DARK STAR (1974)

USA. Direction: John Carpenter. Production: Keith Calder, Jessica Calder / Snoot Entertainment, HanWay Films. Screenplay: Dan O’Bannon, John Carpenter. Photography: Douglas Knapp. Music: John Carpenter. Edition: Dan O’Bannon. Cast: Brian Narelle, Dre Pahich, Cal Kuniholme, Dan O’Bannon. Running time: 83 min

LANGUAGE: English / SUBTITLES: Spanish

Having made several shorts, John Carpenter tackled his first feature, taking over three years to finish it. With a shoestring budget, starring four friends –including Dan O’Bannon, future storywriter of Alien (1979)– and a single set, Dark Star is a crazy, hilarious movie set in outer space about astronauts on a mission to destroy unstable planets with their intelligent bombs that talk and think about their work. Carpenter’s debut will always be remembered for the scene of the fight between a member of the spaceship crew and an alien in the shape of a… beach ball.