Creepy at times.

Rating: 7/10 (14 September 2013)

Right from the beginning, it may be clear that "Event Horizon" owes a pretty big debt to "Alien" (but then, so do many other post-1979 films) but it does have a fairly interesting story and it does live up to the word "horror". It gets substantially unnerving and creates some wonderfully horrific imagery. In fact, as films of this type go, it's a pleasure in terms of the visuals - special effects, sets, cinematography. Devotees of these genres should find it to be solid if not exceptional entertainment. They may find the "science" ludicrous, but still be amused.
In the year 2047, an exploratory spaceship, the "Event Horizon" of the title, has reappeared after having been lost for seven years. A U.S.A.C. team is launched to find out what happened, and rescue any possible survivors. They do this in the company of the ships' designer, William Weir (Sam Neill), who has a tragedy in his past, and members of the team bring their own baggage to the situation, with no-nonsense Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) in charge of the mission. What they learn is that the ship now seems to be "alive", and aware of what has happened in the teams' pasts.
The script by Philip Eisner is not without humour, but it mostly plays things straight, and the cast performs it with real gravity. Fishburne is good as a rock-solid type of man, while Neill gets a chance to tear into the scenery as Weir becomes more and more deranged. Kathleen Quinlan is affecting as Peters, who is having to deal with child custody issues in her personal life. Joely Richardson is good as efficient team member Starck, and Richard T. Jones, Jack Noseworthy, Jason Isaacs, and Sean Pertwee round out the cast.
Things get off to a nice start with Paramount putting a fun spin on their standard logo sequence, and director Paul Anderson guides everything with style.
"Event Horizon" may be derivative in some ways, but it moves along well and is never dull.
Seven out of 10.