Event Horizon (1997)

Featured Audience Ratings

• John M

  
  Sam Neil shines in this. I think this an extremely underrated movie. Its awesome thriller horror flick

• Samuel R

  
  This film can send shivers down your spine or have you laughing at it.

• Sophie B

  
  I very much looked forward to this film and the beginning started out well but I feel the plot wasn't really fully explained. It just seemed like the creators had shoved any old thing into it. It became loose and predictable. I liked how the ship made them hallucinate things that… More
  I very much looked forward to this film and the beginning started out well but I feel the plot wasn't really fully explained. It just seemed like the creators had shoved any old thing into it. It became loose and predictable. I liked how the ship made them hallucinate things that were important to them or affected them but we couldn't believe the ship was 'alive' because they never gave us anything to go by other than the characters dialogue. The ship didn't look or act alive. It reminded me of better and more developed films such as Sphere and Sunshine. Pandorum was basically a not so good remake of this.

• Manu G

  
  Infinite Space - Infinite Terror This movie I thought was gonna be good and scary but fail inmensly for me. Nothing at all scared me and I watch it at night hoping it would shake me or something but never happen. The story isn't bad but there were some many questions unresolved… More
  Infinite Space - Infinite Terror This movie I thought was gonna be good and scary but fail inmensly for me. Nothing at all scared me and I watch it at night hoping it would shake me or something but never happen. The story isn't bad but there were some many questions unresolved that left me dissapointed. They say this movie is scary well go see it and let me know what happens.. In the year 2047, a signal from the starship Event Horizon is picked up on Earth. The ship had disappeared without trace beyond Neptune in 2040; her loss was considered the worst space disaster on record. The ship has reappeared in a decaying orbit around the planet Neptune, and the rescue ship Lewis and Clark is dispatched to investigate. The ship's crew is commanded by Capt. Miller (Laurence Fishburne) and carries the Event Horizon's designer, Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill). When the Lewis and Clark arrives, the crew are informed by Dr. Weir that the Event Horizon had actually been built to test a secret, experimental gravity drive. The drive would create an artificial black hole to bridge two points in space to significantly reduce journey time. The ship had been on its initial test flight, intended to reach Proxima Centauri; it subsequently vanished without a trace. Weir plays to the crew the only signal received since the ship's reappearance, spoken by ship's captain, Cpt. Kilpack, which is a series of confusing screams and shouts, embedded in which is the Latin phrase liberate me ("save me"). Upon approaching the drifting vessel, no definitive trace of human life is found; inconclusive sensor readings lead the Lewis and Clark's crew to enter the Event Horizon to search for survivors. Inside, the crew split up and Medical Tech Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) discovers a frozen human corpse floating on the bridge, with both eyes gouged out. Engineer Justin (Jack Noseworthy) enters the ship's core and sees a black, liquid-like mirror within its drive; it sucks him inside as he touches it and emits a large shock wave, damaging the Lewis and Clark. Rescue Tech Cooper (Richard T. Jones) manages to pull Justin out of the core by his tether, but he is catatonic. With the Lewis and Clark heavily damaged, the remaining crew transfer to the Event Horizon, which only contains 20 hours of usable oxygen. A short time later, Justin emerges from his catatonia and attempts to commit suicide by ejecting himself from an airlock, to escape the memory of what he saw inside the ship's core. Although Justin is rescued by Miller, he is seriously injured. Soon afterwards the rescuers begin to experience hallucinations of their personal fears and regrets. Miller sees the manifestation of a subordinate he was forced to abandon in a fire; Peters sees images of her son Denny (Barclay Wright), with his legs covered in bloody lesions; and widower Dr. Weir sees his wife Claire (Holley Chant), missing her eyes and urging him to join her. The crew discovers that although the ship's drive successfully opened a gateway in space-time, it actually led outside the known universe and into another dimension, described as "pure chaos, pure evil". The Event Horizon's reconstructed video log shows the original crew activating the gravity drive and, moments later, engaging in a frenzy of torture, self-mutilation, cannibalism and sodomy. The ship's captain, who has torn out his own eyes, leaves the previously-heard Latin message which has since been found to actually say liberate tutame ex inferis ("save yourself from Hell"). It appears that the Event Horizon has returned with a supernatural presence which is using its occupants' personal torments against them, with the aim of compelling them to return to the "chaos" dimension. The Lewis and Clark now repaired, Miller decides to destroy the Event Horizon despite the strong objections of Weir. While preparing to evacuate, Peters is led to her death by plummeting down a shaft as a result of being tricked by a manifestation of her son. Weir, having abandoned the crew and arriving at the core, discovers her body. He sees a vision of his wife's suicide, and is compelled by her reanimated form to tear out his eyes. Weir then uses bombs fitted to the Event Horizon to destroy the Lewis and Clark, which kills its pilot Smith (Sean Pertwee) and causes Cooper, on the ship's hull, to be thrown into space. Weir goes on to kill D.J. (Jason Isaacs) by vivisection, leaving him suspended from the ceiling of the medical facility. Seemingly possessed by the presence on board, Weir threatens Miller and X.O. Starck (Joely Richardson) with a nail gun, saying the ship is "alive" and will not allow anyone to leave. He activates the ship's gravity drive, beginning a ten-minute countdown, after which the Event Horizon will return to the chaos dimension. Cooper, having used his space suit's oxygen to propel him back to the ship, causes Weir to shoot the bridge window and be blown into space towards his apparent death. Miller attempts to detonate the explosives installed on the Event Horizon to split the ship in two; after arming all of the explosives and recovering the detonator for them, he is trapped by a burning manifestation of his former comrade and forced to escape to the ship's core. Inside the core, Miller again sees the vision of his comrade, which then changes into a scarred Dr. Weir (eyes restored) who shows Miller scenes of the Lewis and Clark's remaining crew being tortured and mutilated. The two fight, but Miller is eventually able to reach the detonator, which he then triggers, sacrificing himself as the ship explodes. Weir screams, denied the surviving crew. The ship explodes at the neck and splits in two. The gravity drive then activates, pulling the rear of the ship into a wormhole. Starck and Cooper, with a comatose Justin, survive in the remaining forward decks and place themselves into stasis. Starck has a nightmare of a mutilated Dr. Weir rescuing her and is awakened in a distraught state by the real rescue team. Cooper restrains Starck, as one of the rescuers calls for a sedative. As the film ends, the automated hatch leading to the stasis chamber seals shut behind the rescuers, implying the supernatural force is inherent to the ship and not dependent on the gravity drive.

