Event Horizon

Dir Paul WS Anderson

Written by Phillip Eisner

Laurence Fishburn, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Richard T Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee.

In the year 2047, a group of astronauts head to Neptune’s orbit, to search the recently resurfaced Event Horizon, a deep space ship that has been missing for seven years. When they arrive on the ship, a dark energy seems to be on board, and starts to affect their states of mind.

I want to start by revealing two facts about me. One, I am not partial to horror films all that much – while I have reviewed some “horror” films previously like Scream, to me they fall under the category of mild or mock horror – and this is my first true horror film that I’ve reviewed. Second, I watched this relatively soon after its release – so I think I was about 15 or 16, and it is the first film that truly scared me, and this is my first time watching since then.

Starting with an unsettling pan out camera take that spins multiple 360° the film eases us into what is to come. The direction by Anderson is dark and claustrophobic, matching the setting of deep outer space. Some of the graphics are a little dated, especially considering what computers were capable of at the same time.

The performances are all stellar, with both the American and British cast. Neill does a terrifying performance in the later parts of the film, and Fishburn as the central protagonist is also sound, but this is far from his best performance. The rest of the cast, who were all in their prime, (or yet to do their bigger roles), work well as the supporting ensemble.

The 95m runtime feels a little too short, especially as it takes almost half an hour of the runtime to get to the ship itself. There is an eerie score that matches the tension that occurs on screen, but is a little forgettable in way of what it was trying to portray.

There is also some ‘cinematic’ space moments that needs to be watched as such, and suspensions of belief should be used. One moment has a window break, and the air is sucked out like it would do in an airplane. If you can forget these flaws, then it works.

In terms of horror quality, as mentioned earlier, it is not really my favourite genre, but the released version seems more tame than I remember – there were still a few ‘jump scares’ that got me.

If horror is your thing, then give it a go.