Dédalo (2013) User Reviews

Suspenseful sci-fi horror short

[d-snake1 · 7/10 · 7 October 2019]

Dédalo is a sci-fi horror short out of Portugal. It leans pretty heavily on alien horror, which is something I tend to enjoy.

The set, props, and lighting are well done, especially for a short, which adds a ton to the enjoyability of the film. Some of the gore and the alien suit itself are a little lacking, but it's not so bad that it completely breaks the tension.

The main character's acting is fine, and the emotions on her face really sell the story. The movements of the alien, on the other hand? Well, they're pretty cheesy.

With a tension-filled short like this, the slightest bit of cheese basically erases the tension, which means the alien's movements, especially immediately after the climax, drain the entire short of it's sticking power, rendering the ending fairly neutral instead of the emotions the director is attempting to get across.

That being said, most of the execution and the idea itself of a man-eating yet still man-like alien hunting the only remaining crew member of a space ship are both solid, and if you've got ten minutes, you could certainly do worse than Dédalo.

Looking good

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 22 December 2018]

This is Dédalo, a Portuguese 10.5-minute live action short film from 2013, so this one (still) has its 5th anniversary now and it got director Jerónimo Rocha a pretty nice amount of awards recognition back then. It is not one of his more recent or oldest filmmaking efforts. There is no spoken language in here, no dialogues, all you hear is effects and music, so you can perfectly watch this film if you don't know a single word of Portuguese, the director's and cast's language. This is about a young woman, perhaps a scientist being on a spaceship that is invaded by horrific creatures and she tries to survive by not being seen. But when she is, she is not hopeless at all either, but has a little potion that could save her life. But there's more danger looming in the dark as you see through the final shot of the film, a pretty good one indeed that indicates an unhappy ending. I enjoyed the watch here. it is a tense movie, visually strong in all departments, be it costumes, sets, make-up or effects. Well done. Lead actress Sofia Helena is doing a fine job too, aalthough there are moments when it feels she comes close to overacting, but still manages not to cross the line. So it is all good. I also think the basic premise here is good enough for a full feature film and well maybe it will be made some day with all the awards recgnition it received. I think I'd be watching possibly, although five years is already a long time, maybe too long. Anyway, everybody who likes a solid mix of horror and sci-fi must watch this one. Both genres, especially the latter are not necessarily my favorites, so it's really worth checking out for everybody else too. Thumbs up!

Very Suspenseful

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 8 June 2019]

This is sort of Alien-like. A young woman seems to be the one surviving member of a crew on board a kind of ship. A group of decidedly ugly aliens appear on board and start munching on the dead bodies. She has with her a kind of weapon that uses poisons but must be meticulously assembled. There is a lot of suspense, but Dust never gives us a particular happy ending.

the survive

[Kirpianuscus · 7 December 2018]

An infested zone. A young woman. Her courage and sacrifice and victory against a sort of porcupine -like aliens. The cinematography as support interesting cinema history references. And a precise performance of Sophia Helena.