• Jeff "

  
  A tense thrilling horror film, Event Horizon is one of the best Sci Fi Horror films since Alien. Blending gore and classic elements of old school horror films, Event Horizon is an underrated film. A very effective horror film, Event Horizon is a non stop terrifying outer space… More
  A tense thrilling horror film, Event Horizon is one of the best Sci Fi Horror films since Alien. Blending gore and classic elements of old school horror films, Event Horizon is an underrated film. A very effective horror film, Event Horizon is a non stop terrifying outer space nightmare. Thought obviously not as great as Alien, this film is the best since, because of it's tense and horrifying mood and also because the crew of the rescue ship is in outer space a million light years from home. Simply terrific. Great acting and great storytelling here. A film definitely not for the faint of heart, Event Horizon is a film that blends the best elements of previous outer space horror films to create something very good. Maybe not as excellent as Alien, Event Horizon is still a very good film that in my opinion is very underrated. There's definitely something going for it, and it's scary as hell. And if it's scary as hell, then it's a fine horror film that did what it was supposed to do, and that's scary the hell out of you. Don't believe the critics, this is the best Sci Fi Horror film since Alien, maybe not as legendary of course, but almost as terrifying in a totally refreshing way.

• Conner R

  
  This is one of the most god awful excuses for modern science fiction. It does nothing but rip off the Alien film library and various scenes from 2001 and strangely Hellraiser. What is worse is that you are unaware it is going to be so bad for the first 30 minutes in, it's just… More
  This is one of the most god awful excuses for modern science fiction. It does nothing but rip off the Alien film library and various scenes from 2001 and strangely Hellraiser. What is worse is that you are unaware it is going to be so bad for the first 30 minutes in, it's just dull and vague for the most part. Paul W.S. Anderson constructed something that's almost so cocky and convoluted that you can laugh at it, but the fact that it's so straight-forward and serious completely prevents it. The only thing saving this movie from being a complete waste of time is the fact that there are some crazy cannibal scenes in it that come out of nowhere. I cannot believe this is actually considered a good or even great movie by some, it is nothing but recycled ideas and terrible direction/writing.

