‘A new breed of predator’
The Dawnseeker is a 2018 science-fiction horror film written, co-produced, edited and directed by Justin Price (The Mummy Rebirth; Alien: Reign of Man; The 13th Friday; The Elf; Forsaken). The Pikchure Zero production stars Franziska Schissler, Alexander Kane, Jason Skeen and co-producer Khu.
Plot:
In 2245, the Earth’s sun has dwindled and no longer provides the energy needed to sustain human life.
Five hired mercenaries travel to an uncharted planet to collect a rare mineral known as stardust to replenish the dying star. After their spaceship crashes on the alien planet, they are stalked and hunted by a creature far more advanced than anything they have ever encountered before…
Reviews:
“The drowsy sense of pacing is the primary villain of this movie, far more than any evil alien. But it becomes so bluntly absurd that it takes on a comical edge, the Rake effect in action. With every scene of endless strolling, punctuated by humorless stares off into space, it gets a little more ridiculous.” AV Club
“Sets, costumes, lighting, camera work are all up to par. That is damning with faint praise: with acting, pacing, dialog, and a story this bad, the movie might actually have been fun if the production value was more amateur. We could laugh with the cast instead of being mortified for them, but alas.” Film Threat
“The Dawnseeker is a horrible Sci-Fi film that goes over the top on poor CGI and is mostly a random mess. It’s all over the place with its story while having a simple objective. Things aren’t explained very well and they just expect you to go along for the ride.” Gamer Headquarters
“The whole thing is a visual feast, and makes the world presented spring to vibrant, visceral life! Also of note is the solid, suspenseful script, strong acting, and skillful directing…but let’s be honest, you are going to pop this flick in for some creature action, and let me tell ya, I loved this bad assed beast!” Horror Fuel
” …when you see the alien it (thankfully) looks very little like the Predator and more like something from a 1970’s episode of Doctor Who, all squishy and spongey so it pays to not look too closely at it. The soundtrack by Julian Beeston is effective and it has quite a detailed and intricate title sequence. The rest of it I’m afraid is very hard to follow, plagued by continuity errors with sporadic and nonsensical dialogue.” Horrorscreams Videovault
“Franziska Schissler in the leading role is the best part of the film, she handles combat and gun fights well as well as showing the leadership needed in her character. Khu was a character that we did want to see more off, with the rest of the cast they haven’t given us enough to make us notice them.” Movie Reviews 101
“Had everything been played a bit more tongue-in-cheek then the low-budget, somewhat amateurish, nature of the film could have been written off as a more playful aspect of the production […] but instead everything is taken far too seriously and in the end filmmaker Justin Price’s loftier ideas for the film simply fall flat.” Nerdly
“The visual effects are adequate, as with the production design, it gets the job done. These elements are still a reminder that this is science fiction made on a budget.” OC Movie Reviews
” …a very tense sci-fi thriller that keeps pushing from beginning to end, and really doesn’t leave too much time to think about plotholes and leaps of reason. And cool action sequences, tight pacing, a solid directorial effort and a very competent cast help to make this very cool low budget genre entertainment!” Search My Trash
“Sadly, the more Price and his cast and crew have strived for genre credibility, the more they have pushed on down a path that leads only to disappointment. As admirably ambitious as The Dawnseeker may be, the resulting film is a confused, elongated short with awkwardly poor effects.” Starburst magazine
“There is a bit of stop motion, in this, that looks kind of weird and adorable at the same time. The Dawnseeker shows the blood, sweat and tears of its cast and crew at every corner. Expect cool fight scenes roughly choreographed but exciting nonetheless, with an enthralling score.” Tales of Terror
“The Dawnseeker certainly feels earnest, the filmmakers honestly trying to cobble together something that feels legit, but this is, unfortunately, joyless, its wildly overdone score drowning out much of the action and its failure to give any of the story real momentum keeping this a Z-movie entry for hardcore diehard fans alone.” That Moment In
“There are a couple of decent shots of spacecraft but that’s it for quality effects […] The creature itself is a guy in a badly fitting rubber suit and a dollar store Predator mask. It’s about as convincing as the Oklahoma scrub is at passing itself off as a distant planet.” Voices from the Balcony
“The Dawnseeker gives us humanoid aliens with southern accents and an alien creature that’s not creative with a stolen look from the Predator. CGI and logic overlooked, I actually think the majority of the actors are good. Elongated dialogue just doesn’t flow as a normal conversation. Storytelling here is just awful.” Without Your Head
Release:
The Dawnseeker was released on VOD on September 4, 2018, via Uncork’d Entertainment. On 1st June 2020, it became available on Amazon Prime UK.
Cast and characters:
Franziska Schissler … Fenix
Alexander Kane … York
Jason Skeen … Otto
Khu … Zan
Alex Giuffreda … Jax
Linton Jackson … Evo (as Leonard Jackson)
Carl Bailey … Thane
Angelic Granger … Galen
Robert Ross … Dawnseeker
Matthew Simmons … Dextar
James Croak … Veron
Jordan Matlock … Trile
Jason Sensation … Cheat Code
Aurora Griffith … De’sray
Rose Nguyen … Drusila
Oscar Moberg … Ram
Ryan Jude Dopp … Young Fenix
Tony Gomez … Nemean
Michael ‘Big Smooth’ Frazier … Black Sun Member
Emily Bertels … Fire Gazer Soldier
Donald Cheong … Slum Dweller
Marc-Andrew Chicoine … Slum Dweller (as Marc Chicoine)
Billynaire Cruz … Slum Dweller
Jeremie Fiore … Slum D
Filming locations:
Turner Falls Park, Oklahoma
Technical details:
82 minutes
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