Decent enough Sci-Fi Chiller that's a fairly entertaining watch.

Rating: 5/10 (23 April 2005)

Some explanatory on screen text informs the viewer that the Event Horizon was a one-of-a-kind spacecraft designed for faster than light travel that disappeared in the year 2040 somewhere near the planet Neptune. We are then told that it's '2047...now'. Seven years after it disappeared without trace a source of transmission from the Event Horizon has been detected & traced to the orbit of Neptune. The Event Horizon's creator Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill) is sent to investigate in a search & rescue ship called the Lewis and Clarke along with it's crew. The Lewis and Clarke is Captained by Joe Miller (Laurence Fishburne), his crew consists of second in command Lieutenant Starck (Joely Richardson), two engineers Smith (Sean Pertwee) & Justin (Jack Noseworthy), two medics D.J. (Jason Isaacs) & Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) plus a rescue technician named Cooper (Richard T. Jones). 56 days after leaving Earth they reach Neptune & locate the Event Horizon. They dock & Captain Miller, Peters & Justin enter the seemingly deserted spaceship. Captain Miller finds a dead mutilated body floating around & lots of blood stains on the bridge. Meanwhile Justin explores the engineering section of the Event Horizon where the core is situated, a piece of machinery which causes a sort of black hole to appear by which the Event Horizon is able to travel from any point to any other point almost instantly. Justin is sucked into the core & thrown back out again shortly after. In the ensuing panic & commotion the Lewis and Clarke is damaged, Captain Miller orders everyone on-board the Event Horizon to discuss the situation. It appears that the Event Horizon only has enough air left for 20 hours, Justin is alive but in a very bad condition & eventually tries to commit suicide by throwing himself out of an airlock. Captain Miller orders everyone to pull together, repair the Lewis and Clarke in time & make it back home safely. As the hours pass the team on-board the Event Horizon start to see visions, disturbing visions that are personally related to them. Searching through the Event Horizon's Captain John Kilpack's (Peter Marinker) video log they discover some terrifying & chilling footage that makes everyone in a big hurry to leave. Except, that is, Dr. Weir who appears to start & become possessed by his creation & isn't so keen on leaving her behind...
Directed by Paul W.S. Anderson I thought Event Horizon was a decent enough Sci-Fi horror that wasn't brilliant but wasn't bad either. The biggest problem with Event Horizon is the script by Philip Eisner which is a bit of a mess. Nothing is explained satisfactorily in my opinion, it's all very vague & underdeveloped. After I finished watching Event Horizon I had more questions than answers like where did the Event Horizon go for seven years exactly? What has it brought back? What is this evils motivation for doing what it does? When these strange things start to happen & they start to realise that the Event Horizon is responsible why don't they just all stay in the Lewis and Clarke until the repairs are complete? I just didn't get Dr. Weir's motivations, he barely does anything or has any meaningful involvement apart from talking about technical mumbo-jumbo for most of the film & then just suddenly loses his marbles or becomes possessed & until this point we know very little about him so for him to suddenly turn into the bad guy felt empty almost. I didn't like the threat the team encounters, it was very unfocused & not scary or real like say the Alien from Alien (1979). There are other points throughout that I wasn't too happy about either but I won't bother going into them here. And why did the script have to include a typical annoying comedy relief character who swears & comes out with various childish one-liners which are at odds with the rest of the dialogue & characters in the film. Event Horizon also reminds me strongly of Aliens (1986) in it's set up, plot devices & all round feel. Unfortunately Event Horizon doesn't have the tension or excitement. One thing that Event Horizon's script does have going for it is the fact that it moves along like a rocket & is never dull or boring, something is always happening. The production design credited to Joseph Bennett is generally very good throughout Event Horizon with it's Gothic looking spaceship sets, I especially loved the design for the core itself & the room it's housed in. Acting is OK from all involved except that annoying idiot who plays Cooper, the comedy relief. The special effects are good, but there are one or two that don't hold up so well these days. There isn't much gore or violence in it, someone with their eyes poked out, someone sliced open and hanging on hooks & someone being exposed to an open airlock where their veins start to bulge & pop. There's a bit of female nudity as well. Event Horizon is well made & has a definite slickness about it, just a shame about that script really. Overall I liked it for sure, but I didn't love it as there were to many vague points that didn't work for me. I just didn't like the evil force, give me a guy in a rubber monster suit anytime over this wishy-washy pseudo hell nonsense. Definitely worth watching but there are better out there, having said that there are a lot worse as well & you couldn't really go wrong if you can find it going cheap or are able to catch it on T.V.