• Al S

  
  It's Hellraiser is space. A brilliant and electrifying mixture of science fiction and horror. An exhilarating, mind-blowing and spectacular edge of your seat thrill-machine. It's loaded with heart-pounding suspense and blood curdling special effects. A chilling and… More
  It's Hellraiser is space. A brilliant and electrifying mixture of science fiction and horror. An exhilarating, mind-blowing and spectacular edge of your seat thrill-machine. It's loaded with heart-pounding suspense and blood curdling special effects. A chilling and nerve-frying flick with a great cast. It has enough razor-sharp thrills and heart-pounding excitement to go around for ninety minutes. Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neil are terrific. A classic.

• Mike S

  
  During the 90's, there was one year in particular that came to mean much to the sci-fi genre. At least for me on a personal level. Because it's the year that gave us two of my all-time favourite films in said category; namely <i>Contact</i> and <i>Starship… More
  During the 90's, there was one year in particular that came to mean much to the sci-fi genre. At least for me on a personal level. Because it's the year that gave us two of my all-time favourite films in said category; namely <i>Contact</i> and <i>Starship Troopers</i>. But then there was also a third film. One that, although not quite as brilliant and awesome, is just as deserving of mention. I'm speaking, of course, of the movie in question: Event Horizon. With its perfect blend of sci-fi and horror, it offers us an atmosphere and feel that reminds me a lot of the Alien movies. Very cool story as well, made even better by the excellent cast. The only thing I didn't like about it, is that it gets a little weird in places. Jack Noseworthy's acting isn't much to cheer about either. It's so embarrasingly bad that it makes everyone else look like Oscar-winners. But other than that, this is a really good and exciting watch. A definite addition to my Blu-ray collection.

• Wahida K

  
  A great Scifi.

