Dark City (1998) - Sci-Fi Movie Review

By Melissa Antoinette Garza

I’ve been holding off on reviewing DARK CITY (1998) because I know eventually I’ll run out of Richard O’Brien projects to review. That thought makes me sad as he’s legitimately my favorite topic to discuss.. Nonetheless, I’m definitely in the mood to see Jennifer Connelly get kidnapped by the sultry and dashingly pale, Mr. Hand (Richard O’Brien).

The film opens with Dr. Daniel P. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) narrating an introduction. Schreber sold out the human race for The Strangers, a band of awesome looking aliens, who work on a hive-mind mentality and use human corpses as hosts. They can modify the city’s surroundings with their minds and change the memories of the citizens who live there. They keep the people so far under control and in such state of false reality that they don’t notice that it is always dark outside.

The goal of The Strangers is to study the inner-workings of the human mind. They want to analyze our actions and reactions to try to find out about the soul. As their race is near extinct, they intend to use human hosts and the knowledge they attain to save their species. They also dress spectacularly in black trench coats and matching wide brim hats.

Schreber feels guilty about helping out The Strangers so it goes without saying that Schreber is a little bitch! He calls human experiment, John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) to warn him to leave his apartment immediately as The Strangers are on their way!

John is a man with amnesia who wakes up naked in a bathtub. Worse, he clutches a bloody knife as a body of a woman is on the floor laying beside him. Circular symbols made from her blood are painted on her naked stomach and chest. He freaks out and listens to Schreber’s instructions to leave the apartment.

Thanks to stupid Schreber’s big mouth, Mr. Hand (Richard O’Brien) and friends don’t catch John. Instead, they confront the super. The menacingly magnificent Mr. Hand demands information and with complete intense command puts him to sleep . Damn, he’s gorgeous and his voice is hauntingly erotic.

Let it be known, if humanity is ever at risk from of an alien who looks like Richard O’Brien and I’m our chance, we’re screwed! I’d sell us out simply to watch him float and wield a knife. Apologies in advance but I freely admit when it comes to that level of deliciousness, I am a very weak woman. I just hope the fate of the world is never put into my lap. I am irresponsible when it comes to the magnitude of O’Brien’s sex appeal, but I do revel in that irresponsibility.

Back to the film, Murdoch’s wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) goes to visit Schreber. He doesn’t tell her everything and instead claims John had a mental break. He encourages her to go to the police and she does. She seeks out Inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) to file a missing persons report on her husband. Bumstead informs her that he wants to talk to John about multiple murdered women in his city. Though, he first thinks John is the culprit, he slowly starts to believe in his innocence.

The Strangers led by the delectable Mr. Hand attack John. Hand orders him to sleep as he did to the landlord, but it has no effect on the wile Murdoch. The Strangers battle it out with this dastardly human and Hand is magic, but unfortunately Murdoch can hold his own. He, like The Strangers, has psychokinesis. Psychokinesis or tuning allows the possessor to modify the existence around them just by thinking of what they want to do.

Hand goes back to base where he is injected with memories believed to be the ones John has forgotten. He learns Emma cheated on John and decides to use human weakness and emotion to track that sneaky human down. Mr. Hand visits with Emma and cleverly uses John’s memories of their relationship against her. Later, he does the only rational thing and kidnaps her.

In the end, John must come face-to-face with the Strangers in a battle of psychokinetic powers against alien leader Mr. Book (Ian Richardson).

DARK CITY is a sci-fi cult classic spectacular with brilliant acting, a solid plot, inventive characters, a sinister tone and a breathtakingly intriguing bad guy. Though everyone does amazingly well, Richard O’Brien’s Mr. Hand is by far the character remembered most fondly. He is superb!

The movie is one of my favorites! If you don’t own it, you can purchase via AMAZON or watch it on VUDU for free with commercials. Still, I would certainly suggest going right to the purchase one with this. There is just so much re-watch value to it.