Event Horizon

In recognition of Sam Neill’s passing, we’re taking a look at the side of his career that gets less attention from the mainstream – the horror film. And Sam tended to lean into the weird ones. After disappearing for seven years, revolutionary spaceship Event Horizon is rediscovered. The team of scientists sent to investigate find that the entire crew is dead, and a terrifying, malevolent presence is lurking on board.

Review from Screenage Wasteland

The crew of the rescue ship Lewis & Clarke is outbound to Neptune, on a long-haul mission to investigate the fate of another ship – the eponymous Event Horizon. Also on board is Dr. Weir (Sam Neil), the man who designed and built the ship. Weir reveals that Event Horizon – publicly declared destroyed in a terrible accident – was actually fitted with an experimental gravity drive. The ship engaged the drive and disappeared 7 years ago – now it’s back and it’s the Lewis & Clarke’s job to find out what happened to the ship and its crew.

Considering this film was greenlit something like 10 weeks before the start of production I’d say the production design is pretty damn good. Event Horizon itself, both inside and out, has an oppressive, gothic feel. I especially like the bridge, with its massive pillars and tall, thin windows. It looks vaguely like a cathedral, and not unlike the main ship in one of my other guilty favorites – The Black Hole. The gravity drive itself is baroque and impressive – and the last few times I’ve watched the film I find myself thinking about how much it looks like something out of Hellraiser. (Just throw Pin-Head in the background and it’s a party.) The entire set seems to weigh down on the actors and the extensive use of floor lighting exacerbates this, creating a looming darkness above.

At the time Event Horizon came out I would tell people it was the most Lovecraftian non-Lovecraft film I’d ever seen, and I think that assessment still holds up. The ship has been ‘beyond’ and is not the same when it comes back. Through the gate is something too much for human comprehension – it’s Something Man Was Not Meant to Know. There’s a great little bit of dialogue when Justin is pulled back from the ‘gateway’:

“He’s coming!”

“Who’s coming?”

“The Dark.”

Read the rest of the review from Bob Cram here...