Event Horizon (1997)
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 95m
Director: Paul Anderson
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Joely Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs
Synopsis:
In the year 2040 a space ship equipped with a zero gravity drive, so that it can bend space and travel immense distances through the 'wormholes' thus created, disappears off Neptune. Seven years later another ship is sent to investigate when a signal is suddenly received from the Event Horizon...
Review:
The essential dramatic structure is similar to that of Alien, as indeed is the innovation of incorporating horror movie tropes into an essentially science fiction movie. As in Disney's The Black Hole, the hole created by the zero gravity drive turns out to be a gateway to something resembling Hell, and there are plenty of borrowings from The Shining, too. The marriage of science and Satanism, or whatever one chooses to call it - 'ultimate evil' in this case - remains an uneasy one, however, and the film loses its intrigue at about the same time as our suspicions become confirmed. Formula gives way to silliness, as characters do exactly what they shouldn't, and we are left screaming for it all to stop. Some nice production design does not redeem this derivative mess.
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 95m
Director: Paul Anderson
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Joely Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs
Synopsis:
In the year 2040 a space ship equipped with a zero gravity drive, so that it can bend space and travel immense distances through the 'wormholes' thus created, disappears off Neptune. Seven years later another ship is sent to investigate when a signal is suddenly received from the Event Horizon...
Review:
The essential dramatic structure is similar to that of Alien, as indeed is the innovation of incorporating horror movie tropes into an essentially science fiction movie. As in Disney's The Black Hole, the hole created by the zero gravity drive turns out to be a gateway to something resembling Hell, and there are plenty of borrowings from The Shining, too. The marriage of science and Satanism, or whatever one chooses to call it - 'ultimate evil' in this case - remains an uneasy one, however, and the film loses its intrigue at about the same time as our suspicions become confirmed. Formula gives way to silliness, as characters do exactly what they shouldn't, and we are left screaming for it all to stop. Some nice production design does not redeem this derivative mess.
Country: US
Technical: col/scope 95m
Director: Paul Anderson
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Joely Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Jason Isaacs
Synopsis:
In the year 2040 a space ship equipped with a zero gravity drive, so that it can bend space and travel immense distances through the 'wormholes' thus created, disappears off Neptune. Seven years later another ship is sent to investigate when a signal is suddenly received from the Event Horizon...
Review:
The essential dramatic structure is similar to that of Alien, as indeed is the innovation of incorporating horror movie tropes into an essentially science fiction movie. As in Disney's The Black Hole, the hole created by the zero gravity drive turns out to be a gateway to something resembling Hell, and there are plenty of borrowings from The Shining, too. The marriage of science and Satanism, or whatever one chooses to call it - 'ultimate evil' in this case - remains an uneasy one, however, and the film loses its intrigue at about the same time as our suspicions become confirmed. Formula gives way to silliness, as characters do exactly what they shouldn't, and we are left screaming for it all to stop. Some nice production design does not redeem this derivative mess.