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Dark Star (1974)

★ — Dark Star (1974)

John Carpenter made Dark Star as a student project at the University of Southern California alongside co-writer and co-star Dan O'Bannon, who would later go on to write Alien (1979), taking some of the ideas developed here in a considerably darker direction. Originally shot as a 68-minute thesis film on a budget of around $60,000, the project was picked up by producer Jack H. Harris and padded out to feature length before receiving a limited theatrical release in 1974. Carpenter, of course, would follow this with Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) and then Halloween (1978), making Dark Star his genuine directorial debut, for better or worse. The film sits squarely in the post-2001 moment of science fiction, when low-budget filmmakers were attempting cosmic ambition on absolutely no resources.

Probably one of the worst films ever made The fact that this was a student project for Carpenter and O'Bannon does make this impressive as heck in a way. The effects were considered very impressive back in '74. The problem is... it's not a student film. It's a full release and as a full release it's just terrible lol. The actors aren't really actors, the props are store bought beach balls and things, the jokes aren't funny... the lady goes on. The only reason it gets 1* is because it was quite interesting to watch the origin of some of the scenes in Alien get tested out here.

Rating: ★ | Year: 1974 | Watched: 2025-05-11

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