Irony

Rating: 9/10 (2 April 2005)

The irony being that Paul Anderson having done so many video game to movie translations (Resident Evil, Alien vs Predator) has probably delivered the best movie of Doom that will ever be made. And it isn't even Doom.
Doom is a classic video game about man using super technology to meddle with things best left alone. Portals are opened which spew satanic hordes creating an interesting mix of the technological and the arcane. The Doom movie out this summer looks to have dropped that bit entirely, instead relying on a run of the mill "people infected by virus" excuse for all the killing. The essence of that clash though is still here in the criminally underrated Event Horizon.
In Event Horizon a spaceship (of the same name) is finally found after having disappeared for several years. It seems it was conducting experiments in faster then light travel - using wormholes to travel huge distances instantly. However it may have traveled to a place no one us would dare to go. And brought back something with it...
Event Horizon is a creepy horror film that doesn't rely on a CGI monster revelation at the end to get it scares. The ship itself is shaped like a cross and is itself a Gothic labyrinth. I have to confess I didn't know much about this film until I watched it thinking it was a run of the mill sci fi movie. The tension builds slowly and effectively and it has a terrific ending. The mix of hellish imagery and futuristic sci fi is a fascinating clash for me personally which is why I found myself loving this film.
Paul Anderson gets a lot of stick, but don't let that put you off watching this. I've even liked Resident Evil (because I loved the videogames) and Alien vs Predator. So you can see I have a penchant for liking films which have been critically raped. Event Horizon hasn't been put through the grinder as much as the previous films but I feel it still gets unnecessary criticism, a lot of it needless "I don't need to watch it! Its Paul Anderson!" type stuff.
I still hate Soldier mind you.