From the cupboard marked “Well, we’ve seen all this before, haven’t we?” comes this derivative but charmingly enjoyable Australian sci-fi shlocker, which merrily plunders every zombie film you’ve ever seen, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 30 Days of Night, Alien, Tremors and, quite possibly, Coronation Street.
Something extra-terrestrial crash-lands near an isolated Australian desert town releasing a hideous alien parasite that attacks the brains of its victims, turning them into bewildered and apparently belligerent semi-zombies (who, in fairness, spend a lot of time standing around looking confused and not much time actually attacking people). Human interest of a fashion is provided by local cop Joanne Sharp (Jolene Anderson), who is anxious to take her sister Samantha (Stef Dawson) and her young son Sam back to the big city with her. But suddenly, the town is without communication and the community is cut off. We see about six of them altogether, although at one point one of the characters reels of the name of a dozen or so local families who have wisely decided to stay indoors until this all blows over. Joanne and her police partner, Luke (Richard Davies), realise that the town is under siege and this strange new alien virus is indiscriminately infecting the populace. Just to add to their woes, another much bigger alien creature appears to be on the prowl, keen to clear up the mess caused by the spaceship crash.
The Dustwalker is hugely generic stuff and the clichés might as well appear on screen accompanied by a flashing sign proclaiming ‘this is a cliché’. But despite its numerous shortcomings – a narrative that takes time to get up and running, infected psychopaths who don’t really do much except chase people quite slowly and a couple of shonky visuals – The Dustwalker is oddly enjoyable. Probably because it’s so familiar and doesn’t try to hide from the fact that it’s telling us a story we’ve been told (usually better) a hundred times or more before. Writer/director Sandra Sciberras keeps the thing rolling along at a decent pace once it finds its feet, there are a few agreeable moments of icky body horror and the CGI monster itself is decently rendered and refreshingly inhuman-looking, scuttling through the dark and emerging from sinkholes to ensnare the victims of the escaped virus.
Competent but most likely eminently forgettable, The Dustwalker doesn’t deserve to be swept under the carpet and mote provide a diverting hundred or so minutes entertainment even if it won’t soot those looking for something with a bit more originality.
