Creature of Darkness Review

Creature of Darkness. 2009. Reviewed by Brian Kirst

“Every instinct I have tells me I’m next. Why am I sitting here like ebony meatloaf?” – Mason, “Creature of Darkness”

So, this is your ‘final destination’, Devon Sawa? Well, if you’re into caloric (ie – cheesy) sci-fi horror then I guess Creature of Darkness is not a bad place to land.

Here, Sawa (of Final Destination and Idle Hands fame)plays a key member in a group of hyped up dune buggy drag racing twenty somethings who discover something a little unusual when tearing it up on military land one weekend.  Yep, a mysterious and volatile alien is collecting specimens for a chilled out Homo sapiens exhibit and it seems Sawa’s multi-cultural gang is just what the doctor ordered in this particular solar system. 

Filled with both romantic and ‘gung-ho, we’re gonna get ‘em” dialogue of the toxic variety and some very bad CGI work, Creature of Darkness nonetheless proves charming – particularly when our bad boy creature is actually attacking our primed and nubile protagonists. There are some fairly chilling moments on display here– Siena Giones (of Outbreak on a Plane and Rancid – proving herself to be a modern and effective scream goddess in the making) is menaced in her shower by our angular, gauntly motivated fella in a beautifully filmed sequence and a couple scenes play on the fear of that stranger in the darkness quite effectively as well. Up close, the creature resembles Pumpkinhead and several of the dangling near death scenes recall that classic horror flick as well.  (Note to producers – Horror and sci fi geeks prefer the obvious dude in a costume effects to bad computer gimmicks any day of the week! It’s what makes these movies fun!!)

Besides Goines’ powerful work, Sawa underplays the unusual aspects of the piece nicely while Dan White (as Mason) adds some nice presence and a casual humor to the mix. Matthew Lawrence (star of Pulse, Joey’s brother and Boy Meets World regular) proves he’s grown up quite nicely, as well, as an early casualty of some violent outer space exploration. Plus, there is an awesome (hip hop based) theme song, performed by John Wesley “Stixx” McVicker Jr. (say that 10 times fast, huh?!!) running over the final credits to give everyone a final astral bang for their buck, too.