Black Site review: Director Tom Paton follows up last year’s Redwood with this riff on classic John Carpenter.
Black Site review by Andrew Gaudion.
Black Site Review
In the wake of the success of Stranger Things, it is not too surprising to see an increase in other films and TV looking back to the 80’s and its most iconic filmmakers when it comes developing sci-fi and horror projects. John Carpenter;s influence can certainly be felt in Stranger Things, and Carpenter is very much the main point of reference in this sci-fi fantasy. Much like Carpenter, it takes a high concept and does its best to make the most of it on a very limited budget through framing it as a fight for survival across one hell-ish night, to varying degrees of success.
Black Site takes place in a world in which ancient evil entities travel across dimensions to invade Earth. The human race has set up a task force to deal with these threats and deport them back to where they came from. When one of particularly troublesome entity, Erebus, is set to be deported at The Artemis Black Site, a gang of his followers attack the military base in which he is held, leaving those who operate it to fight them off and ensure Erebus doesn’t escape.
Black Site’s world building is, without a doubt its strongest element. It has a lot of fun establishing the Artemis base, inviting us to enter a world that has been dealing with the deportation of these entities for years, to the point where the day-to-day operations have become a little mundane and boring for the individuals who work there. The lived-in nature helps make the world feel more tangible and worthy of exploring.
Black Site Review
Once the Escape From New York-esque survival plot kicks in however, the film loses the confidence it managed to initially obtain with its approach to world building. The execution of the action leaves much to be desired. The choreography itself is perfectly fine, but the camerawork is often to frenetic to provide much in the way of coherence.
The dialogue also leaves much to be desired, often coming out with corny lines that are delivered pretty poorly, leading to a lot of the one-liners being cringey, rather than the kind of B-movie schlock that the film is clearly striving for. It doesn’t help that a lot of the acting on display is quite unremarkable.
Samantha Schnitzler as the lead is often more awkward than she is bad-ass. Her character is also inconsistent, supposedly traumatised by a childhood encounter with the inter-dimensional beings, but still doling out sarcastic one-liners with a lack of conviction. To be fair to her, it is hard to deliver a lot of these cliched and cringe-inducing lines with something matching sincerity. Mike Beckingham is the only member of the cast who leaves much of a positive impression thanks to an endearingly klutzy performance.
Black Site definitely doesn’t quite have the memorable dialogue or bravado of the films it clear has an affection for. It is through the strength of its world building that it manages to maintain your interest, all set to the beat of a pulsating synth score (because of course it has a synth score). It is a shame the writing and overall execution isn’t quite as thought out as the details of its world, but there is no denying that there is a glint of old school charm that keeps this an entertaining, if not particularly impressionable, experience.
Black Site review by Andrew Gaudion, August 2018.
Black Site screened as part of Arrow Video Frightfest 2018.
