Movies
[Review] Generic ‘Pandorum’ is Strictly for Genre Fans
The Christian Alvart-directed sci-fi horror Pandorum is far from a bad movie, but it’s so incredibly generic that it’s hard to recommend to anyone outside genre fans looking forward to seeing it.
In the film, both Payton (Dennis Quaid) and Bower (Ben Foster) wake up on a ship with no memory as to why they are there. It’s explained that when in hypersleep for a prolonged period of time, it takes the brains some time to retain some memories. There’s something wrong with the power. Bower figures out he’s the engineer and needs to fix the generator. He heads off to find the generator while Payton stays back to take control. Along the way memories unravel, other survivors are met and creatures emerge. Is it all for nothing, or is there a greater cause hiding at the end of the dark rainbow?
While the entire movie is incredibly cliché, the one thing that really nearly makes this worth checking out is the overall concept and where the finale takes us. I guess you can say it’s a quasi-Planet of the Apes concept, although they don’t end up on their own planet (you’ll have to see it to find out). And while the movie doesn’t do anything all that new, it is quite entertaining for the duration of the film, sans a few pacing issues.
And while Dennis Quaid continues to star in mediocre movies (G.I. Joe, The Horsemen), it is always nice to see him toplining a new genre pic. Ben Foster is always underappreciated as he really does carry the weight of the film on his shoulders. Antje Traue is incredibly underused as the strong female lead as she doesn’t enter the picture until halfway through. She’s tough and can kick some ass, but it’s all underplayed to her role as the character that explains what’s going on (she deserved more than this). During these scenes, the exposition becomes a bit heavy and brings the film to halt, although Alvart gets things moving quickly thereafter.
Even though Pandorum features a concept not all that appealing to the general public, and a cast of pretty much unknowns, the real killer is the way Alvart shot the creatures. First, we see way too much of the monsters, which immediately undermines the fear. Second, he shoots them in a choppy, unearthly way, because, you know, creatures on a spaceship defy physics and gravity.
Again, Pandorum isn’t all that bad, it just isn’t good either. Fans of films like Event Horizon, Alien 3, and Resident Evil are sure to get their money worth, but I feel anyone outside of the “horror club” is sure to be disappointed. Proceed with caution.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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