Great Climax, But Otherwise Unmemorable

Rating: 6/10 (13 June 2012)

I was drawn to Event Horizon largely on the basis of deleted scenes I had seen on YouTube, particularly the famous orgy of destruction sequence. Although the climax lived up to the expectations this scene created, the rest of the film was middling at best. The plot involves a rescue mission sent out after the long lost space ship Event Horizon reappears.
The film's main selling point, other than its genuinely unsettling climax, is the presence of talented actors like Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, which takes the film up a notch. Indeed, the film's early scenes give it a gritty realism, as the characters genuinely act like members of the military on an unexpected mission. However, there is not enough character development for the actors to work with, except for the Captain and Weir.
Furthermore, much of the imagery is clearly lifted from earlier films like Hellraiser and The Shining. Although Paul W. S. Anderson deserves credit for not turning the film into an Alien rip off, most of the film does not come across as particularly original.
The climax, with its visions of hell, earns the film a lot of slack, nonetheless. Heavily influenced by Hellraiser, it still manages to pack quite a wallop and will unnerve even veteran horror fans. Had the rest of the film included the deleted footage in the same vein, it would have been a classic.