Two genres that seem the hardest to get right are that of horror and sci-fi, but when you mix the two it makes for an even harder task. There have been a few that pulled it off like Alien, but more often than not they are a bust. The latest taking its chance is Stranded with Christian Slater leading the charge. Could this film have the monster horror, suspense and effects needed to pull this off or will it feel like you have actually been stranded?
Stranded follows a lunar base that is hit by a meteor shower that does more than damage the base, it has brought along an unexpected alien spores. When one of the crew is infected the rest of the crew believe she is just delusional, but things quickly when it is unleashed and turns their already dire situation deadly. At first this film felt more like a SyFy original movie with some cheesy effects and performances, but as it moved forward it began to change direction in a positive way. The story takes some darker turns that helps to set the darker tone and give it a bigger feel. Christian Slater who has the ability to be awesome phones it in for the most part, but as it gets to the darker tone his performance actually gets a lot better. The rest of the cast are hit and miss for the most part, but don't hurt the overall finished film. The effects are a bit cheesy during the initial meteor shower action, but when it shifts over to more of the "monster" movie it picks up and the effects work a lot better. While there is no actual monster as you may hope, it does still work decently. While the movie works for the most part, the ending will leave some a bit confused or let down, as it tried to do something clever as opposed to just letting it play out as it wanted to.
There are some decent gore moments, but nothing that really could have pushed this movie to the next level. It had some great opportunities but for whatever reason couldn't execute, most likely due to budget. For a straight to video release it actually delivers pretty well and makes for a decent rental. Slater has had some decent TV shows recently that just haven't connected with audiences, but has been churning out the straight to video films and if this one was any indication he is making some decent choices.
Stranded follows a lunar base that is hit by a meteor shower that does more than damage the base, it has brought along an unexpected alien spores. When one of the crew is infected the rest of the crew believe she is just delusional, but things quickly when it is unleashed and turns their already dire situation deadly. At first this film felt more like a SyFy original movie with some cheesy effects and performances, but as it moved forward it began to change direction in a positive way. The story takes some darker turns that helps to set the darker tone and give it a bigger feel. Christian Slater who has the ability to be awesome phones it in for the most part, but as it gets to the darker tone his performance actually gets a lot better. The rest of the cast are hit and miss for the most part, but don't hurt the overall finished film. The effects are a bit cheesy during the initial meteor shower action, but when it shifts over to more of the "monster" movie it picks up and the effects work a lot better. While there is no actual monster as you may hope, it does still work decently. While the movie works for the most part, the ending will leave some a bit confused or let down, as it tried to do something clever as opposed to just letting it play out as it wanted to.
There are some decent gore moments, but nothing that really could have pushed this movie to the next level. It had some great opportunities but for whatever reason couldn't execute, most likely due to budget. For a straight to video release it actually delivers pretty well and makes for a decent rental. Slater has had some decent TV shows recently that just haven't connected with audiences, but has been churning out the straight to video films and if this one was any indication he is making some decent choices.