Horror Movie Review: Event Horizon (1997)

“Liberate tutemet ex inferis”

Event Horizon is a 1997 science fiction horror film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and written by Philip Eisner.

In 2047, a distress signal is received from the Event Horizon, a starship that disappeared during its maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri seven years earlier. The ship mysteriously reappears in a decaying orbit around Neptune, and the rescue vessel Lewis and Clark is dispatched to investigate.

Its crew—Capt. Miller, second-in-command Lt. Starck, pilot Smith, medical technician Peters, engineer Ensign Justin, doctor D.J., and rescue technician Cooper—is joined by Dr. William Weir, the Event Horizon’s designer. He briefs them on the ship’s experimental gravity drive with a simple visualization of how it folds space-time. The distress signal consists of a series of screams and howls but D.J. believes he hears the Latin phrase “Liberate me” (“Save me”).

Upon boarding the Event Horizon the crew finds evidence of a massacre. As they search for survivors, the ship’s gravity drive activates and briefly pulls Justin into a portal. While also causing a shock wave that damages the Lewis and Clark. The crew are all forced to board the Event Horizon while Justin emerges in a catatonic state. He attempts suicide by decompression, but is saved by Miller. This forces the crew to place Justin in stasis. Smith and Cooper are sent on a spacewalk to repair the hull of the Lewis and Clark.

The crew begins having hallucinations corresponding to their fears and regrets.

Can the crew finish the mission and get out of dodge? Or will they go the way of their predecessors and follow them into madness. Watch and find out.

Somehow Event Horizon had passed me by and I’d never seen it. But a sci fi horror, with Laurence Fishburne and shades of Hellraiser? I’d call that a perfect movie. Let’s see how it fared.

Right off the bat, I did some reading and it’s disappointing to hear that the movie was cut and chopped up so much. You can tell at certain points that scenes has been cut, for instance when Fishburne has a hallucination, but it doesn’t impact the film overall. It does mean it’s lacking in major back story for most of the characters, as I guess the editor fell asleep and leant on the cut button.

Nevertheless, Event Horizon was fantastic. It’s creepy, chilling vibe runs deep and every single actor invests, throwing themselves into their roles. it’s why despite the lacking character development, the amazing cast carries you through and helps you connect and see their ties in other ways.

The movie is very Hellraiser-esque, essentially Hellraiser in space. For me, that’s a huge compliment. The body horror and practical effects are incredible. The ship feels alive and dominates every scene. It’s only too bad that the flashes of gore towards the end were so brief. I would have liked to have seen them in all their glory and on full display. But the brief flashes live on long in your mind’s eye, so are still effective.

I enjoyed the full scientific approach the team attempts to take, before the visions. They all seemed very happy to be there and follow orders, unlike other films where there’s already discontent.

Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne are naturally the stand-outs and play off each other perfectly. Neill always knows how to lose his mind so beautifully.

Overall, Event Horizon, despite the heavy cuts, is an incredible and terrifying journey into deep space and beyond. Hopefully one day we all get to see the original VHS in all its hellish splendour.