Can Paul Anderson direct?

Rating: 4/10 (6 November 1999)

Having seen Event Horizon it must rank as a major disappointment. With the interesting cast and the spooky storyline my hopes were high only to be let down by a Director out of his depth. Perhaps I'm being too critical of Paul Anderson but all his films have left me feeling empty and cheated e.g. take your pick from Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon and soldier. The main problem with Event Horizon is its melting pot of ideas. It seems the film doesn't know whether it wants to be Alien, Hellraiser or the Exorcist. Eventually it just ends up being an expensive mix of stolen ideas and themes all used to illeffect.
At times the film was creepy and did have the odd jump out of your seat moment, not to forget the feeling of gloom and dread present throughout the whole film. But the film was way too short and the script laughable. Given the sheer scale of the Event Horizon ship why does it take the crew 10 min to check it out and why does the audience only get to see 4 different rooms? The only answer I can come up with was budget limitations. As for the ending well what was the point of watching the film? Perhaps Anderson should try to direct more films without special effects. Maybe then he will be able to actually construct a film, not just a string of special effects moulded together with bland dialogue.......4