Review: Event Horizon (1997)
By William Pattison
This time I got the best film to ever combine Gothic Horror
and science fiction on the big screen.
The year is 2047 and a ship named the Event Horizon has
re-appeared after disappearing seven years prior, in experiments for
faster-than-light travel. A rescue vessel hastily speeds to the returned vessel
after a transmission is picked up from the ship, garbled but vaguely resembling
a human voice. As the crew reaches the ship and spends longer on it, it appears
that someone or something is toying with them, and more, the question is what
has the Event Horizon become?
There have been many science fiction films that cross
over into the horror genre, for example The Fly, The Thing and Alien to mention
three good examples. Yet for me this film is one of the best examples of a crossover
between sci Fi and horror. This film literally takes the idea of a haunted
house and a gateway to hell and presents it in a way that is stunningly Gothic
and horrifyingly atmospheric and psychological.
The experimental ship, The Event Horizon blends espects
of old ghost ship mythology with Catholic imagry and even aspects that remind
us of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser films.
The connection to Barker is obvious since it was Clive
who first took on this project with the plan of actually making this film
Hellraiser in space. Unfortunately problems with production happened and Barker
eventually walked away from the project. Later Clive did get his Hellraiser in
space but it was part of the Hellraiser anthology film Hellraiser Bloodline.
This film was handed off three more times before finally getting hot. Still
much ofBarker’s influence still remains and the film is actually better for it.
The Barker factor made this film bloody, drutal, and heavily psychological.
As I said, this film is loaded with religious imagery.
The very Event Horizon ship is shaped like cross. Also the interiors of the
ship have almost a Gothic cathedral feel it it.
In this film the ship itself is a character. It has been
corrupted by traveling into a universe of chaos where pain and torture is all
there is, literally Hell. Given the corruption the ship can bring out the
frears, trauma, and guilt from the rescue party and it does it in spades. One
member of the resue crew tried to commit suicide by leaving the ship without a
spacesuite.the main character,Doctor Weir goes insane and turns himself into a
vision of Hell itself.
If you like films like Hellraiser as well as haunted
house films this is a film you must experience this film. It is
AWESOMTACULAR!!!
