An underrated gem...

Rating: 7/10 (1 April 2009)

Director Paul Anderson has let me down on a number of occasions but Event Horizon is not of of them. In fact, this entertaining adventure in space is his best film.
The main reason Event Horizon is such a success is that it visits many genres, jumping nicely from one to the other. At its heart is "horror in space". Science-fiction with overtones of HP Lovecraft and Clive Barker. But the key to Event Horizon is that it always aims to entertain and never takes itself seriously. We don't dwell too much on the science, it's just made as evocative as possible for the story to work. The characters are sketched just enough for us to care about them, but Anderson is aware this isn't a character drama, so again doesn't lose too much time with sappy backstories. It helps that the cast absolutely rocks. The brilliant Sam Neill, Larry Fishburne, Joely Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan and the very underrated Jason Isaacs. Despite the high tension and graphic horror, Even Horizon even has well-placed humorous bits, thanks in great part to the character of Cooper (played hilariously by Richard T. Jones).
The architecture and science behind the ship (called the Event Horizon) is simply beautiful and great and contributes to the thrill ride. The ship itself becomes a character. The direction itself is a little sloppy. Some scenes rather uninspired and the editing a bit sloppy. Anderson hints in interviews that the film needed to be rushed due to studio pressure and since a lot of footage has apparently been lost, no true "director's cut" will ever do it proper justice.
What we are left with is a movie that is too entertaining to pass, especially for fans of horror and sci-fi. Repeated viewings show that the film has very few dull moments. A solid and unique entry that inspired subsequent films (such as Sunshine).
Highly recommended if you do not take your sci-fi too seriously.