Eye Candy #263 - "The Planet"

The Planet: A low, LOOOOW budget sci-fi movie, made for about 8000 pounds somewhere outside of Aberdeen, think of it like a “Star Trek” where everyone sounds like Scotty.  A (Scottish) space freighter carrying a single prisoner is ambushed and destroyed.  A handful of (Scottish) survivors land on a desolate (Scottish) planet (apparently being played by the beaches of Scotland), and find something there that isn’t exactly alive or dead (or Scottish).    Reminiscent of “Aliens”, “Pitch Black” and the like, with a dose of “White Noise” thrown in, “The Planet“ bring absolutely nothing new to the table.   But for what it cost, it’s GREAT.  Setting your expectations higher than is completely unrealistic.  If it costs a nickel, looks like it costs a nickel, and you know it costs a nickel, then saying it doesn’t look like it cost a quarter is a dumb statement.  This film cost $15,000...and managed to get an international distribution deal (because lord knows, I didn’t watch it in Edinburgh), making it more expensive than “El Mariachi“ and cheaper than “Clerks“ (but with more special effects than either).  What’s funny is I see worse films with higher budgets all the time.  The goons in charge of the Sci-Fi Channel’s original content could take some pointers from this group, who managed to make a film with the same production value for a fraction of the cost.  Woodchuck sez, “Might be up your alley.”