• Daniel M

  
  As the Alien franchise became less about horror and more about action, several films attempted to recapture the atmosphere of Ridley Scott?s original. But despite the best efforts of Ken Russell in Altered States or David Cronenberg in The Fly, the original remained unmatched as the… More
  As the Alien franchise became less about horror and more about action, several films attempted to recapture the atmosphere of Ridley Scott?s original. But despite the best efforts of Ken Russell in Altered States or David Cronenberg in The Fly, the original remained unmatched as the franchise it spawned slowly ran itself into the ground. By the time Alien Resurrection came along, many had given up hope of seeing another sci-fi horror which could genuinely scare people. Event Horizon made them reconsider. The best way to view Event Horizon is as a spiritual sequel to Alien. It?s clear from watching the film that Paul W. S. Anderson is a fan of the original and of Scott ? even if he chose to demonstrate it by making the god-awful Alien vs. Predator. There are references to Alien throughout the film, but interestingly enough they appear to be mainly visual rather than narrative. The opening twenty minutes does borrow directly from the story ? a ship answers a distress call, only from another ship rather than a planet. But the main debt it owes to Alien is in the grimy look of the Lewis and Clark and the architecture of the main vessel (squint and it looks like the alien?s head). The film is well-aware of the debts it owes to famous horror films. The personality and attitude of the crew are close in make-up to Aliens, insofar as they are militaristic in outlook, reckless in pursuit, and care very little for the intelligent outsider in their midst. The death of Peters, in which she approaches the child from behind and then falls to her death, is a clear nod to Don?t Look Now. And the sight of hellish monsters rising up out of the water will remind many of The Amityville Horror. But the films which hang the most over Event Horizon are Solaris and The Shining. Both films are explorations of the inanimate being or becoming conscious, whether a distant planet or the Overlook Hotel. Both films use hallucinations or encounters with ghostly characters which lead us to question the intentions of everyone on screen. And both end with an ambiguous sense of darkness, leaving you unsure of the lead character?s fate. Sam Neill?s character is the focal point where these two films collide. On the one hand, he shares with Solaris the desire to make amends with his wife, who committed suicide back on Earth many years ago. As before, the wife appears as an apparition, though Anderson changes her from a benevolent creature into a demonic force which sends Dr. Weir over the edge. On the other hand, the film focuses on Weir?s gradual descent into madness and the dark consequences of it. Like The Shining, it takes its time, allowing the madness to take hold and only slowly become apparent, and by the time we find out, it?s too late to save him. There is a fine line between acknowledging your references and allowing them to dominate the film to the point at which it all becomes derivative. It?s a line that Quentin Tarantino has crossed all too often recently, but for the most part this film holds itself together. The first two-thirds are genuinely tense and genuinely scary, making the most outlandish concepts (like the gravity drive) seem believable. If you?re a quantum physicist, you might have a heart attack, but the rest of us will be engrossed. A number of great scenes in this film are brought to life by a gallery of fine performances. Laurence Fishburne in pre-Matrix mode really holds the film together as Captain Miller. He brings both gravitas and a gung-ho spirit which make him the perfect balance for the different extremes of the crew. Sam Neill, as mentioned before, comes through very strongly, and like all the best villains we understand why he acts the way he does to the point at which we feel for him. And there are good supporting turns from Jason Isaacs and Joely Richardson, who have to deal with a lot of exposition but generally take it in their stride. The problem with Event Horizon is that it squanders all this hard work in the last 30 minutes. As everything starts blowing up and the scares become more obvious, it turns into a dumb action movie and you start to give up on its premise. The idea of the ship ?taking revenge? on the crew undoes the film?s good work because it breaks (or rather forgets) the golden rule of horror: the scares are just relief from the tension you create, whether in sound, editing or dialogue. Unlike the other Alien directors, Scott realised that it was scarier not to show the evil in action, thereby making the audience imagine the evil and terrify themselves in the process. In this, the film resorts to one over-the-top shock after another, leaving us feeling cheated rather than chilled. As the action elements encroach, both horror and credibility die away. It?s ludicrous to believe that the Cooper character could use his puny air tanks to propel himself back to the ship after an explosion, get on board with air to spare, survive a head shot from a nail gun and still be alive at the end of the film. And then there?s the ending, in which the survivors are rescued and the ship doors close around them. Since the core, ?the heart of the ship?, had vanished after the drive had been engaged, how can the dark presence which emerged from it still have an effect on the crew? Watching the last half-hour, you?d swear you were watching test footage for Michael Bay?s Armageddon, it is that stupid. Event Horizon is a flawed but underrated film. It has its heart in the right place, wanting to tackle its subject gracefully, build up believable characters and work hard to scare us. But ultimately it cannot sustain the great weight of both its subject and its predecessors, and it falls apart in quite a silly way. Much like David Fincher?s Alien 3, Event Horizon is a potentially intelligent, dark and frightening film, which has been buried under several thick layers of dumb action and clunky plot devices. But it remains strangely satisfying, and a must-see for all Alien fans.

• Lorenzo v

  
  <i>"Infinite Space - Infinite Terror"</i> A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board. <center><font size=+2 face="Century… More
  <i>"Infinite Space - Infinite Terror"</i> A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on-board. <center><font size=+2 face="Century Schoolbook"><b><u>REVIEW</u></b></font></center> In broad strokes, if you take "The Shining" plus "Solaris" and then add gore-a-plenty, you'll end up with a rough estimate as to what this movie is. However, that hardly does this underrated film the justice that it deserves. From the opening shot to the closing one there are a whole bunch of things that make this an effective horror film. There's the setting, a huge derelict spaceship. There's the question of where it has been and why the crew disappeared. There's also the question as to what made them disappear and is this thing still on board. Naturally, for there to be a movie, the answer to the latter is yes. An interesting thing about this film is that it plays almost like a typical slasher movie, but the catch is that there is no masked psycho with a knife. The killer is the setting itself. Then, what is possibly the most interesting thing is that the film combines straightforward horror sensationalism of gore and violence with a much more eerie and psychological terror akin to "The Shining." Both of these elements slowly build up in harmony for the climax to a very underrated and under-appreciated horror/science fiction film.

