Not bad, but could have been so much more

Rating: 6/10 (10 February 2014)

Originally conceived as THE SHINING in space, by the end I think EVENT HORIZON has become more like HELLRAISER in space, although of course one of the later HELLRAISER movies was just that. This is an intriguing and interesting sci-fi/horror movie that initially feels like an ALIEN clone before becoming something else quite different.
The problem is that the story is sadly flawed, spending too much time on all-too-familiar situations and not enough time on the true horror envisaged by the screenwriter. It seems to take the crew an age to get to their destination, and even when stuff is finally happening, the ending is quite choppy. Apparently, 20 minutes of violent footage were excised after a poor reaction from the test audience, which I think is a real shame.
Another problem lies in the choice of director Paul W. S. Anderson, who is and has been one of the worst directors working in Hollywood in recent years. This and DEATH RACE are the only films I truly like of his, and even in these two movies his direction is poor and over the top. The laboured comic relief is particularly noticeable here.
It's a pity, because the story has real potential, with undertones of Clive Barker and H. P. Lovecraft on occasion. The cast is decent too, with nice performances from the reliable Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, as well as turns from the underrated Sean Pertwee and Jason Isaacs. I hope that an extended director's cut may surface one day and add more to the experience.