During its original run at the box-office, Event Horizon received a lot of negative criticism, due to its gratuitious portrayal of gore and violence. It was unfairly dismissed as a combination of Alien and Hellraiser. But with time, it has garnered its well deserved reverence from scifi and horror afficianados as well building a cult following amongst movie geeks. Perhaps, it was a movie way ahead of its time. Because when you see a Blu-Ray feature of this film, even today, the sets, the ambience, the music, the violence and the effects – all gleam a very 2011 production, and not remind us of a late 90s retro-feeling scifi. It is quite surprising that the man who created this excellent film, then went on to make the not-so-impressive AVP and Resident Evil films.
The story:
The year is 2047, when the rescue ship Lewis and Clark manned with a handful of members comprising of a scientist, doctor and engineers, are sent to answer a distress signal received from a starship Event Horizon. Dr.William Weir, who built Event Horizon (EH) is a part of the team, and he reveals, how EH was built to test an experimental gravity drive, thus creating an artificial black hole. This would enable them to use the gravitational power of the black hole to bridge two points in spacetime, and greatly reduce travel time between astronomical distances.
Upon arrival at EH, the team starts searching for survivors and also come face to face with a series of revelations about themselves, their team mates and a whole new lifeforce.
**Warning : Spoilers ahead**
Here are a few points that I’d like to point out about this movie.
1. The SciFi bit.
The idea of travelling faster than light is explained with as much clarity as possible. And the credibility of this explanation comes with the stamp of the Spaceship designer Dr. William Weir (Sam Neil). His explanation of the spacetime warp by the creation of a gateway, which simulates the gravitational power of the black hole, enabling a bridge between two points in spacetime – that’s exactly the kind of stuff that makes my brain go – WOW. Although, I am not sure if travelling faster than light would result in being able to travel in two points in space, or time. As in, wuold that be time travel too.
2. The Chaos dimension.
As previously discussed, at the core of the spaceship is a singularity, gateway opens and EH is led to a new dimension / another part of the universe (which is a bit confusing since they mention both). This new dimension is one which can be summed up by one word – Hell. Everything is evil, chaotic, bloody violent, and when EH returns, it has an evil conscience of its own which plays on the fears, sins and the past lives of the crew members. Of course I have not been through a blackhole to be able to vouch for what exactly happens or what is on the other end. But after seeing this, I surely am not a big fan of spacetime travel anymore.
3. Fear of the Unknown.
There have been many movies which classify as horror gems just because it is left to the viewers interpretation as to what exactly is the monster / evil. There are no predatory alien hunter on the loose creeping up from the behind. It is almost in the same vein as a haunted house movie, but without the cheap tricks. Ok, maybe there are a few, but the way Anderson pulls it off is brilliant and smart. It effectively keeps you at the edge of your seat. The horror here is more psychological, bordering on playing with claustrophobia, anxiety and paranoia. The ambiguity of what exactly is terrorizing their minds, the devils of their pasts, and what exists on the other side is one big mindfuck that never fails to hit you.
4. The sets, design.
One of the key elements of a spaceship movie is the detailed art design. And EH can proudly boast of being one of the best in the history of space movies. The above two screenshots are proof enough of the sheer magnitude of work that has gone toward this. The set is designed brilliantly, keeping in mind the various key plots and point of the events that occur in the movie. The ship is modelled on the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, and you wonder why! Just for its sheer size, and clever play on key elements of lights, sounds to create deliciously claustrophobic moments, this movie should serve as a text book for art designers.
5. The SFX.
As I have emphasized over and over again, this movie was really, way ahead of its time, and for a movie made in 1997, the SFX here are groundbreaking even today. From picturesque anti-gravity space walks to mighty explosions to even an awesome depiction of – What happens if you find yourself in space, without a spacesuit, the SFX team have done an awesome job.
6. Action, Violence, Gore.
The art of creating onscreen violence has often been nicknamed torture porn, thanks to the advent of a series of low-budget Eli Roth movies and the Saw series. But Event Horizon was made way before that. Hell, this came before Ichi, the killer (2001). The scenes depicted here are not for the faint hearted, ranging from violent mutilation and eating off one’s arms or piercing through one’s own eyes to even hanging someone through hooks piercing through the skin of the back whilst the gut is cut open wide and left exposed. The make up is brilliant and Sam Neil is almost convincing as a pinhead step-brother in his scratch-face avatar.
It goes without saying that this is a must watch for all fans of scifi and horror fans. It is without any doubt, one of the most effectively disturbing movies, which has a B-movie charm, and the grandeur of a scifi epic. The atmosphere in this film is fucking brilliant, and the idea of a hell dimension is just creepy. Watch it now. YOU HAVE BEEN DULY WARNED!!!
9e3k Rating: 10 out of 10 awesome Space Ass-Kicking Suits.
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