The influence ofRidley Scottlooms large in the early scenes ofEvent Horizon, from the utilitarian spaceship interiors to the proximity alert warnings flashing on their screens. YetPaul W.S. Anderson’s 1997 film surpasses the expectation of just another slasher-in-space knockoff, going full tilt with occultism and a dash of pseudo-science. MoreAmityvillethanAlien,Event Horizonis a blood-spattered horror that pulls out all the haunted house stops.
Set in 2047,Event Horizonbegins when a spaceship of the same name reappears in the orbit of Neptune, seven years after it was presumed destroyed. Leading a rescue mission to the ship, Captain S.J. Miller (Laurence Fishburne) must contend with some increasingly terrifying visions and a company scientist, Dr William Weir (Sam Neill), who has his own agenda. It soon becomes clear that the previous crew perished when the ship’s experimental drive opened a portal to a very, very bad place.
At the time of its release,Event Horizon’s premise — that future science could open a dimensional gateway to Hell — would have been familiar to anyone who had playedDoom, the defining first-person shooter of the decade. Dr Weir, a typically untrustworthy company man, sets the scene with a demonstration of how space-time works by poking holes in a lad-mag centerfold (in case we need reminding it’s the ’90s). As a piece of exposition, it perfectly encapsulates the film’s mix of sci-fi and schlock. We learn that the Event Horizon has an experimental gravity drive that allows it to fold space by creating a mini-black hole. It’s a science-y concept but, thanks to the film’s grungy production design, the realization is far from sterile.
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When the rescue team makes it to the Horizon, the gravity drive is revealed as a spiked chamber covered in symbols with a spinning device in the center. It’s reached by a rotating shaft with serrations that one character accurately describes as a “meat grinder” (although, disappointingly, nobody gets ground in it). Putting aside the fact that a vessel containing a top-secret black hole engine was given the on-the-nose name “Event Horizon,” it could be asked how on earth the original crew never questioned the medieval look of their ship.
Such a question is beside the point because, beneath its sci-fi trappings,Event Horizonis a haunted house story through and through — it’s just that the haunted house is hanging in low orbit around Neptune. The crew didn’t query the ship’s hellish design elements (such as doorways edged with sharpened metal stakes) any more than one should question relocating the family to a spooky old house built over a graveyard. Horror films have their own logic that must be obeyed.
WhereAlientook inspiration from the biomechanical drawings ofH.R. Gigerand the slasher movies of the ’70s,Event Horizon’s nightmares draw more on supernatural themed works such asThe ExorcistandHellraiser. The last transmission from the Horizon’s crew is a garbled message that contains a warning in Latin. Later recordings show the crew descending into an orgy of violence with Satanic overtones. Some of the film’s most effective shocks come in microbursts, flashes of limbs being torn apart and other images of torture that are grounded in hellish imagery. The depiction of a nihilistic universe where humans are grist for the desires of unknown forces, whether demonic or alien, recallsH.P. Lovecraft.
In the oppressive atmosphere of the Horizon, the rescue team succumbs to the type of hallucinations common to the haunted house genre. Whatever’s on the other side of the black hole clearly has an excellent knowledge of film history, because the crew’s visions are a tour of horror cinema greats. Medical officer Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) sees her son in the ship, ultimately pursuing him to her doom in reference toDon’t Look Now. Weir is haunted by the suicide of his wife, whose rotting corpse appears from a bathtub in the manner ofThe Shining. In another scene inspired by that movie, Lieutenant Starck (Joely Richardson) is swept down a corridor by a torrent of blood – an image that is both derivative and incredible. While Venice and the Overlook Hotel in those earlier films are great haunted locales, the Event Horizon is almost their equal.
Anderson’s film also earns the accolade of spilling the most gore in any space-set film. It makesAlienlook relatively bloodless, even if it can’t match the uncanny terror of that classic.Event Horizonwas financed by Twentieth Century Fox and features international leads in Fishburne and Neill, but there’s a resolutely British feel that summons the grimy, B-movie blood-letting ofHammer Horror. Beyond the big-budget space CGI (much of which stands up surprisingly well), the focus is on practical effects with lashing of gore. One character gets eviscerated and strung from hooks in the med bay. Weir goes through an excruciating transformation, eventually sewing up his eyelids, which leads to a killer line that oddly recalls Dr Emmett Brown: “Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see.” His final appearance, with the skin flayed all over his body, is a shockingly effective piece of make-up work.
Amidst a fantastic cast, Neill is a standout. His performance inEvent Horizonis a reminder that he excels in horror movies, bringing charisma to a character that goes full-blown crazy in the manner ofPossessionandIn the Mouth of Madness. Fishburne’s crew is fleshed out with some of the best British character actors of the ’90s. Joining Richardson is sci-fi veteranJason Isaacs(who would have a bigger role in Anderson’s follow-up,Soldier) andSean Pertwee(son of the third Doctor Who,Jon Pertwee). Along with Quinlan,Richard T. JonesandJack Noseworthymake up the American contingent of great actors who are all given their moment in hell by the script. Noseworthy’s character is singled out for suffering with exploding eyeballs and a suit free spacewalk that is handled in typically bloody manner. Fishburne himself is a winning captain in a pre-Matrixrole where he’s more explosive than avuncular.
Event Horizonwasn’t a hit at the time of release and was overlooked critically, although its cult status has remained steady through the years. The director blamed the studio for heavily cutting the final release down to 100 minutes. It’s an enjoyably fast-moving film because of that, but there is the feeling some things have been left out —no doubt more of the transformed Weir playing havoc on the ship. Nevertheless,Event Horizonsucceeds as a ’90s B-movie that has aged better than many of its contemporaries. While it may have borrowed heavily from Scott’s earlier movies, the Lovecraftian horror it brought to space came around again in that director’sPrometheus. Its influence can also be seen inDanny BoyleandAlex Garland’sSunshine, althoughEvent Horizonis the better film by taking itself less seriously. Later entries in theDoomfranchise andDead Spacepicked up the occult lead more effectively in the gaming arena.
Ultimately,Event Horizonsurpasses both its derivative elements and the bad deal it got on initial release. Anderson went on to have a long career in B-movie sci-fi, but he’s never had a better cast or come as close to making a great film. Space-set Satanism is surprisingly thin on the ground in the movies, so it’s good to haveEvent Horizonto go back to anytime you need spaceships and lots of blood. Even 25 years on, it’s still scarily good.
