Dark city [DVD]

Emanating from the same Fox studios as ‘The Matrix’, Alex Proyas’ ‘Dark City’ has the same impressive array of special effects and a rather enigmatic plot. The film begins with an amnesiac John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakening in a bathtub, with no recollection of why he’s there and a tiny bloodspot on his forehead. Other people around him seem to know more about John’s memory than he does, including his estranged wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), mad genius Dr Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) and sympathetic policeman Frank Bumstead (William Hurt). John’s investigation into regaining his memory is set against a bleak film noir inspired background where the sun never rises, as well as a murder investigation into a series of deaths involving prostitutes (of which Murdoch is a suspect) and a former policeman (Colin Friels) who seems to have gone mad investigating the case. Both John’s investigation into his past and the police investigation into the murders are intricately involved with The Strangers - a band of gothic looking people who have a collective memory and have the ability to alter the physical world via a process called Turning - a capability that John possesses. The Strangers are driven by the need to replicate humans and ensure The Strangers survival, begging the question, what is it that makes us human? Cast also includes Richard O’Brien, Ian Richardson, Mitchell Butel, Frank Gallacher and Melissa George.