Is it a mediocre horror movie or a horrible sci-fi movie? It's both!

Rating: 1/10 (12 June 2017)

Just saw this on one of those cable channels that shows uncut movies, and now I remember why I avoided seeing it for so many years.
It starts out OK apart from the cheesy opening credits sequence that probably looked pretty cool in 1997 but looks really dated now (as do most of the computer generated effects in the movie). A space ship called the Event Horizon, which was presumed lost seven years ago has unexpectedly sent out a distress signal from Neptune. A rescue team is dispatched along with a scientist who, early in the film, explains that he invented the special drive that was supposed to let Event Horizon open a hole in the fabric of space-time and jump directly to a neighboring star. So far, so good - seems like it could be an interesting sci-fi movie, although there are many signs that it's actually a horror movie, including the fact that the Event Horizon was apparently designed to look like a haunted castle floating in space. And it's actually "orbiting" within the atmosphere of Neptune. But whatever.
HERE'S THE BIG SPOILER - and I reveal it only because if, like me, you were hoping this would be a decent sci-fi flick, this should put you right off it - the hole that Event Horizon opened didn't lead to a neighboring star. It went, literally, to hell. And after causing the original crew to murder each other in gory, ritualistic ways, it has come back to our universe looking for more victims.
OK, say you're willing to buy into that as a horror film plot. Even then this movie is terrible because it basically just lifts plot elements and visual elements from Alien, Stargate, The Shining and a host of other, better films. And then throws in a bunch of jump scares - sudden loud noises, flashing lights, etc - and tons of gore. Nearly everything in this movie is a cliché that you've probably seen elsewhere, and if you're not able to fully predict how the second half is going to play out, then you've never watched a horror movie before.
The movie really wasn't even worth the amount of time it took to write this review, but I was shocked when I looked it up on IMDb and saw people giving it 8, 9 and 10 star reviews. It is DEFINITELY not that good, even if you like horror movies. Maybe a two or three at best.