PopHorror Let's Get Scared
We are closing in on the final weeks before the highly anticipated new film in the Predator franchise, The Predator, hits theaters. To get us geared up for it, we watched Uncork’d Entertainment’s sci-fi horror film, The Dawnseeker, which is advertised as an explosive new sci-fi horror actioner that pits five mercenaries against a dangerous alien creature and with the tagline, “A New Breed of Predator.” Does this film live up to the hype? Read on to find out!
Film Synopsis:
2245, the Earth’s sun has dwindled and no longer provides the energy needed to sustain human life. Five hired mercenaries travel to an uncharted planet to collect a rare mineral known as stardust to replenish the dying star. After their spaceship crashes on the alien planet, they are stalked and hunted by a creature far more advanced than anything they have ever encountered before.
Starring Franziska Schissler, Alexander Kane, Jason Skeen and Khu, The Dawnseeker marks the fifth feature film from director Justin Price (Alien: Reign of Man).
Before I get into what works and what doesn’t, I wanted to mention that I knew going in that The Dawnseeker was a B movie, and that the filmmakers do not make any bones about it being something other than that. I also realize that it is an obvious knock off of Predator, which again, they do not try to hide.
What Works:
What works in this film? Well, I believe that this film had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, the majority of my review will be what doesn’t work. I believe that the some of the concepts, including some different sci-fi weapons and special effects, are positive. Some of the special effects were good. The make-up effects were definitely well done, especially on the first victim. Unfortunately, that’s about it.
What Doesn’t Work:
Like I mentioned above, the film had potential, but the whole thing fell completely flat for me. The story itself is simple, yet I found myself confused as to what was actually happening. What I believe happened is that these 5 mercs were flying with The Dawnseeker, who is an alien chained up in their ship. I am not sure if this is right or not. When they crash to an unknown planet, The Dawnseeker breaks loose, stalks and attacks them. I’m not entirely sure on that, either. But I believe that is what happened.
The characters. You just don’t care about any of them that much. There wasn’t any real stand out personality to them. You don’t like them, nor do you dislike them. Indifferent. These “badass” mercs aren’t really bad asses at all. They don’t really mesh together well, and their performances were awkward. The filmmakers tried to put in a brief, two-minute backstory for the main character, Fenix (Franziska Schissler), but it just didn’t work in this short of a film. It also wasn’t necessary to the story.
In many scenes, it was hard to hear the dialogue between the characters, and this maybe why I felt lost watching it. They had a lot of techno music going on, and quite a few of the shots were filmed with the backsides of the characters facing the audience, which was odd to say the least. They’re talking, and we’re looking at their backs. Between the techno and these weird shots, it made it tough to follow and stay engaged with the film.
Although the practical FX were decent, some of the CG was choppy, making the scenes equally choppy. The CG of certain creatures was raw. They also over-exaggerated the explosions. I just kept thinking, “Why are they hiding behind walls for that little explosion?”
I know that a lot of hard work goes into creating and making anything, films included. I can see that the filmmakers worked pretty hard on this film. The Dawnseeker does have prospects of some sci-fi and sci-fi horror, and it is not the worst film ever made by a long shot. Is it a new breed of predator? For me, no. But it may just be me. If you enjoy B films, you may enjoy The Dawnseeker, and you can find out when it released on VOD on September 4th.
