Pitch Black

David Twohy did a great job of reworking the whole aliens come to take over the Earth theme with THE ARRIVAL and in PITCH BLACK he does it again by reworking the whole people land on another planet where they begin to make like Tender Vittles theme and the results are fabulous. Despite his work in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and BOILER ROOM this is the film which would propel Vin Diesel to stardom and it is interesting to note his character Riddick was originally to be killed off at the end of PITCH BLACK but the studio was of the mind they could spin a sequel from his character and thus THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK with it looking more likely there is another to come. While the character of Riddick is an interesting one it is the ensemble as a whole which make PITCH BLACK such an enjoyable slaughter. Unlike so many generic North American offerings the players are developed enough we truly care if some of them become bug lunch. Fabulous pacing, honest dialogue with unique visual effects and fine acting all around make PITCH BLACK stand out in a genre sorely needing a can of Raid.