Review of Event Horizon (1997) by Jamie D — 01 Feb 2010

Event Horizon, as a film, is a bit like a celery-filled doughnut. If you eat the outside, accept it as a moderately superficial horror movie, you'll be alright. Bite too deep, try to find any actual *meaning* (A rare commodity in horror movies) then you'll taste something that, quite frankly, you won't find filling, and probably won't like after all that lovely confection.

The plot is fairly simple horror fare, consisting of setup (Hyperspace ship disappears, comes back, crew summoned to recover it, under the ever-so-slightly depressed Dr. Weir), tension rising (Lots of genuinely spooky hallucinations, all based on fear, hate, and cowardice), plot twist (Oooh, Dr. Weir a bad guy? Unless you've watched lots of horror movies, or caught the few hints, you won't guess), and death dealing (with the obligatory "is it *really* over?" ending.).

Taking it as it is, a by-the-numbers horror movie set in a weird space ship (christian imagery abounds, as do christian preconceptions), you'll be genuinely scared, thrilled, and amused (yes, there are tension breakers).

Try to explore the symbolism to find some deeper meaning, and you'll come up a blank. Remember, *preconceptions*. The film doesn't want to be deeply analysed, but some people like to find deeper meaning in any film. If so, this isn't for you, folks. No deeper meaning here, move along please.

Are there any truly bad moments? Unfortunately, yes. Lawrence Fishburne's emotional final scene falls rather flat to my eyes, and there's only so much "We're gonna get away, we're gonna get away... oh, crap, we're dead." that even a horror fan can take. But, overall, it's an okay film, so long as you don't take it seriously.