• Phil H

  
  Damn spooky film, fucking eerie as hell haha scares me in every viewing I tell ya. One or maybe the best film from Mr Anderson so far, the effects, design, lighting, cast, costumes and score are all perfect and make the film what it is....a very scary sci fi horror. Although it kinda… More
  Damn spooky film, fucking eerie as hell haha scares me in every viewing I tell ya. One or maybe the best film from Mr Anderson so far, the effects, design, lighting, cast, costumes and score are all perfect and make the film what it is....a very scary sci fi horror. Although it kinda descends into a 'Hell Raiser' type affair near the climax that just makes it even better and gets you thinking even more about the outcome, in a sense there is no happy ending here. Like most sci-fi horror's past and new the plot can be a tad confusing and unexplained here and there (Pandorum) and this film is no exception, its weird and almost dream like, a bad dream of course, which adds but also takes away some of the fun as it just made me wanna know more about what was happening and it left me alittle frustrated, but maybe thats a good thing huh Good films do that I guess, keep you thinking after the credits role :)

• Anthony L

  
  Not the best film in the world but for me it's a guilty pleasure. There aren?t enough sci-fi horror films in my opinion!

• Jason O

  
  Good idea gone bad. Dr. Weir (Sam Neill) boards a spaceship and informs its crew and Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) that they are going on a search for the Event Horizon. The Event Horizon is a ship that Dr. Weir built. The Event Horizon disappeared a few years ago and its crew… More
  Good idea gone bad. Dr. Weir (Sam Neill) boards a spaceship and informs its crew and Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) that they are going on a search for the Event Horizon. The Event Horizon is a ship that Dr. Weir built. The Event Horizon disappeared a few years ago and its crew supposedly met their deaths. From reading the back of the box, I thought "Event Horizon" sounded like a movie that was about a space mission where the people were just going to search for the lost crew of the Event Horizon. However, it turned out to be something that made it a bad movie. A few of the crew members start going paranoid and some even turn into satanic demons that cut their own eyes out and go mad. I'm not going to tell you why they start going mad because that would give away too much of the movie. "Event Horizon" was a good idea gone bad in my opinion because I think it would've been more entertaining without all the blood and gore and the satanic stuff. If it would have been about a crew that goes on search for a lost ship and lost crew and the only horrors that would give the crew a run for their money would be things such as asteroids, it would've been a much better movie. I'm not crazy about movies that involve the people who are supposed to be on the same side turning into maniacal killers against each other. On the other hand, "Event Horizon" isn't all bad. It has spectacular special effects and some exciting sequences. The effects and the action packed parts are the only reason I didn't give the movie just one star. The only reason I would recommend "Event Horizon" is for anyone who likes watching great special effects, otherwise, I recommend skipping this movie. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001. Very sucky movie.

• xGary X

  
  Deep space exploration vessel Event Horizon reappears after disappearing seven years previously, and a rescue team is dispatched to the outer solar system to investigate. Event Horizon has a rather hokey premise; that a space ship creates a dimensional portal to hell and returns with… More
  Deep space exploration vessel Event Horizon reappears after disappearing seven years previously, and a rescue team is dispatched to the outer solar system to investigate. Event Horizon has a rather hokey premise; that a space ship creates a dimensional portal to hell and returns with an evil presence on board. Obviously, if you're not a fan of sci-fi or horror, this is a tough one to swallow, but to fans it is quite a nice marriage of Aliens style wisecracking space jockeys and Clive Barker style imagery. Visually, this film is spectacular; the production design is superb, clearly borrowing heavily from 2001 and Alien, but also some gorgeous art deco style art design. For the first hour the story builds up quite nicely with solid performances from its stars and it has some creepy, atmospheric scenes. Unfortunately the final act sees logical story telling flushed out of the nearest airlock, and it degenerates into nothing but lots of diving around in slo-mo explosions and running about in dark corridors. It's a genuine shame because the first hour is that of a 4 star film, but I'd definitely recommend fans of the genre to check it out, if only for the set design alone.

• Tsubaki S

  
  Watchable at times, but still a silly mess for the most part. Sam Neill saying trippy things about reality and hell while being naked and covered with blood might be cool for a while, but you just can't make a whole movie about that, unless you are doing some new "meme"… More
  Watchable at times, but still a silly mess for the most part. Sam Neill saying trippy things about reality and hell while being naked and covered with blood might be cool for a while, but you just can't make a whole movie about that, unless you are doing some new "meme" video for youtube. And even that will get repetitive after a while.

• