Movie Night! 'Event Horizon' (1997)



So Facebook has been throwing me links to various sites telling me that we're a step closer to seeing the full director's cut of 'Event Horizon'. I'm firmly in the 'I'll believe it when I see it but I don't think we'll ever see it' camp, it's been years now and surely if the footage is there then we would have seen it by now... or would we? I think we would have done and as much as I'd love to see 'Event Horizon' as it was meant to be seen (because I'm a total gorehound so of course I want to see a starship crew tear itself to pieces) I don't think it's going to happen.
What all these links did give me though was the perfect excuse to sit down, last night, and watch 'Event Horizon' again. Yesterday was one of those days (in a good way but it threw me mentally and I couldn't get anything done afterwards) so I knew that the only way to round it off was to watch a favourite film of mine. There, I said it. 'Event Horizon' is a favourite of mine (so don't expect me to be impartial, although I will try) so lets get on with things and have a little chat about it...

In 2040, the starship 'Event Horizon' disappeared as it was about to test its gravity drive on a maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri. Seven years later and the 'Event Horizon' is broadcasting an SOS signal, having reappeared (as mysteriously as it disappeared) in the orbit of Neptune.
The crew of the rescue ship 'Lewis and Clark', along with Dr. Weir, are dispatched to investigate the 'Event Horizon' and rescue any survivors. What they will find instead is a ship that brought something back with it, something that is looking for a new crew for its next voyage into the dark...

I saw 'Event Horizon' at the cinema way back in 1997, I snuck my fifteen year old youngest brother into the viewing and we were both blown away at how intense the film was and how it just didn't hold back at all. Twenty three years on and I feel exactly the same. I can't remember how many times I've seen this film but there are still moments (even now) where I can't look at the screen, even though I know what is going to happen. I'm looking at you 'scene where Dr Weir crawls through the maintenance tunnels and encounters his dead wife'...

'Event Horizon' is a genuinely unsettling and scary film, even in it's heavily edited form (yeah, I really wish I could see the full version). Not only is the tension drawn out to almost breaking point, you never know if you're going to be hit with a massive jump scare or something extremely bloody. You can see the cracks, where a little more time for editing wouldn't have gone amiss, but 'Event Horizon' remains incredibly watchable not only for the promise of mayhem but the way in which it is delivered, really ramping up the terror.

The set is just superb; think 'dark and brooding spaceship orbitting a dark and brooding planet' and you're there, its' just right for this film. The inside of the 'Event Horizon' feels appropriately claustrophobic and the cast play off this brilliantly. It's all about Sam Neill and his portrayal of a man falling into madness and finding something there waiting for him... Neill has all the best lines ('where we're going, we won't need eyes to see...') and turns on the evil like you wouldn't believe. Laurence Fishburne's 'Captain Miller' is a little too stoic, for his character to really shine, but when the action heats up (no pun intended, unless you thought it was funny, then...) he really comes into his own. Joely Richardson's 'Lieutenant Starck' is notable as the only character who manages to keep it together while everything is going to hell (literally at one point). You can't blame her for freaking out right at the end (I would have done exactly the same).

If you're after some horror and you haven't already watched 'Event Horizon' then I thoroughly recommend you give it a go. It's a good mixture of chilling horror with some nice action set pieces that break up the relentless horror at just the right times. You go and watch it, I'll be over here waiting for further news of a reworked re-release (look, I'm allowed to dream...)

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