Event Horizon (Retro Movie Review)

Review by Paeter Frandsen

It's 1997. I've recently graduated from high school and my job at the local movie theater gets me into movies for free. A cool looking sci-fi thriller called Event Horizon has just come out, and it looks dark and intense. I'm up for a sci-fi thrill ride, so I grab a seat and sit back to enjoy the experience. Two hours later I'm at home trying to fill my head with whatever is on Cartoon Network or Comedy Central, desperately trying to forget the horrifying experience I had just had and remember how to feel good again.

It's three years later, in the fall of 2000. My future wife and I had just started dating a few months prior and were enjoying sharing impressionable experiences with each other. Like a fool, I thought that I could introduce her to Event Horizon and watch her squirm, while I sat next to her immune to the feeble powers retained by a horror movie the second time through. Once again, the mysterious spacecraft from beyond burrowed into my head and left a darkness there that only two more hours of Cartoon Network could cure.

Event Horizon is by far the most frightening and disturbing film I have ever seen. And I may have just ruined it for you. For a completely fresh experience, consider seeing the movie first before continuing with my review. Otherwise I'll do my best to keep spoilers light.

You see, part of what makes Event Horizon frightening is that it does not turn out to be the movie it starts as. It begins as a futuristic story about a trans-dimensional spaceship, the Event Horizon, returning seven years after it was presumed destroyed. A rescue team is sent out to investigate and return with any survivors.

The crew is led by Captain Miller (a pre-Matrix Laurence Fishburne), who is accompanied by Dr. Weir (Sam Neil), the designer of the Event Horizon. What you think will be a standard "alien on a spaceship" flick turns into a haunted house movie in space. But not just any haunted house. The Event Horizon has been to another reality, more horrifying than anything we can imagine. And it has brought some of that reality back with it.

The visual effects in this movie stand up pretty well despite the 16 years that have passed since its release. However, a few of the CG effects used to create objects floating in zero gravity are painfully obvious. The script is very well organized and the pacing builds tension well. There is only one moment near the end where a bit of comedic heroic determination is expressed that seems out of place.

The performances by all are solid and easy to sympathize with. Unlike many other horror flicks, there is no one in this movie you want to be killed. This is not a movie where you root for the monster. In fact, there is no monster. The crew begins to be haunted by regrets of their past, and soon the haunting turns into killing. Horrific images plague the minds of the rescue team, driving some insane and leading others to their deaths.

The imagery in this film is what makes it so disturbing. Sure, there are some jump scares. Also, the sound design is such that if you watch it at less than full volume, you're taking a "safe route" and cheating yourself of the tension the movie builds between scares. But the imagery is where the real horror lies.

To be sure, there have been much gorier movies released since this one. But the nature of the gory images is one of suffering. This movie presents images of both unwilling torture and bizarrely voluntary torture of self and others. These sequences are very short, flashing numerous images per second, resulting in an almost subliminal experience. In Event Horizon, it is often not what you saw, but what you didn't see, or what you think you saw, that stays with you.

The concept of hell appropriately becomes central to the story in the second half. The crew wonders if hell is where the Event Horizon has been, and the filmmakers refer to the visions experienced by the crew in terms of hell. This might be a sci-fi flick, but it is also an attempt to capture and describe the essence of what hell is.

In Event Horizon, there are two kinds of hell. One is the hell of regret. Crew members are haunted by choices they've made in the past that plague them with guilt. They experience visions that intensify these feelings of guilt and regret. The second hell is one of torture. Interestingly, there are no demons in this movie. Satan is not torturing anyone in these visions of hell. Neither is God. Instead, the visions of hell either involve self-torture, humans torturing each other, or torture without a clear torturer.

It may be unintentional, but at least one of these "types" of hell has some basis in biblical teaching. The Bible often describes hell as a place where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth." The root Greek word for "weeping" used in these verses refers to weeping that results from mourning or regret, so the feelings of "guilt" experienced by crew members in Event Horizon may partially reflect the nature of hell.

The images involving people torturing each other may be possible in the sense that those in hell may somehow torment each other through their interactions. But it's not clear from Scripture what these interactions may be like or if those in hell will even be able to interact with each other. However, it can definitely be said that the images of torture and gore are inspired by art, fiction, and tradition rather than actual biblical text. Hell is never described in terms of torture in Scripture. Torment, yes, but not torture.

Event Horizon is hard to recommend. For many it may be disturbing in a way that stays with them for a long time, in which case it should be avoided. For others it will be a "fun" way to freak themselves out for a little while. Either way, there is good potential for the experience to provoke thought or conversation about the nature of Hell.

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and some nudity.
Quality: 9.0/10
Relevance: 8.5/10