Released: August 1997
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Rated R
Run Time: 96 Minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Cast:
Laurence Fishburne: Miller
Sam Neill: Dr. Weir
Kathleen Quinlan: Peters
Joely Richardson: Starck
Richard T. Jones: Cooper
Jack Noseworthy: Justin
Jason Isaacs: D.J.
Sean Pertwee: Smith
I love science fiction movies and I love horror movies. There is something special about a film that can combine the two genres and do it right. Ridley Scott’s Alien is one such movie that is more of a horror movie than a science fiction film. However, it implements those elements so well that Alien is regarded as the best example of combining both science fiction and horror. It also took science fiction to a whole different level than Star Wars. There have been a number of films that have successfully combined the two genres: The Fly remake, From Beyond, Mimic, and John Carpenter’s The Thing. There were also a lot of movies that didn’t. But one of the most interesting ones came out 20 years ago that I happen to be a huge fan of: Event Horizon.
In the year 2040, government officials and scientists worked together to create a ship capable of reaching our nearest star. The Event Horizon was built for this very reason. Unfortunately, the ship disappeared. 7 years later, the ship reappears and sends out a signal. The ship, the Lewis and Clark, is sent to investigate why the ship disappeared and where it’s been for the previous 7 years. Led by Captain Miller and Dr. Weir, the crew of the Lewis and Clark discover that the Event Horizon appears to have been abandoned. After witnessing multiple hallucinations and strange behavior from their own crew, Miller and company realize that the Event Horizon has traveled much further than it was intended. I love it when movies have set ups like this that are simple and straight-forward with an occasional twist or two. Event Horizon is, essentially, a haunted house story set in outer space. One could make the argument that was what Alien was and they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. However, Alien was known for it’s titular villain. Event Horizon is a little more ambiguous when it comes to its villain, at least until the last 30 minutes of the film. The villain in this film IS the ship. Throughout the film, you begin to see what happened to the original crew and where the ship has actually been and it’s pretty unsettling. It’s a pretty intense little film that does nothing more than what it sets out to do, and I really like that.
One of the things that sells Event Horizon as a horror film is the performances of its cast. You have Laurence Fishburne as Miller, and he brings a tough-as-nails approach to the character. Sam Neill plays Weir, the guy who built the ship. Sam Neill is one of my favorite actors. The character tries to take a logical approach to what’s happening, but begins to understand that the ship he built has become something else entirely. The side characters are just as memorable. Richard T. Jones plays Cooper, Sean Pertwee plays Smith, Jack Noseworthy as Justin and Jason Isaacs as D.J. What makes these characters stand out is that each one has a unique backstory, and that plays very much into how these characters react to what’s happening on the ship. The problem is that we aren’t given enough background story on some the characters. We know they have one, but we don’t see anything beyond that. So, character development is an issue. Weir’s final arc is something really out of left field though. Anybody who has seen the film will know what I’m talking about.
What I really loved about this film is its unique visual flair. The designs are absolutely incredible. The Event Horizon clearly has a very Gothic theme throughout the entire vessel. These arches that you see in Med Bay are incredible. It helps give the film its really dark and foreboding vibe. The design of the ship itself is wonderful. If you look at the ship from an angle, it looks kind of like a cross of sorts. Most of the visual effects in the film are pretty good, for the most part. There are a few scenes where the CGI is painfully obvious, even for 1997, but a lot of the practical that you can see are very impressive. There’s a scene in which a recording plays where you can see the original crew tear itself apart, and it’s pretty gruesome. It doesn’t last very long, but it’s very memorable. Towards the end of the film, you see these visions of Hell where the current crew is being brutalized. These sequences were rapidly cut, because the studio didn’t want an extremely violent film. The thing is, is that the original cut of the film, which was reported to be 130 minutes long, lingered on these visions for longer than what we actually see in the released version. The only way you can truly appreciate the work that went into some of the practical effects is to slow the movie down. When you do, you being to understand why the studio acted the way it did back in 1997. These scenes are pretty graphic and disturbing, but they were very well done.
Another thing I really love about this film is the music. While the film’s main composer was the late Michael Kamen, he worked in conjunction with the music group Orbital to create a very techno-thriller kind of soundtrack. The orchestral elements of the soundtrack are supplemented by Orbital’s techno music which really gives the film an incredibly haunting vibe. The music also clues you into what the crew of the Lewis and Clark are dealing with.
Event Horizon was released to some very mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others hated it. Personally, I loved the hell out of it, no pun intended. It was the third film by Paul W.S. Anderson and it was a solid enough film. As I mentioned above, the story is that the original cut of the film was about 130 minutes long and it featured some pretty lengthy scenes involving the visions of hell as well as certain character interacting with each other. The studio felt that the film was too long and that the more gruesome aspects of the picture had to be cut in order to appeal to most audiences. Currently, there is a debate as to whether or not that extra footage exists. There are some deleted scenes that are available on the Blu-Ray and DVD and can be found on YouTube, but the more interesting stuff has apparently been lost. It’s too bad, really. That’s a version of the film that I would really love to see, mostly because the version we currently have has some….continuity issues due to the studio’s insistence that certain aspects be cut. Who knows? Maybe that version of the film is out there somewhere waiting to be discovered. As it stands, the film that we ended up with is still a really solid thriller with great performances and some pretty nifty visual effects. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it is better than a lot of people give it credit for.
My Final Recommendation: Don’t create artificial black holes. Bad things happen. 8/10