Event Horizon

Event Horizon...1997...96 minutes...rated R...starring Lawrence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Kathleen Quinlan, and Jason Isaacs...written by Philip Eisner...directed by Paul W. S. Anderson

It's the year 2047 and the "Lewis and Clark", a rescue starship, has been pulled off some needed leave to go on a classified mission. The mission turns out to be something that none of the rescue crew expect...the "Event Horizon" has been missing for 7 years, but a signal from it has been detected on the outer edge of the solar system. The mission is to find out what happened to both the missing ship and its crew...and accompanying the rescue team is the creator of the ship itself. As surprising as the return of the missing starship is, the mysteries that the ship holds within its massive structure are darker and deadlier than what the people of the "Lewis and Clark" could ever expect.

Another exercise in genre fusions, "Event Horizon" hit me in a couple of places that I wasn't expecting. Now to be fair, the first time that I watched this movie, I was alone in the movie theater at an afternoon matinee showing. As usual, the AC was cranked up...and it was quite chilly inside the dark auditorium. I found it to be an effective reinforcement of the cold abyss of space. Plus, the movie has kind of a theme with eyes...and anything to do with eyes in a horror movie just hits me in a visceral place.

Again, I know that people who can't stand their streams mixed will not like this movie...and that will include die-hard science fiction folk because the science in this movie is -hardly- what I would call pure. I don't have a problem with this state of affairs, but for some I understand that there's too much suspension of disbelief. Also I will say that there are several rapid-picture sequences that can make some people's eyes rather unhappy, so be warned.

So why do I like it? For one, look at the cast. Many of the primary players are people who I could watch read the phone book, so of course I would enjoy seeing them perform with each other. (As an aside, I do like the fact that this is the first time I remember seeing the actor soon to be better known for his role of Lucius Malfoy*.) More to the point, though, is the thought that science is not the salvation of mankind, but instead may open doors to things better left undisturbed...and if Sam Neill's character isn't a good example of the mad scientist, then I don't know what would be. But overall, "Event Horizon" is a reinvention of the haunted house...or the ghost ship, if you prefer...and it's good to see a classic brought back to life in an interesting fashion.

I give Event Horizon 3.5 floating orbs of blood out of 5.

Amendment: This is the second and last change of the day, but as I have given a little more to Frailty, I feel compelled to take away from this one. I like this film, I really do, but it's a bit on the porcine side with some of the ham you can find within. Personally, this will always be a fun movie for me to watch, but compared to others at the 3.5 rating...I don't think this one measures up so well. So let's go to 3 floating pools of blood instead. Okay, enough revision. Dated 7/15/17


*You must ignore any other name that may have been here previously...obviously there are disadvantages to writing late at night. (Sheesh!)