Rating: B
Dir: Paul W.S. Anderson
Star: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Richard T. Jones
Startling to realise this now dates from almost thirty years ago. It is so old… [how old is it?] the director was simply Paul Anderson, being the only one at the time. It has stood up remarkably well, in particular its depiction of space, which is very credible. At least, except for an opening caption which says, “2015: First permanent colony established on moon.” Still waiting for that. It’s all the more impressive a visual feat, considering the troubled shoot and post-production. Famously, it was hacked down at the demand of the studio, from a first cut of 130 minutes to 96. When it became a hit on home media, a director’s cut was proposed – but the footage removed has proven elusive.
It all adds to the myth of the film, which has risen above its initial failure at the box-office, to become widely regarded as the director’s best movie. It is undeniably derivative, commonly being described as a hybrid of Alien and Hellraiser, and not considered as good as either. Yet it comes surprisingly close to matching them, and is regarded as a classic of space horror. The movie takes place in 2047, when the spaceship Lewis & Clark has been sent out to Neptune. On arrival, the crew learn their mission is to find out what happened to the Event Horizon. This exploration ship vanished seven years previously, and was written off, only to show up again unexpectedly. Oh, yeah: it was actually a top secret, faster-than-light prototype.
However, by going boldly, it seems to have gone where no man should go, and come back changed. Its crew are unalive, the ship might be alive, and the new arrivals start to see their worst fears played out in front of them (which may be stolen off a Star Trek ep). And they all, conveniently, have gnarly skeletons in their closet. Lewis & Clark captain Miller (Fishburne) has guilt over the death of a previous crew-mate. Weir, who built the Event Horizon, had a wife who killed herself. This is a factor in the escalating sense of dread, which builds from the first time we hear the last transmission from the Event Horizon. Complete with yelling in Latin.
I’d have said this was a bit of a warning. Just me though. For Miller and crew plough on, in order that the film can happen. And for that, I thank them, despite proving poor decision-making skills in horror movies are not solely the remit of teens at summer camp. For there are not many big-budget films in this genre which are so relentlessly unsettling. The two leads sell the cosmic fear impeccably. It’s interesting to note they do so, despite the absence of any particular bad guy or monster here. At least a physical one, unless you count rotating magnets surrounding a black hole as a villain. Maybe the real terror was the friends we made on the way, all along.