashed sister ship. Here they discover the nature of the crash was thanks to the investigation of a derelict spacecraft. Cue the arrival of a some lethal xenomorphs and a furious race for survival. But unpredictably, the simplicity of the story fails to weaken the film. On the contary it allows Johnson to play with the darkness he relished in Fear, as well as throwing in enough plot twists to make Derelict more than just your average survival horror.

Moreover the film is constantly marked for death by xenomorphs that, while similar to H.R Giger’s fanged penis, are shot in subtle ways to prove this otherwise. They and early footage of soldiers in combat, provide the creepiest tension in the film. What’s even better is they’re actually authentic: in other words these guys are mean motherfuckers. There’s a sense of superiority and ‘don’t mess’ message about their arrival, although given its hard to take some characters seriously when they go explore dark rooms by themselves. It’s almost too easy. Nonetheless these are real threats, unlike the colourful - one second of chills if you’re lucky- garden gnomes. These creatures are for the most part, proved relatively scary, especially regarding their multi-talented skills of killing, running, swimming, teaming, sliming and maiming. As a result, you’re either one of two audience members, you’re either really creeped out by the claustrophically shot experience or, thanks to the xenomorphs, you’re having the time of your life. Either way, the desired affect hits home, and that’s certainly no easy feat for a 3dmm horror.

From a filmmaker's point of view Derelict is intensely satisfying. The way the film has been constructed has Johnson's confidence written all over it. He wastes as little time as possible with exposition and within the first fifteen minutes we're thrown into the claustrophobic atmosphere, the kind of tension Mousenator seems born to utilise. Where the film's design demands tension, it's there, un-glorified and unsullied, free to create the kind of atmosphere Gnomes lacked. Ironically, while it was Gnome's drama elements that denied it gritty honest scares, Derelict places drama firmly on a backseat, using it more as a device with which to inflate the tension. The build-up to the water duct chase confirms these ideas. Meanwhile Mousenator is more concerned with the look and feel of the film. Contructurally Derelict looks and feels like a trip back to the post Star Wars era, the 'Dark Star' years when space was dirty and cruel in reaction to George Lucas' controversially universal vision. In other words, it looks the balls: this is cold, disgusting lonesome space as opposed to colourfully dogmatic worlds gone before.

We are reminded of this via Mousenator's confidence with cinematography, shots scattered throughout Derelict display a thorough understanding of filmmaking and most importantly, why this genre works. Moreover, Mousenator is a daring, honest filmmaker: Derelict involves very difficult shots that while seem right at home amid the movie realities, people rarely attempt in 3dmm through fear of failure. Mousenator however gives it his best shot clearly to define the movie’s tone and it works. Note the shot panning right on a pivot from the computer screen early into the film, or the common close-ups to define the atmosphere itself. In terms of style the director’s outdone himself, which is no easy feat for an up and coming director. This is how it should be done.

And yet, for all its quality Derelict faces its own problems, but bizarrely its not the way it's been handled. It's the story, the form itself, that lets the film down ultimately. Yes it's satisfying, yes its labyrinthine in nature and yes, it's even intelligent in bursts (which is unexpected considering Mousenator's relatively newbie status). But the director is well aware of the cliches surrounding the genre and has attempted to avoid them. Sadly, his writing isn't skilled enough to avoid the obvious cliches. which is a damn shame, because when it comes to set pieces and action sequences Mousenator is thoroughly talented and imaginative, most notably in the last twenty minutes. But the problem is he doesn't quite know how to dispense with the crew in a skillful way, the crewmembers themselves often being so naive to stay in one place for too long you almost end up rooting for the aliens. But this isn't the biggest problem I had. The biggest and most obvious flaw with the film is, while Mousenator is skilled with handling a long running narrative, he struggles with the intricacies of the plot. There are various twists towards the later stages of the film, but they fail to answer any actual questions, or solve any problems. The other problem is the script, or lack of. Most of the dialogue is present to provide exposition (and in Boris’ case, this dialogue is loaded with cheese), added tension or the means for the death of a character. As a result, the sequences that really matter are undercooked, such as an impending love scene and the set-up to the final confrontation in the water duct. Whats more, despite Mousenator’s superb handling, there’s no denying a sense of convenience regarding the survivor’s escape, especially in the circumstances.

Although the plot is a key problematic in the film, being honest this seems like the only one to my mind. Yes it’s a pretty enormous one, but its easily solved in the future and Derelict is so fun and genuine its hard to rob it of all its glory. Bearing in mind this is still a newbie director (but certainly no amateur) I’m happy to ignore the weaknesses and take Derelict for what it is. A fantastic example of how things should be done in 3dmm of late, though it’s hard pressed to look so gorgeous without v3dmm – which in my mind has yet to prove itself as the godsend everyone’s making it out to be.

Still, it doesn’t hurt Derelict at all, because this is one of the best horror 3dmms ever made. This doesn’t pretend to be anything other than damn atmospheric pressure. Dark, brooding, twisted and silently threatening, this is not only the film of the festival, but the film of the year. Looks like I have some work to do.