'Ash' review: Outer space freak out plays greatest hits
Published in Entertainment News
The words "system error" are one of the first things heard in "Ash," fitting for this hodgepodge sci-fi horror outing from director Flying Lotus.
Mr. Lotus, a celebrated hip-hop and electronic music producer, lends plenty of visual style and a crispy soundtrack to his outer space tale, and gore fans will appreciate its impressively gnarly finale. But elsewhere "Ash" doesn't add up to much more than its collection of influences, from "The Hidden" to "Event Horizon" and beyond.
Eiza González is Riya, an astronaut deep in outer space who awakens to learn the crew on her ship has been slaughtered. She sees flashes of horrific violence, which are cut to the loudest shrieking noises possible. "Ash" loves itself a jump scare.
A stranger shows up to the ship saying he's answering a distress signal. He's Brion, and he's played by "Breaking Bad's" Aaron Paul. Riya doesn't know if she should trust Brion, and if you've seen movies like this before, you know she probably shouldn't. Cue a few more flashes of gory violence, and more shrieking scares than an "Insidious" sequel.
While Riya and Brion try to piece together the particulars of what happened, Lotus makes the most of his surroundings, lighting his actors in moody violet and pink tones. His cool score adds to "Ash's" rich atmosphere.
But there's not much to Jonni Remmler's script, and "Ash" doesn't leave viewers with anything other than than standard sci-fi thrills. System error, reboot, stand by.
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'ASH'
Grade: C
MPA rating: R (for bloody violence, gore and language)
Running time: 1:35
How to watch: Now in theaters
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