Detrimental (2023) User Reviews

A generally fun creature feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 29 December 2023]

Living in the year 2070, a miner and the other members of his team at a mining colony trying to extract an energy-replenishing resource find that the process has awoken a vicious monster within the Earth who starts hunting them one by one forcing the group to band together to stop the creature.

Overall, there's quite a lot to like with this one. Among the stronger features of the film is the strong setup that has some intriguing elements at work. The whole approach of the setting here, with the future world stressed to the maximum and forced into utilizing this specific mineral as a way to keep the world functioning, comes across quite nicely. That gets compounded with the conditions that have to be met to access the material, working in dangerous underground mines with their senses impaired to allow the workers to get to the Ataca itself inside the rock. Despite being dropped into this scenario with nothing more than a few lines of a preamble, the general gist of the setup works rather nicely and also provides enough to get to know the crew who work at the station. Seeing the ingenuity that goes into how the various cliques operate and what the workers are accomplishing there is quite enjoyable and all leads to a solid setup in place. As well, the film comes together with some solid creature action in the second half. While initially appearing as a hindrance to the escape attempts to secure shelter and supplies following the accident, the difference in the second half when it becomes a more ominous and impactful threat is generally fun. Shown stalking the team in the confines of the facility or the underground tunnels where the Ataca is removed, these fun scenes are the perfect setup for the later ambushes where it springs on the sleeping team at their beach camp or the big battle to take it out as this features some creative weaponry, ingenious defensive and offensive tactics as well as several high-energy confrontations. In addition, we get to see the impressive design of the creature in full force as the unnatural design allows it to fit quite well with the action depicted. These all manage to come together for some likable qualities. There are some minor drawbacks here that bring this down. One of the biggest issues is the inability to properly explain why the workers decide to entertain the notion of trusting the non-handicapped workers once they've been betrayed and left for dead on the island. When they get trapped in the tunnel and left behind, there's no need for them to be the ones that would trust the others not to screw them over once again thinking that a deal can be negotiated which makes no sense. Even worse is the sequence that explains it which produces some of the most inhumanely stupid and asinine reasoning to do so which is outright absurd and nowhere near rational human speech calling attention to this problem even more. On top of that, there's also the somewhat cheesy CGI effects for the creature which is goofy and silly compared to the rest of the effects here which make the creature look a lot more realistic. The outrageous design doesn't help much as the full-body shots are the biggest culprits, as the brief cuts to parts of its body are the best ones here, and overall are the issues at play.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

'Detrimental' Combines Stunning Effects and Relentless Pacing

[indiewrap · 9/10 · 15 December 2023]

Written and directed by James Hung, 'Detrimental' is a feature length 2023 Chinese horror thriller. The film stars Ho-shun Wong, Kenneth Chan and Shirley Chan. 'Detrimental' follows a group of miners stuck on an alien planet where the corporation they work for extracts a very rare metal. While most of the crew is made up of ex-convicts, there are some miners who are blind. A freak storm takes the facility offline and throws the whole mining process in jeopardy. As the miners try to manage the fallout, they find that an alien monster is hunting them one by one.

Although this premise has been done before, it is always exciting to see a group of protagonists fight against an overwhelming enemy against towering odds. The crew is made up of a wide variety of characters, some sympathetic and likeable while others obviously written as unlikeable and possibly villains. How they interact depends on Hung and as the scriptwriter, he manages to infuse a sense of originality in the story. We begin to care for the blind miner as well as the female accompanying him and as the audience, we want him to survive at all costs for his daughter back home.

Working with a story that the audience might consider predictable, James Hung strives to keep things fresh. He mostly succeeds in this regard as the story takes a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. Pulling double duty as both writer and director, Hung ensures the story moves along at a breakneck pace as he injects several moments of sheer terror and carnage at optimum intervals. Hung makes us care for the characters, only to put them at risk later, making for an effective story that keeps you on edge for the entirety of its duration.

The biggest selling point of the film is its alien creature. It is heartening to see here that they have mastered the art of making monsters that look as real as the characters. The creature design is thus fantastic and one can see the makers were inspired by the monsters from Stranger Things when designing this alien killer.

The makers really went for a creature that looked both horrific and disgusting and as this monster is unleashed, the miners start to meet their end one by one. James Hung keeps the kills creative and this ratchets up the tension right until the very end. We don't know who the monster will take next until it happens suddenly without warning.

One of the undoubtedly best aspects of the film is its production design. From its polished cinematography to the fantastic colour grading, Detrimental looks as good as its Hollywood counterparts. Equally impressive is the set design which ensures the mining colony and the alien planet look so real that you have to double check; real sets effortlessly fold into computer generated backdrops in every exterior shot. The vast factories, impressive jungles and dark long alleyways combine to form a visceral experience that makes the perfect setting for a brutal story.

Seamlessly combining real sets with digital landscapes, Hung and his crew have made a film that is on par with Hollywood when it comes to special effects. Brilliant effects require an equally impressive sound design and this is where the film manages to impress as well. From the creature's unique sounds to the sheer background noise in the jungle planet, the sound design elevates the entire experience. Simply put, the film is an audio visual delight.

The film whizzes by in flash and this is because it is fairly short at only 80 minutes. Extending the runtime would have only made the film more slow and for a horror thriller, this is a big no-no. As a result, the editing is kept tight, ensuring the audience remains invested for the whole ride. Side by side, the narrative pacing also ensures that the story does not get bogged down in any moment; characters are on the run from a killer monster and James Hung ensures that the sense of urgency and desperation as a result of this grim situation does not disappear.

What it succeeds in is weaving its familiar tropes in a way that is both entertaining and thrilling. Setting a bunch of people in a dangerous environment, the film contains both pulse pounding moments and creative kills. Visually, the film is fantastic and thus, it is an experience that should be seen on the biggest screen with the best sound system.