Review of Event Horizon (1997) by Will E — 11 Apr 2011

Ugh, well. I'm having a lot of mixed feeling about this one. I had recorded on pay TV and decided to sit down and watch it at about 11pm at night. I had no idea what it was about, no idea what genre it was, all I'd heard was that it was violent. So, as I turned it on and there is a nice, quite well done period of slow, atmospheric build up and soft clues as to watch direction this must lead, but as I passed the midnight mark the entire experience seemed to take a decidedly hellish turn. Not in the mood for a horrific gore-fest, I had been hoping that a) the tales of this film's violence was pure hyperbole or b) the violence was presented in a campy, slasher-flick horror way, or even comical way, but unfortunately the gore is presented in quick, disturbing flashes that serve little (if anything) to the plot. I'm pretty sure that the gross-factor would be very minimal if the violence had been presented in a standard fashion, and perhaps this is commendable, but I just found it over-the-top and pointless, and ultimately the last third of this film suffers as a result. This is pretty sad considering how strongly it started, as I found the psychological elements enthralling and well-done, as well as the only piece of worth-while violence - the old crew's video log. That seriously creeped me out, compared to just making me want to vomit on Sam Neill. I generally like Sam Neill, he's a Kiwi, and deserves sympathy.

A unique viewing experience, afterwards I did feel oddly manipulated and a bit violated by the images I had seen. I found the sudden inclusion of this horrible dimension as shallow and inconsiderate, which I do understand are not uncommon in horror films. There is just something more insincere about this, it seems to be outside of standard scare tactics and thought provocation, and it appears it was solely used to bore the idea of Hell into people's minds.

Nonetheless, it is an interesting film, and although the build-up is very well executed the overall experience is tarnished by a disturbing and overly violent final act. See it if you liked Alien or other atmospheric sci-fi horrors, but do be cautious if you don't stand violence or believe in Hell. Luckily for me, I don't fit into either of those categories.

Over.

My Rating: 40%.

Standardised: 40%.