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Event Horizon (1997)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
June 17th, 2008
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'Event Horizon' combines elements of Alien with elements of Solaris, but cannot strike a balance between them; this is a scary and gruesome sci-fi horror flick that attempts to build its plot around the laws and terminology of astrophysics, notably the black hole, which is the curious space phenomenon that powers the gravity drive on the titular ship, which was lost seven years ago as it explored the orbit of Neptune. Now, another crew, on another vessel, has been sent to locate the Event Horizon after it gives off a distress signal. The captain is Miller (Laurence Fishburne) is a grizzled veteran who is determined not to lose anyone under his command. Dr. Weir (Sam Neill), built the gravity drive and accompanies Miller as a technical adviser; he knows the layout of the ship and may be able to figure out what happened to it. And that is the ongoing mystery; what exactly happened to the people on the Event Horizon? The reality is actually quite horrible; some kind of malevolent lifeforce has possessed the ship, and it preys on its victims by causing them to hallucinate, drawing out and making manifest their worst fears and memories. Weir is haunted by (presumably dead by suicide)his wife, Claire; medical officer Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) is tortured by images of her son, Miller is plagued by a former shipmate who burned to death in an accident. Weir is there to offer convoluted explanations about how the gravity drive works, how it creates a black hole that allows the Horizon to jump across galaxies; inevitably, it breached another dimension and unleashed something evil. Weir represents a corporation (like the one in Alien) that wants to save the Horizon at nearly any cost; Miller and his crew are likely expendable, as long as the Horizon is not compromised, and can be returned safely. What a stellar cast, headed by Neill and Fishburne, both of whom are very good, especially Neill once he turns monstrous (monstrous in the Clive Barker sense of the word, he really does look like a Cenobite towards the end there). Jason Isaacs, Joely Richardson, the humorously named Jack Noseworthy are effective, and Richard T Jones provides comic relief as the wisecracking, energetic Cooper. There are overtones of 2001:A Space Odyssey with the opening shots, and the majestic imagery contained within them (everything moves so fluidly, like ballet, all that is missing in a Strauss composition). The film emphasizes, as Alien and The Thing did, the isolative nature of the atmosphere; Miller and his team are entirely on their own, devoid of contact with other humans, if help is dispatched, it will take days or weeks to arrive.
And the atmospheric content is strong, palpable and unsettling, which makes the movie freakish and consistently creepy, with several sudden jolts, and at times, there is a more subtle scariness, an exploitation of dread and apprehension, about what characters may experience, rather than what they actually do experience . The special effects are excellent, and I was surprised to learn that the director is Paul WS Anderson, better known for his big screen adaptation of Resident Evil. 'Event Horizon' is certainly superior to Resident Evil, and illustrates that Anderson can, in fact, make solid horror movies, if he has the proper ideas and ingredients. 'Event Horizon' never quite reaches the level of intensity of Alien or especially Aliens, but it is a competent fusion of horror and science fiction, though it is more engaging as a demonstration of the basic principles of the former genre than the latter.
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