Great Sci-Fi/Horror Combination!

Rating: 8/10 (29 January 2001)

Event Horizon is a great movie, and a masterful combination of science fiction and horror. This movie has it all, great special effects, excellent actors, fantastic set design, good story line. When I heard about this movie I knew the movie makers tried to basically create a "haunted space ship." So I had my doubts. But when I saw the movie I was very impressed. They definitely succeeded! The Event Horizon is scary, but very convincing as an actual space vehicle. I liked the originality of this film. A lot of people were turned off by the premise of a genuine horror movie. I think people went to the movie expecting to see some kind of alien incarnation, and when they didn't see that, they felt short changed. But to me, this is a strong point. The whole idea of a blood thirsty alien stowing away onboard a space ship and eating the crew one by one, has been done a million times. So I really felt like this movie successfully broke new ground. Its very original and very scary.
However there were some bad points in the movie, too. The part where the character of Justin floats out in to space was not very realistic. He actually exits the air lock without a space suit on, and is exposed to the icy vacuum of space...but he survives! Impossible. Scientifically speaking, his lungs would have been instantly collapsed and the nitrogen in his blood would fizz up, like a can of soda that has been shaken too much and suddenly opened. The next part of the movie that is really weak is the part where Cooper gets blown out in to space and then "surfs" back to the Event Horizon by blowing his air tanks. If you have seen John Carpenter's "DARK STAR" this part will remind you of the end of "DARK STAR" when the astronaught surfs in to the planet's atmosphere.
Other than those two weak points, EVENT HORIZON is a very good movie. A scare fest full of originality and some refreshingly gory scenes. If you are a fan of science fiction movies, you need to see this movie. The ships are great, the set design is fascinating, the ideas about space travel are new and even thought provoking, the scares keep you on the edge of your seat, and its really spooky.
By the way, does anybody else see the similarities between Lawrence Fishburn's role in this movie and his role in THE MATRIX?