When Paul W. S. Anderson released Event Horizon in 1997, he was fresh off the success of a very different kind of violent thriller: 1995’s Mortal Kombat. Anderson’s adaptation of the popular fighting game spawned his relationship with Paramount Pictures, which gave the director $60 million for Event Horizon – his third feature film.
Set in 2047, the film follows a group of astronauts tasked with recovering a ship lost seven years earlier. The titular craft suddenly reappears in orbit around Neptune, where members on board the Lewis and Clark reluctantly accept their mission to figure out what happened to the vessel and its crew. What ensues is a tale of thought-provoking cosmic horror that was unappreciated by critics, ignored by audiences, and mired in production woes. Since its poor box office run, Event Horizon has been deemed a cult classic by many horror fans, as well as a prime example of Lovecraftian terror that was ahead of its time.
Event Horizon‘s diverse ensemble cast sets it aside from other big-budget sci-fi ventures from the ’90s. Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne co-star as engineer Dr. William ‘Billy’ Weir and the Lewis and Clark‘s commanding officer Captain Miller, respectively. Dr. Weir is the designer of the Event Horizon ship, an experimental spacecraft constructed to move faster than the speed of light by creating a dimensional gateway that bridges the gap between two disparate points in the universe.
The only hint the Lewis and Clark crew have about the vessel’s whereabouts the past seven years is a disturbing distress signal replete with screams, cries, and omens. Once inside the Event Horizon, the rescue team (joined by Dr. Weir) stumbles upon a scene of carnage, implying everyone on board met a brutal end. After an accident forces the team to seek shelter on the ship, it doesn’t take long for them to realize the disappeared Event Horizon became sentient during its interdimensional journey – bringing a nefarious, supernatural force back with it from the great beyond.
When Ensign Justin, played by Jack Noseworthy, is sucked into Event Horizon‘s activated gravity drive and then sucked back out, he’s the first to experience the effects of the malevolent power. From there, the amorphous cosmic menace makes itself known through possessions and hauntings. Horrific visions and dreams terrorize the Lewis and Clark crew. Dr. Weir is visited by his wife, who died of suicide. Kathleen Quinlan’s character Peters, the medical technician, experiences hallucinations of her son covered in lesions and sores. Captain Miller sees a former underling who died on his watch. Instead of generalized scares, the characters in the film are menaced by nightmares that play into their own personal fears, laments, and memories. These heady, psychological sequences are matched by some intense on-screen depictions of barbarous, gory violence.
Anderson’s choice to combine slow-burning, psychic terror with ghastly mayhem harkens back to other deep-space horror films like Alien. The industrial, cavernous ships in Event Horizon are also indebted to Ridley Scott’s film. That being said, the haunted house story at the center of the film, one reworked for space exploration, plays on classics like The Haunting and The Shining.
Developing a villainous entity that lacks form or motivation suggests an even more seminal influence: the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. It’s through Lovecraft’s writings that the term cosmic horror emerged. Lovecraft, who produced most of his works during the interwar period of the 20th century, was obsessed with the concept of the unknown, of what terror awaits outside of humanity’s scope. While Lovecraft’s penchant for racism and xenophobia has been rightfully put on the chopping block as part of a much-needed reckoning in horror, his style remains all the more prescient in the genre.
From its opening scene, viewers are given hints at the bloodshed to come in Event Horizon. By the time the rescue group discovers a video recording of what happened to the crew of the titular ship, the sense of imminent doom is almost overwhelming. The footage showcases the crazed astronauts torturing and immolating each other while engaged in a sadistic orgy. The revelation that Event Horizon‘s team went mad and literally decimated each other coincides with deciphering a line of Latin heard in the distress call: “Save yourself from Hell.”
At this point, though, it’s far too late for salvation. Dr. Weir, under the influence of the unknown evil, wreaks havoc on board, set upon destroying everyone. What Anderson hoped would be a far more macabre finale was toned down by Paramount executives, who found all the butchery more gag-inducing than impactful. The entire production of Event Horizon was rushed by Paramount, forcing Anderson to release a version of the film he felt was subpar. At least 10 minutes of gore were cut, as well as scenes that provide better backstories for some of the supporting characters.
With its dense scientific concepts, phantasmagorical mythos, and harsh body horror scenes, Event Horizon did not wow mainstream audiences and critics like Paramount hoped it would when it gave Anderson the green light. One critic for the Washington Post wrote that anyone interested in the film should instead “put a bucket on” their head and have “a loved one beat on it vigorously with a wrench for 100 minutes.”
Instead of recognizing the film’s nuanced take on the unknowable, unmappable forces that lie beyond humankind’s reach, critics focused on Event Horizon‘s grotesqueness as the primary reason to skip it. It earned less than half of its $60 million budget back in theatres. Even though it’s far from a perfect film, Event Horizon manages to take ideas developed in previous genre ventures and transform them into a visually stunning cinematic experience that avoids cliches. It also challenges audiences by presenting them with a cerebral, unsettling vision of journeying through the solar system – one where the evil lurking around the corner lacks a concrete form. While the release of a director’s cut would give Event Horizon the critical reassessment it deserves, this is unlikely to ever happen since most of the excised footage has been lost or destroyed.
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