Review of Event Horizon (1997) by Dillinger P — 17 Sep 2014

Before basterdising 3 pretty decent computer game franchises, with movie adaptations, Paul W.S. Anderson was making films like Event Horizon. An "Original", if the quotation marks didnt give away the sarcasm, this note should, sci fi horror, that packs a decent cast and potentially a promising career for Mr Anderson.

In the year 2040, a ship called The Event Horizon is created, on board it carries the capability to fold space and time, with its man made black hole and sets off on a journey to reach deep space. However the ship gets as far as Neptune before vanishing.

Cue 7 years later, Event Horizon has appeared floating around Neptune and the crew of the Lewis and Clark are sent on a rescue mission. Of course when they arrive on the Event Horizon, it appears that not only have all the crew been massacred, but their is some "Spooky shit" going on.

First of all, you may be thinking, "Hey that's a premise that could work, how did Mr Anderson come up with that?" Well... Because he doesnt have writing kudo's on this one, not that our other writer is any better but at least he has a bit of originality about his craft.

.. A Bit! This film wants to be everything that came before it, its art direction basically stolen from the Alien franchise, its idea heavily riffed from The Shining. Techniques used from Jaws to just about every horror movie ever made.

It does have its moments. Some of the set, with its neon green glow, look presentable, the gravity core itself is actually quite memorable and in some cases iconic looking. Some moments of the story are actually interesting and some of the cast pull off a passable job with the shit they have been given.

But it all ends in a hail of cluster fuck upon cluster fuck that by the end, which the film has the audacity to slap up on the screen as we reach this point, we are just left wanting to watch something better.

The cast, Lawrence Fishbourne, Sam Neill, Sean Pertwee, Kathleen Quinnlan and so on and so forth should make for a formidable mixture but they are working with stereotypical drivel, that not even Robert De Niro could save.

There are NO characters in this film, there is the harsh captain, the crazy scientist, the hot leutenant, the funny black guy, the pissed off pilot, the recluse doctor, the young crew member and the doctor that is not suppose to be there.

That is it. This film thinks that because a man is black, he is comic relief. It's straight out of the Michael Bay school of thinking. In fact the only, unintentional comic relief comes from Sean Pertwee, who does the best job here, he manages to create an enjoyable character, however hes barely present for a lot of the show.

Lawrence tries as Lawrence does to do what he can but the words are so shambolic he comes across as an actor looking to pay a bill. Sam Neill is just fucking bland and everybody else is utterly forgettable.

Even the movie thinks so, as while major events are happening half the crew just dont seem to be anywhere. This movie also has no sense of time what so ever, in the space of 15 minutes we have went from 20 hours to 7 before the crew must get off the ship.

This is the movies problem, its in such a hurry to finish that nothing can be fleshed out. The plot cannot be fleshed out, characters dont have time to arc, fear doesnt get a chance to set in. Give this premise to any other director and writer and we could have had a 2 and a half hour long Sci Fi cult classic.

The movie is in such a hurry it slaughters pretty much every single character in its final 15 minutes. It's not all bad, Event Horizon has its moments, for example its sound and set are pretty decent looking, even if completely plaigerised.

Some performances are passable and within it there is a bit of guilty pleasure to be had. But this missed opportunity just continues to fuck you and itself over and over and over again. It's nice to see Mr Anderson do something thats not a computer game, but once you get past the shock of that, your in for another, how bad this film actually is.