Event Horizon (1997 Movie)

~ Bookstooge

Event Horizon is a 1997 Space Horror movie directed by Paul Anderson, who later went on to direct many of the Resident Evil movies.

I really like this movie. If you had told me beforehand that I’d like a space horror movie that involves a possessed spaceship that kills it crew, well, I’d probably have looked at you funny and suggest you get your head checked.

The basic story is that in 2040 the Event Horizon, utilizing a new gravity drive to break the speed of light, disappears with all crew. The movie starts 7 years later when it mysteriously re-appears. A rescue ship is sent with a small crew to find out what happened. Along with them is Dr Weir, the creator of the gravity drive. They get to the ship, it’s abandoned but something is on board and begins killing them. Dr Weir gives in to be with what appears to be his dead wife and only 3 members of the rescue crew survive and make it back to earth. The Event Horizon goes back to the alternate dimension of hell that it came from.

On this rewatch, I realized that part of the reason I like this so much is because there are little flashes from the hell dimension that remind me of the cenobytes from Hellraiser, another horror movie that surprised me by how much I liked it. Nothing big mind you, just these very quick, almost too fast to process, images of the former crew and the current crew, going through tortures with chains and spikes, etc.

Of course, being a horror movie, there are some really stupid, illogical parts that you have to turn your brain off for. First and foremost, how does the entire scientific world forget the latin language in 50 years? The last message from the Event Horizon has the captain saying something in latin but no one on Earth recognizes it? Secondly, most of the crew do not act like seasoned space rescue operators. They act like the jomokes down at the local Cumberland Farms who hang out in the parking lot smoking weed, thus turning themselves into dumb as bricks idiots.

On the plus side, Sam Neal as Dr Weir, going off the deep end, is fantastic. He has guilt about his wife committing suicide way back when because he chose work over her and how the entity mimics her is a joy to behold. His unravelling is superb, as he’s a jerk to begin with. Laurence Fishburne is the captain of the rescue ship and he’s appropriately hard nosed yet caring.

The only part I wish had been different would have been the ending. 3 of the crew survive and are rescued. One of them thinks the rescuers are the possessed Dr Weir and has a break down but the movie ends very clearly with them having escaped. What I would have appreciated is a scene showing them still on the Event Horizon, living their rescue over and over and it failing each time. THAT would have been much more inline with the tone of the movie.

Man, can you believe I am suggesting a worse ending instead of a happier one? Surprises me too! I guess that plays a part in why I like the movie so much.

46 thoughts on “Event Horizon (1997 Movie)”

    1. If any muppet were going to be in this, then yep, it would be Gonzo without a doubt! Of course, he’d probably energetically join the Event Horizon and become something really scary, and love every minute of it.

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    1. Your “dumb parts outweigh the good” is what I expect from most horror films, but it didn’t strike me that way this time, whatever the reason.
      I’m just glad to be able to watch a horror film and enjoy it 🙂

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  5. We saw this movie earlier this year as it inspired the game Dead Space to a degree with ship design and the protagonist’s helmet also resembles the front part of that ship. I enjoyed it even if it was a little bit on the silly side… I hope I can get through that Dead Silence novel that you gave a low score too earlier this year… Had me thinking it was a cross between Deadspace and Event Horizon almost. Great review.

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      1. Got Dead Silence for valentine’s earlier this year.

        The original Deadspace was released in 2008 and there is currently a remake in the works that I hope will work out well As I do not trust E.A as a company. Will have to see.

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  7. Got a lot of fond memories of this movie. Lots of creepy space-hell that’s for sure.

    It’s one of those films that’s look upon fondly in the Warhammer community as what not to do when traversing the Warp.

    I like the sound of your ending too.

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    1. I read/watched some interview somewhere with Anderson about the hell scenes and it sounds like they could have played a much greater part except the Studio stuck its nose in, like useless execs always do. I’ve been tempted to watch this frame by frame during those scenes to see what is actually there. Maybe some day 😀

      Ha! This would fit almost perfectly into WH40K wouldn’t it? I hadn’t even thought of that at all. Great, now I’m going to be thinking of that every time I watch it again.

      Thank you. It just seems like the right ending to what is supposed to be a horror film.

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    1. I do wish there were more like this. I thought the Pinhead in Space movie might get to this level, but sadly, it really went down the tried and true path of horror as crap path 😦

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  10. I’ve been meaning to re-watch this movie for a while. Think I saw it when it came out? Or maybe on video? I remember – as with a lot of horror movies – that it started out strong, but then got Increasingly silly. The latter is what has stopped me watching it up until now. And yeah, Sam Neill is excellent.

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    1. I can’t handle visual horror, so the silly doesn’t bother me because it allows me to get through the whole movie. But I do need some cerebral horror. Which is why the King in Yellow anthologies seem to work so well for me. It’s brain horror, not necessarily gore horror….

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  12. I started this and found it very very scary and didn’t end up finishing it. I think it’s the environment of the ship … how every room is cold and cheerless, and how all the circuitry and stuff lends itself to the paranormal. But having watched about half of it, I agree with you that the crew ought to get caught in a time loop or something like that. That would fulfil the premise of the movie.

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    1. And that’s another thing about horror movies. What one person can handle no problem another can’t at all. I can’t handle most horror stuff, but for some reason this works perfectly fine for me.

      It really felt like the movie took the easy way out instead of the horror way out…

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