20 Best Sci-Fi Horror Movies Of The 21st Century

In contrast to Pitch Black's err, pitch blackness, Sunshine is all about the colour and brightness. Does it make any less of a tense horror experience?

Absolutely not.

Not when you've got Danny Boyle and Alex Garland behind the helm of this one.

Featuring an ensemble cast including Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans and Mark Strong, Sunshine should have been destined for greatness at release.

However, critics found the third act turn from tense survival mission to "slasher movie" territory a bit jarring, and wrote it off as trite and generic.

Go back to it now though, and whilst it may have slight Event Horizon moments, Sunshine is a treat to watch.

Eschewing that usual trope of everything happening in the dark, Sunshine whacks the brightness up at times to turn the genre on its head. Well, given the plot revolves around getting close to and reigniting a dying sun, it had to be bright. It's part of the plan.

Without spoiling, the "slasher movie" criticism is somewhat valid, but Boyle and Garland weren't trying to rewrite the rule book. Just inject some Sunshine into it.