AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Stephanie There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Dalbert Pringle Instead of being a joyous celebration of the life and artwork of H.R. Giger, the man who (in 1979) had created "Alien" (SyFy's most hideously awesome monster of all)..... "Dark Star" was truly a sad, pathetic, and oppressively suffocating film documenting the final year of Giger's life as he was obviously deteriorating both physically and, especially, mentally.It was almost horrifying to see that Giger had become so utterly consumed (in an unbalanced way) by his own artwork and that the stifling interior of his home in Switzerland represented that of the inside of a decrepit crypt of a hording pack-rat.Yes. I do fully respect Giger as being the gifted illustrator who created "Alien" - But this documentary's uncomfortable ambiance gave me the creeps. From start to finish - It had squalor, oppressiveness, and death clearly written all over it.And, with that - I totally resent director, Belinda Sallin for presenting Giger in the disrespectful way that she did (as a doddering, old kook) in this truly repulsive presentation.*Note* - In 2014 - Hans Rudolf Giger (70 at the time) died from a fall sustained in the hospital.

Hellmant 'DARK STAR: H.R. GIGER'S WORLD': Two and a Half Stars (Out of Five)A documentary film exploring the life, and work, of the popular Swiss painter, sculptor and set designer (known as) H.R. Giger. The film focuses on Giger, at the age of 74, when his health was severely deteriorating. It was written and directed by Belinda Sallin, in her feature film debut, and it contains multiple interviews with Giger, as well as his friends and work associates. I found the movie to be extremely slow-paced, even boring (at times), but still, definitely, visually pleasing (like the majority of Giger's work). The movie takes place in the last days of Giger's life, shortly before he died (on May 12, 2014). The filmmaker interviews Giger, and follows him around, watching him slowly do day-to-day things. Sallin also interviews Giger's wife, and multiple co-workers, and friends of his, as well. A lot of the visuals are filled with Giger's beautiful art.The film, like I said, is really slow paced, to a somewhat painful extent; I found my thoughts drifting (a lot)! It is interesting, getting to know Giger, if only just a little, in his final days of life. It's also cool to see that he was a 'cat person', like me! I can never really get tired of looking at his fascinating art, too; but I wish there would have been more time spent on 'ALIEN', or 'SPECIES'. Although I was bored, I'm sure obsessive fans of his will be more than pleased.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/NdWU81GeyN4

jdesando Just what you might have expected: HR Giger's home is a museum of the macabre. The celebrated creator of the Alien monster and a painter, sculptor, and architect as well, Giger inhabits a world of gargoyles and monsters, straight from his imagination to us. Dark Star: H R Giger's World is an intriguing documentary sometimes as weird and inscrutable as his mind. It certainly doesn't burden the audience with analysis.As director Belinda Sallin tracks us through the baroque museum that is his Zurich house, we see a phantasmagoria of monsters from Egyptian-monarch-looking portraits to old skulls, one of which he dragged around by string when a young boy. While the camera passes his Oscar on a shelf, the spare narration overall gives no nod to this achievement (Oscar for best visual effects for Ridley Scott's Alien), typical of the documentary's minimalist approach.Appearances by his collaborators like Gabriel Fischer, a metal musician, sometimes refer to the artist's kindness, and they occasionally give insight into the psycho-sexual, violent undertow of his startling images. The now humble man appears as if in the aftermath of a stroke, moving and speaking slowly and deliberately, but always kindly as he autographs body parts and throws off a sly smile or two.Perhaps the purpose of limiting explanation about his work is to let the array of deeply symbolic creations out of his subconscious speak for themselves, almost defying analysis. Although Freud would have a holiday assessing Giger's innermost demons, Giger's expressionism remains delightful impressionism for viewers.

GoneWithTheTwins A simple visual tour of Hans Rudolf "H.R." Giger's home and museum could have filled a feature-length documentary. This project, however, predominantly glimpses the artist at work in his home (or, due to his dwindling health, merely residing there), meeting with his agent (Leslie Barany) and associates (including Hans H. Kunz, poster designer, and Stanislav Grof, the author of a new book on Giger), and conversing with his assistant (Tom Gabriel Fischer), his wife (Carmen Maria Giger), and his mother-in-law about his ideas and motivations. And, of course, there's quite a focus on the artwork itself, with careful pans across some of his most renowned and absorbing paintings.A bit of Giger's personal history is covered, from his humble origins in Switzerland to his success with selling reproductions of his work in the poster format, along with extremely brief notes on his inexplicable techniques and airbrush methods. The fevered inspirations of uncomfortable dreams, a few LSD trips, and vivid personal fears (one dating back to a childhood experience at a museum, involving a mummy and his sister's amusement at his consternation) are spoken about at greater length. The themes of birth, life, and death, blended with Egyptian motifs, sex, and eroticism, are also commented upon (and visually prominent).But there's little dialogue to interrupt the onslaught of imagery, which actually hurts the potential for audiences unfamiliar with Hansruedi's history to enjoy the film - particularly when the parts of his life involving his nine-year relationship with Li Tobler (whose last name isn't even mentioned in the film), a woman whose likeness appears in many of Giger's works (and who committed suicide after suffering from severe depression), are skipped over so quickly. The film assumes viewers are familiar with that subject, Giger's career milestones, and even his relationships with the various talking heads, and therefore dispenses with necessary introductions to, and reiterations about, his associations and most famous accomplishments – especially his involvement in Ridley Scott's "Alien," which won him an Academy Award. Brief clips of archival footage do make their way into the picture, but not frequently enough to assemble a comprehensive biography. This documentary is much more of a retrospective, detailed by observations of Giger during his final days at his massive estate.From his shelf of real human skulls (something of a defiance of death) to his personal garden of demonic sculptures (featuring a fully functioning, miniature train) – which is very much like journeying through a prenatal nightmare realm – Giger's dwelling is a labyrinthine estate full of frightful nooks and crannies for the artist to wander through (and to stash away unseen early treasures, unearthed for the first time in this movie). His artwork is instantly recognizable, filled with utterly haunting depictions of bony, mutated flesh, torturously mixed with mechanical components – human anatomy fused with uncanny machinery, dubbed "biomechanoids." And it litters the walls, the floors, the furniture, and even the bathtub.The film does stress that he's very much a normal guy, despite his paintings and sculptures suggesting quite the opposite. In the end, though this documentary shows some engaging moments with the artist during his last days, it's less informative than observational – and, as a result, more fleeting than memorable. H.R. Giger's art is mesmerizingly sensational, but this somewhat plodding, generally unenthusiastic, routinely monotonic production just doesn't do his monumental accomplishments cinematic justice.