sci-fi haunted ship horror had potential

Rating: 6/10 (8 August 2015)

The first permanent moon base is established in 2015 and commercial mining on Mars begins in 2032. In 2040, research vessel Event Horizon is launched. It disappears past Neptune. In 2047, spaceship Lewis and Clark is sent to investigate. The crew consists of Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne), Lieutenant Starck (Joely Richardson), pilot Smith (Sean Pertwee), Medical Technician Peters (Kathleen Quinlan), Engineer Ensign Justin (Jack Noseworthy), Rescue Technician Cooper (Richard T. Jones), and Trauma Doctor D.J. (Jason Isaacs). Event Horizon's designer Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill) joins them and tells the crew about its innovative gravity drive.
The design is interesting and this has the potential to be a pretty good sci-fi horror. This is essentially a haunted house but the chaos overwhelms the movie. Sam Neill doesn't really fit as the mad scientist type. That role needs somebody creepier. Captain Miller is too clueless. In fact, Starck is a smarter character and in a better movie, she would be revealed as the lead. This movie has a great cast, an interesting look and great potential. It's too bad that it's not actually that good.