“Hell is only a word. The reality is much, much worse…”
Time to talk some funky shit with a cosmic cult classic—it’s not the first film that took on the subject of things hellborne and malefic…but it is the one that put it all in outer space. It’s Paul WS Anderson’s only half-decent film, it’s Event Horizon.
The storyline isn’t too complicated—it’s the future, mankind has been colonizing the solar system (as our opening titles explain in a rather optimistic appraisal of our space travel)—and in the atmosphere of Neptune, the titular exploration vessel thought missing reappears. A retrieval crew lead by the always awesome Lawrence Fishburne, accompanied by Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee, Kathleen Quinlan, and most entertainingly, scientist Sam Neil soon arrive to investigate…and naturally, it’s all downhill from there.
Event Horizon was pitched essentially as the Shining in space—and it essentially is that, with one very obvious visual shout-out near the end. In terms of pure presentation, it doesn’t too do much new in terms of horror, with hallucinations and jump scares ruling the roost…but it has some highlights. First of all is the general production design—going for a nicely distinct and memorable techno-gothic look. The sets are great, with even the main bridge of the starship looking more like a chapel in wide shots, and even just the corridors have an unsettling look to them, as if first designed for some medieval crypt.
And while the script may not be too special, we do have some solid casting here—as mentioned Fishburne is a highlight, as is his character, who proves much smarter than most horror protagonists by reacting to the truth of what’s going on by deciding immediately to get the hell out of dodge and launch nuclear missiles at it. Most of the others are also bringing a decent game…although Richard Jones’ Cooper character is a weak link as pretty silly comic relief. Star of the show, of course, goes to Sam Neil—who is clearly having so much fun when his Doctor Weir inevitably goes deranged, and much like his ship, perhaps a vessel for something else entirely.
One more highlight comes from what was subtracted from the film than added—we have some glimpses at the grisly fate of the Event Horizon, fleeting yet horrific enough to make an impression. There’s plenty more raw footage supposedly in the original cut, which was lost in some Romanian mine or so the somewhat unverifiable stories go, but sometimes, less is more—and here, that less is certainly enough to stir the imagination to conjure all the visceral details it often does.
That’s probably why Event Horizon, while not exactly a masterwork in writing, still has its enjoyment value. But for the director, it was all downhill after this—Anderson spent most of the rest of his career in the 25 years since working on the Resident Evil movies, and seemed hellbent on making each one of those abominations more physically painful and unwatchable than the last. In fact they’re easily among some of the worst mainstream films I’ve ever seen, and perhaps this one simply got off lucky with the talent it did manage to have. It may not be stellar, but at least it doesn't deserve to be tortured in hell like other ones...
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