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Directed by – Alex Proyas

Starring – Rufus Sewell (John Murdoch), Kiefer Sutherland (Dr. Daniel Schreber), Jennifer Connelly (Emma Murdoch), Richard O'Brien (Mr. Hand), Ian Richardson (Mr. Book), William Hurt (Inspector Frank Bumstead), Colin Friels (Detective Eddie Walenski), Melissa George (May)

Length – 96 minutes

Cert – 15 / R

For some, a cult film is usually one way of describing a bad film or some low budget, straight-to-video tosh starring someone you just about recognize but can't quite put a name to those breasts. I hate to go all Randy Meeks here, but according to the rules, a cult film must have been viewed by about no more than than ten people during its initial release, only to be rediscovered on video, DVD or television broadcasts by a small devoted fan base of like-minded people who have trouble getting to sleep. The films themselves are often difficult to categorize because they combine genres, going against all manner of conventions. Since its release, Dark City has gained cult classic status.

A man (Sewell) wakes up in the bathtub of a hotel room with no recollection as to how he got there. As he searches his room, he finds that he is not alone, with the corpse of a mutilated woman next to the bed, along with a bloody knife. Within minutes he receives a phone call from a Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland), telling him to leave because people are coming for him. He's actually quite popular, for his estranged wife Emma (Connelly) is after him, Inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) believes he's a murderer and some strange tall-black-suited-men known as The Strangers want him dead. But first he has to find out just who he is and what's going on.

It's best to go in to Dark City knowing as little as possible. Although I do my best to be spoiler-free, if you haven't seen it yet, but would like to, it might be best to stop reading altogether.

You almost expect to see "based on the novel by Phillip K. Dick" in the credits, but the astonishing thing here is that the film is an original from the mind of Alex Proyas, as he, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer worked on the screenplay. Interestingly, Goyer also wrote Blade, which was released the same year. Both films could be seen as a forerunner to The Matrix released the following year.

Dark City effectively manages to mix the conventions of film noir with science fiction; a combination studio heads refuse to greenlight these days because the chances of such a film making profit are the same as finding Bin Laden come down your chimney at Christmas; Minority Report being the main exception. The film also lets the viewers know that this isn't a conventional murder mystery story with the early introduction of The Strangers; tall creepy men who sound like crickets and even have the ability to make the inhabitants of the city fall asleep. Proyas brought the idea of "Stranger" characters back, updating them for his film Knowing.

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