The Dark Planet

Wow...this movie is a real trip! I saw a really bad transfer somewhere and jeez, I've seen a lot of crazy s**t on a lot of movies but this was something else..what were they smoking? It was like a bizarre performance art piece set in what might have been a post-apocalyptic landscape or a terrifying alien planet! The trippy surrealism of it was nothing short of epic but it was too vague and plotless, I needed just a little illumination as to what the hell was going on and maybe even even a little dialogue because after the first 'segment' the bloom went off this monstrosity fast and there just plain wasn't enough content for it to warrant being an hour and a half, it felt like a short that was stretched way out and it got very tiresome for me and I was enjoying the beginning part of it with the weird stop motion animated monsters for a while, because that was at least visually interesting and kinda creepy but then it got to endless footage of the couple making out and monkey alien people fighting and it felt like a seventies movie not a late eighties one and it's really not good by the end. I guess a positive I could take from it is that it's level of bizarreness did surprise me and I'd say that you should never think you've seen it all because that's when you have a Dark Planet pop up! It still stunk though, apart from some scary creature designs and half-baked intriguing elements and atmospherics it's not worth bothering with, as there are no words to hear and no meaning to possibly discern from it. It dulled my head and had nothing to grab my attention, and only left me with nothing but a little wasted time, Bad!

I have stumbled on this video and been dazzled. I was very surprised to learn that the writer director was Heavy Metal illustrator Richard Corben. ... This is certainly not the same sort of entertainment as the comics.

The video has a distinct sensibility that has more in common with the films of Kenneth Anger, Nick Zedd, the Kuchar Brothers, etc. ... Maybe a Psychotronic creation myth.

Dark Planet is not for a general audience, and probably not especially of interest to Heavy Metal fans. More appealing to Cinephiles. The "special effects" may be distractingly amateurish for some viewers, but they are a delight if you are a fan of experimental narrative films. The movie succeeds in creating a mood and an environment, and the scale of the whole thing is a big part of that.

There is some great landscape cinematography, very flavorful and iconic, very effective and ambiguous closeups, a unique pace and timing and some beautiful lighting scenarios.

Honestly I have only watched the first 30 minutes so far. But that was enough for me to start digging and looking into it. I'm into it and looking forward to spending more time with it, preferably on a television rather than this computer.

Yes, it has cable access production values for the era, and, yes, the narrative is opaque. But, if you can let yourself get past those seeming limitations then you will find an fascinating, surreal, malevolently childlike reverie full of brooding atmosphere, dark creatures, and dreamlike juxtapositions: imagine an older child's violent, sexual fever dream. And I just flat-out love the apeman-with-a-gun imagery. (Note the visual and thematic influence on Pig Destroyer's video, The Diplomat The disjointed juxtapositions of video, film, claymation, puppetry and live action only add to the dream/vision quality of the film. Also, It's impossible to believe that Corben was unaware that his monster looked like a puppet, that the claymation was hokey, or of the technical quality of the rest of this work, yet he released it anyways, so he obviously saw merit in it. You just have to get past those superficial limitations to appreciate what's actually there underneath. As for the relative opacity of the narrative, I could only follow the story in the broadest of terms. That fact didn't bother me at all. I get the firm sense that the film possesses its own internal logic. But even if it didn't, or if it was totally unavailable to me, "sense" has become far less important to me than compelling mood in anything I view around me. It's not about "what" things are, but "how" they are. Unburden yourself from "sense" and films like this begin to provide things you didn't see before. This film is decidedly not for everyone (nor is it just for hardcore Corben fans, though). An elite few will appreciate its deeper elements. Watch it and find out.

I'm a big Richard Corben fan and wanted to see THE DARK PLANET for some time now and I finally got hold of a cassette and I have to say that even though I'm happy to own the video, I have to admit that the whole thing doesn't make much sense. It's very long and repetitive, and it's mostly a collage of nonsensical scenes shot on video or super 8 stitched together haphazardly. I thought the whole thing was fascinating and sorta cool mainly because I was watching home movies of an artist I admire but it's not very successful as entertainment or even as a time killer. It's most definitely for Corben fans only.

I wonder what Corben would be able to do if he had enough money and resources to create one of his warped stories for film. With CGI being cheaper and more spectacular than ever these days, maybe Corben should try making another "home" movie.

The video's cover art was worth the price I paid for it.