"Hell in space."
(aka
Do You See?)
Release Date: August 15th, 1997.
Country: USA.
Rating: R.
Written by: Philip Eisner.
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson.
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, and Sean Pertwee.
It's always amazed me how much critics hated this movie, and how audiences didn't respond to it at all, when it was released back in
1997. Now, a lot of critics are stodgy old bores who can never seem to truly enjoy a movie unless it's set in
14th Century England, so I don't tend to give a shit what they say about most
Genre flicks, but
Event Horizon is not anywhere near the piece of shit that they all made it out to be. In fact, it's one of the coolest
Horror flicks to come out of the
90's, and one hell of a good time.
So screw them.
Space, 2040: The
Event Horizon, a deep exploration starship, disappears on its maiden mission to
Proxima Centauri. Where did it go, you ask? Hell, but we'll get to that later.
 |
| AH, THERE SHE IS. |
Space, 2047: The rescue ship
Lewis and Clark is sent to
Neptune to answer a distress signal, which unbeknownst to them is coming from the
Event Horizon, which has suddenly reappeared out of nowhere after 7 years. The ship's creator,
Dr. Weir is on board, and he's determined to find out what happened to his baby and bring her home.
 |
| DR. WEIR IS AN ASSHOLE, BY THE WAY. |
When the crew of the
Lewis and Clark boards the
Event Horizon to get her back on-line and get some answers, it comes alive, and all hell breaks loose, literally. Like we said above, the ship went to hell (or a really hellish alternate dimension) when it disappeared, and it brought something back with it. Do you see?
Hell
on Earth in space ensues.
 |
| OH YES, WE SEE. |
Event Horizon is one of those movies that we loved when we first saw it in theaters back in
1997, while it seemed to be hated by everyone else. Now, that's not because we're so enlightened that we "got" what a great movie it was, and everyone else was missing the boat, but because it just spoke to us in all the right ways. And because we got it and they didn't, because "they" have shitty taste, and we don't.
Yes, it's a bit melodramatic and over-the-top in the acting department at times, and it's not very scientifically accurate, but it was a bloody, exciting ride that sucked us in and made us hungry for more.
It's packed full of bloody & gory scenes and disturbing imagery; it's got a likable cast, most of whom meet their ends in nasty ways; it's suitably creepy; the ship looks fantastic, as do the glimpses of
Hell that we get; and it just doesn't ever let up on any of those things. It's a disturbing
Haunted House story set in space. What's not to love about that?
 |
| PLUS, LARRY FISHBURNE. HOW AWESOME IS HE? |
Did we mention that
Dr. Weir was an asshole?
 |
| KILL HIM! |
This movie was cut pretty heavily when it first came out due to test audiences complaining that it was too gory and violent, which makes no sense, because it's a frigging
Horror movie, but I digress...
Point is that somewhere out there (supposedly) is a bunch of footage that would make for a pretty gnarly
Unrated Cut, but due to the fact that the studio didn't give a shit about this movie after its poor reception, we'll probably never see it assembled into anything watchable. That's a damn shame.
 |
| WAS IT RAPE? WE MAY NEVER KNOW... |
Even though a lot of it is shown in quick flashes, there's plenty of blood & gore throughout this one to keep most
Gorehounds happy.
 |
| I MEAN, THAT'S A LOT OF BLOOD. |
There's some nudity in this one, but it's not of the sexy variety.
 |
| POOR GIRL DIED HALF-NAKED. |
Event Horizon looks pretty damned good in this
2:35:1, 1080p/AVC transfer. The special effects look a bit dated in parts, but overall this is a gorgeously shot movie with some great
VFX that really shine in crisp detail on this disc. The
Dolby TruHD 5.1 audio track complements the visuals perfectly, making it even more of an immersive experience than it already was.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Paul W.S. Anderson
- The Making of Event Horizon (SD, 103 minutes)
- The Point of No Return (SD, 8 minutes)
- Deleted/Extended Scenes (SD, 10 minutes)
- The Unseen (SD, 7 minutes)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2 minutes)
Overall, for under
$10, this is an excellent catalogue title that should be a part of any
Horror Fan's collection.
 |
| POOR BABY BIRD... |
Simply put,
Event Horizon is one of the best
Horror movies of the
90's, and one of our favorite fright flicks set in space. It's eerie, disturbing, gory, and all kinds of exciting, and even though it's attained a bit of a cult status over the years, it's still severely underrated.
If you have yet to take a ride through space and
Hell with the
Event Horizon, you should rectify that omission now.
A-
Event Horizon is available now on
Blu-ray,
DVD, and
VOD.
Along with its
Demons, the
Event Horizon was also populated with a few
Angels.
When this came out, I don't think I was even watching TV much, and didn't even know that it was supposed to be a flop. I don't even know where they are getting any of this negativity from. I don't see it. The movie was creepy as hell then, and still is today.
ReplyDeleteI always pictured a play on the video game Doom that was popular at the time, and the Hellraiser: Bloodlines. They seemed to take elements from them, but maybe it was just coincidence.
A great review for a fantastic movie. A while ago I watched it and went through the "hell flashes" on a pause. THe imagery is brilliant and very twisted.
ReplyDeleteOh - and it's always great to see a NZ/Oz actor (Sam Neil) NOT having to fake a US or UK accent :)
I've never understood why this wasn't a bigger hit. It had a great cast, very nice cinematography, some nifty FX...it really should have had a bigger following than it did, but for some reason audiences just stayed away in droves.
ReplyDeleteI remember going into the theater having no prior word of mouth about it. I had a very non-horror movie friend who thought it was going to be a "2001 A.S.O.-ish" type of movie. I'd like to think of myself as being a ready for anything kind of guy, but some of the imagery tapped into something primal. Maybe it was my over active imagination or the cough syrup but it's one of the few flicks that messed with me when I first saw it. The person I went with wanted to leave after the halfway point and was one of those haters you talked about. After a few watches it's doesn't have the same effect. Parts of "Sunshine" hits me the same way. Space is a scary place.
ReplyDeletePeople going outside airlocks and experiencing so-called "explosive decompression" is always a good ploy in the horror space realm. Gas bubbles expanding your flesh at the same time your being flash frozen and radiated. Just remember wrap all exposed flesh with pipe insulation,don't open eyes/mouth and blow all the O2 out of your lungs.You have 6 seconds to get where your going.Open the air lock Mama Bear.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Even if it isn't represented with 100% scientific accuracy, it's a fun ploy.
DeleteMamaBear messed up lol