It was like Star Wars but different. Somehow more grown up, except for the goodie robots which had strangely cartoonish eyes, but were ok because I recognised the voices - one as being the nice chimp from the Planet of the Apes series I watched on TV and the other from Westerns that we watched on Sunday afternoons. I didn't get it, but I loved it. I even had the action figures and collected the trading cards as I had done for Star Wars.
Having watched The Black Hole again recently, I still feel it's a pretty unusual film, more so considering it was made by Disney. Elements of it shock me now - albeit for different reasons. It has a stellar cast but many of them seem to be phoning in their performance. There's some very dodgy dialogue. Disappointing too is poor editing which results in some of the action sequences feeling slightly flat and not as exciting as they should be.
Despite these pitfalls, there's plenty to admire. The Cygnus is fantastic - a dark brooding gothic masterpiece of design. The actor Maximillion Schell excels as the mad genius scientist Dr Hans Rheinhart, whilst his metallic namesake is like a robotic Torquemada engineered to intimidate and equipped to torture.
Slim Pickens gets to voice a robotic death scene which is curiously reminiscent of his Knocking on Heaven's Door death-scene from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973).
And there's John Barry's cracking soundtrack which has echoes of Bond's darkest moments mixed with a sturdy rousing space opera overture. Although perhaps not used to its fullest potential it the cues are thrilling as ever and particularly boost the periods of suspense.
What makes The Black Hole different, for a film aimed primarily at children, is the sense of nightmarish dread it evokes, even when viewing as an adult. When they first clock The Cygnus you know that boarding it is going to be a really bad idea. The dim empty corridors they find when they board the ship make you feel uneasy. You sense that we're sliding slowly towards something bad happening. When they encounter the creepy crew you immediately feel that they aren't what they seem. You know that Rheinhart is probably concealing a sinister truth. Although we don’t see the gory details it’s clear that Maximillion tears into Anthony Perkins with those spinning blades before blasting him.
And that bizarre ending where the good guys pass through a heavenly place and beyond whilst Rheinhart ends up trapped inside the demonic robot that he had himself built as a bodyguard in a land that epitomises illustrations of a flaming hell.
What makes The Black Hole different, for a film aimed primarily at children, is the sense of nightmarish dread it evokes, even when viewing as an adult. When they first clock The Cygnus you know that boarding it is going to be a really bad idea. The dim empty corridors they find when they board the ship make you feel uneasy. You sense that we're sliding slowly towards something bad happening. When they encounter the creepy crew you immediately feel that they aren't what they seem. You know that Rheinhart is probably concealing a sinister truth. Although we don’t see the gory details it’s clear that Maximillion tears into Anthony Perkins with those spinning blades before blasting him.
And that bizarre ending where the good guys pass through a heavenly place and beyond whilst Rheinhart ends up trapped inside the demonic robot that he had himself built as a bodyguard in a land that epitomises illustrations of a flaming hell.
Faustian undertones. Implied slicing and dicing. Ghoulish-looking undead. Yes, The Black Hole is sci-fi horror for kids... and grown up children too.
