Oh, it's not phenomenal by any means, but I enjoyed the viewing.
The animated film is mostly one extended flashback, as the members of the spaceship USS O'Bannon — points to you if you recognize the "Alien" reference — are under orders to head to a planet that could blow up at any point to salvage whatever they can of a 65-million-year-old artifact that exudes "certain properties" — the classified kind.
Anyone not new to the "Dead Space" universe of games, comics and other media know that the twisting monument causes visions and hallucinations that drive people crazy. One guy "sees" his daughter cut in half; another imagines spiders pouring out of his mouth. But those zombie-like creatures? Those are real, so run.
In the modern-day wraparound, government officials seeking a scapegoat interrogate the few survivors of the O'Bannon. These scenes aren't as good, because they're rendered in computer animation that looks either unfinished and/or corners-skipped. By contrast, the mission sequences are conventionally drawn, and look far better.
Anchor Bay Entertainment's disc arrives without a rating, but either be warned or encouraged that it's strictly for adults, with bloody violence, numerous F-bombs and even a little skin. —Rod Lott
