Year of Release: 1997
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Sean Pertwee, Richard T. Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Holley Chant
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review
After making his debut with the well received "Shopping", director Paul W. S. Anderson followed that feature with the adaptation of the video game "Mortal Kombat", which even though it was met with tepid reviews, it still managed to find an audience. His third feature was "Event Horizon", which focuses its narrative on the adventures of a group of astronauts in space, who are sent on a rescue mission. The small crew is joined by Dr. William Weir who designed the ship they're aiming to salvage. The ship was considered lost, but has re-emerged much to everyone's surprise, alongside with what seems to be a recording asking for help. Dr. Weir explains what is so special about the ship, essentially that it has figured out a way to bend space, creating a wormhole in order to travel faster across considerable distances. Upon reaching the Event Horizon, the rescuers quickly realize something wrong happened there, though they can locate any of the previous crew. They also start experiencing hallucinations. They eventually discover a video log of the previous crew, which hints at what actually happened. Weir eventually communicates that the ship opened a gateway to horrid dimension and that the ship itself has attained sentience. Captain Miller from the rescue crew decides to take his chances and blow up the ship, but Weir who at this time has been compromised by is transpiring on the ship has other plans.
"Event Horizon" benefits firstly and foremost from its very talented and diverse cast, led by the always reliable Laurence Fishburne, with great support from Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson and Jason Isaacs. The film clearly has noticeable influences from very iconic features such as Ridley Scott and James Cameron's "Alien" films. The director manages to set up the initial premise of what the characters are looking for with almost a shorthand type of precision, very much in line with a B-movie, in the process providing very little backdrop or insight into who these characters actually are, but nonetheless giving them just enough color to justify our attention. The storyline starts going off the rails once the crew hits their destination, and the film tries to be a mix of "The Haunting" with "Hellraiser". The problem lies with the fact that we know very little of these characters, and the device that is used to elicit horror from them (and for them) is predicated on us having some empathy with their journeys (which based on what has been illustrated thus far, doesn't really happen). As the gore mounts, so does the increasingly less interesting part of this narrative. All the chatter about this new dimension and how horrific it supposedly is, and this villainous entity or dimension that has taken hold of the ship itself, just never amount to something substantial, and in the end it feels rather lifeless and bloodless (which is something, considering all that is illustrated onscreen). There isn't much in terms of motivation for what this nefarious entity actually wants, and therefore the narrative itself feels inconsequential. The cast tries their best to bring these characters to life, with whatever little they can, with Sean Pertwee and Sam Neill in particular managing to bring some charisma to their performances. The cinematography from the late Adrian Biddle is solid, as is the production design from Joseph Bennett. It's a missed opportunity from a director who definitely has become a deft B-movie storyteller (of sorts).
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