Astounding

Rating: 10/10 (18 April 2004)

To this day, I would and always will rate this film as the best horror flick of all time. Make that, scariest film of all time. Either way. When I'd first heard of Event Horizon, I was in sixth grade going on seventh. I liked Sam Neill's stuff ever since Jurassic Park, so I went for a ride in this movie, expecting he would be the brave hero.
Spoiler Alert
I was mistaken. What I received was actually one of the best performances a villain can give. Sure, he was the scientist in the beginning, but ultimately went mad due to so many things around him. I could imagine no other person, to this day, that could fill Neill's shoes as Dr. Weir.
I'll start with the movie itself. Terrifying, if you really try thinking about it. Not just sitting down to fall asleep to something, although I can't imagine why you'd choose this one. I love the way the story starts out, where you're in an already scary environment, space. Like no other horror, space is finally being used to great extents. Thus being the setting for what would become truly horrific. You start with a basic rescue operation, move to the site, and get trapped with these poor people. The thing that intrigued me the most was that these killings were based on a fear.
Peters' fear of her sick child, Justin being afraid of being alone, Weir with his deceased wife, and Miller with his dead burning friend that he left behind. All of these heroes were pre-scarred, much like in real life, we carry around all this emotional, and sometimes physically draining, baggage. Event Horizon reflects that.
It just so happens they are also on a ship that tore a hole in our universe', and led itself to Hell. I loved that concept, one of the unknown. We fathom the unknown as humans. A black hole especially. One must come to ask themselves what is out there, and what if we were to tamper with it.
Next, I must say the acting is brilliant. Sam Neill stepping up to a different type of role, and slamming it out of the park. I was truly creeped out to see him tear his own eyes from his skull, then blow up the only chance of escape with pilot still inside, and finally to play surgeon on the ship's medic. Ironies, you'll note. It was Smith's, the pilot's, fear of getting out of there that caused him to blow up with the vessel. It was a medic's job that got himself killed. This was also the first time I had ever heard of Lawrence Fishburne. Great stuff, though. He accurately portrayed a broken man trying to help his entire crew out, even if it meant giving his own life just to save one of them.
A final note on the direction. It took Paul Anderson a lot of courage to take on a project like this. Did you know that it was a book? A great book as well. His adaptations to almost impossible imagery were astounding. Let alone his instincts on casting. All in all, you can't get any better than Event Horizon. So, before you start criticizing its gore ethic, think about the story itself, Hell is involved. Make sure you've researched a film of this genre enough before complaining about certain inequities. Science fiction must be studied, not viewed upon a single time, then cast away.
10 out of 10