Event Horizon, a review.
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Laurence Fishburne, and Sam Neill, this film follows a rescue crew investigating the return of a missing Space Vessel, the Event Horizon. The Event Horizon was believed to have been lost with the entire crew, making it the worst space disaster in history. Unfortunately, those that investigate its reappearance are dragged into madness and horror. This film is heavily influenced by Cosmic horror elements, with hints of something existing beyond the understanding of those onboard the vessel. This film was reportedly supposed to be far more graphic, with a more twisted story, but the studios reined in the director, and this is the version we got. It has some fantastic elements, but it feels like it was supposed to be something more. A shame that the footage was lost, so we can't at least learn what that story was meant to be.
The film begins with Sam Neill's Dr Weir waking up from a nightmare, living on board a space station. The film moves then to the crew of the Lewis and Clarke, their captain running them through initial preparation for their rescue mission. Miller's people are going through the motions with practised ease. They are used to this work but are reluctant to go on this mission when they should be on leave. They were quickly set up for travelling by gravity tank, as they could not survive outside of them when the hyperdrive was active. Weir has another strange dream, his deceased wife speaking to him, though, in this dream/vision, her eyes are gone from their sockets. Waking terrified, Weir finds himself with the crew of the Clarke closing in on Neptune. He briefs them on their mission, what they believe to be out there, and what the Event Horizon was supposed to be capable of. This is about interstellar travel through bending space/time to make travel across great distances instantaneous. The team find the Event Horizon and begins investigating the seemingly abandoned vessel.
Things go wrong from the moment they set foot on the Event Horizon, Justin is sucked into a black abyss, and Lewis and Clarke are damaged. They are forced to move to the Event Horizon, with Justin injured and unresponsive, and figure out what happened and how to get home safely. Miller orders the Clarke repaired and has his people look into the Event Horizon, searching for answers. Things inevitably get worse for the group as they begin to experience hallucinations. They all start to feel that the ship is reacting to them, but Miller won't accept it. Justin ends up in the airlock, and as if possessed, he sets the airlock to open to the vacuum beyond. He snaps out of it, but it is too late. Severely injured, he is put into the gravity tank, and the rest are left shaken by this. These events build in intensity, with Miller seeing a crew member who died years ago and Weir seeing his wife calling to him. Only it isn't his wife. D.J. explains that the initial translation of the message was wrong, telling Miller it actually meant 'Save yourself from Hell'. When pushed by Miller, Weir admits that when the gateway is opened, he doesn't know where the ship goes. D.J. postulates that it might have gone to a realm we would consider Hell. It was as if the ship passing through that realm had brought something back with it. This life force had infested the vessel, and it wanted Weir to stay with it, to take him back to that dimension it had come from. Possessed or corrupted by the ship, Weir turns on the rest and blows up the ship, Lewis and Clarke.
Weir kills D.J. and sets the gateway to open. He intends to take those left alive through with him. Miller and Stark face him on the bridge, his eyes now missing, and only by the timely arrival of Cooper do they survive, with Weir being sucked out into space. Thinking themselves safe, they are ready to separate the foredecks from the engine, with Miller going to set the explosives. Weir is not dead, however. The ship has brought him back, the man now crazed and possessing inhuman strength. Miller fits but is unable to defeat the returned Weir. In a last-ditch attempt to save those left, Miller detonates the explosives, allowing them to escape as he and Weir are taken through the gateway. Stark and Cooper survive and are rescued, but both are left traumatised.
This film has many graphic scenes in it and warrants the rating it got. The scene showing what happened to the previous crew is not pleasant. And it was supposed to be worse than what we got. Sam Neill is great at being creepy once he turns, and Fishburne delivers a solid performance. The rest of the actors are solid in their roles, though we don't see a great deal of Sean Pertwee or Jack Noseworthy. The horror elements are done well, the tension remains high throughout, and I wish they had explored the other place more. There is a theory that this film is heavily inspired by the warp in Warhammer 40k. It is supposedly the first encounter with the warp before the defence of the gellar fields was invented. As a fan of Warhammer 40k lore, I like the theory, but highly doubtful of its likelihood. While it is showing its age in places, Event Horizon remains a great horror sci-fi. I give it an 8 out of 10 and recommend it to any horror fan.
