Be afraid of dark when it becomes Pitch Black

BY BRANDY BENSON

Don't be afraid of the dark. Be afraid of what's in the dark.

On this planet, the first thing you notice is the temperature -- the heat is brutal. You'll pray for night. But, once night falls, the worst is yet to come, creatures who emerge after dark to hunt for prey -- you.

From the mind of writer/director David Twohy (The Arrival and Disaster in Time) comes a new science fiction thriller, Pitch Black.

In the not-too-distant future, docking pilot Fry (Radha Mitchell) makes a forced crash landing of her spacecraft on a distant planet. Fry's crew is killed, even as some of the passengers escape. Lawman Johns (Cole Hauser) is unharmed, but so is his prisoner, the murderous Riddick (Vin Diesel). As the survivors explore the uncomfortably hot planet, they must band together in order to survive.

The planet is eerie, arid, and lifeless.

But as the sun sets and the planet plunges into total darkness, its other inhabitants emerge.

Gramercy Pictures presents an Interscope Communications production. It's a film by David Twohy starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser and Keith David, Lewis Fitz-Gerald, Claudia Black. Music is by Graeme Revell. Creatures were designed and supervised by Patrick Tatopoulos. Visual effects supervisor is Peter Chiang; costume designer, Anna Borghesi; editor, Rick Shaine, ACE; production designer, Graham "Grace'' Walker; director of photography, David Eggby, ACS.

Executive producers are Ted Field, Scott Kroopf, Anthony Winley. The film is produced by Tom Engelman; story by Jim & Ken Wheat; screenplay by Jim and Ken Wheat and David Twohy; directed by David Twohy.

Pitch Black, rated R, opens Friday, Feb. 18, in theaters everywhere.