The Dark Within Us

Rating: 8/10 (8 October 2010)

I have just watched this movie again and I wanted to write a review on it. It is not a perfect film by any means. But it has a lot of fantasy thinking. The opening score of the film is very energetic with a mix between electronica style music and symphony with dark subtle undertones, it makes you feel that your on the last downward spiral of a really great roller coaster ride. And to ask a question, is the technology in this film based on fact or fiction? When I sit down to watch this movie it makes me believe every time that this kind of space travel might be plausible in the future. It is by any means a simple detective styled film, mixed in with horror and science fiction. An excellent combination by any standards of the film making process.
I think this is why the story works for me. The way I look at horror films in general, or any film actually, is do the main characters appearing on screen seem likable? Bad or Good. And in this film they are. Sam Neil is excellent as usual and also Lawrence Fishburn, which I admit to be a very strong believable character of the film. The supporting cast does exactly what they are suppose to do within their character range. As we are all introduced at the beginning of the film, as the captain introduces the crew to Dr. Weir's character, this is why this works. We get to know the characters and learn to like them. The only character in the film that I feel uncomfortable with is Sam Neil's character. With the beginning intro of his wife committing suicide. So you know right away that this person is unstable. You could call it foreshadowing. So right away you know this character might be trouble. Because eventually you find out that he is the weakest person of the crew, unknowingly to the rest of the characters.
The fact that the crew has no idea that what they are about to encounter makes this movie even more watchable. You feel how they feel confused and scared. Not knowing what is lurking in the bowels of the Event Horizon. It's like a being in a fugue state of mind, the flight or fright scenario. What would you do if you were seeing all these things that creep up to you from your bad past memories, contorting the them in front of you, and you know in your mind that maybe what you are seeing lifelike in front of your eyes, may or may not be true? Or is this unseen monster mocking your weaknesses? I would be frightened to these horrible visions. That's why I recommend this highly underrated film to everyone.
The reason being, you don't really ever get to see where the ship Event Horizon went, or what the old crew encountered. You never really get to see the monster, the only thing that is portrayed in this wonderfully written and directed film is our own inner demons. And I think even today in the year 2010 that this is the true formula of making a great film, it's the idea of the unknown, the mystery and suspense. In all great horror films you always like the characters, you sometimes find something even in the monster that you see in yourself. I think that it is very hard to write something like this and make you feel that through the filming process. This movie has the quality of being a classic. And I truly appreciate all the hard work that was put into this film through the great acting and excellent film direction. It's always a lot of fun to watch from time to time. And is part of my movie collection.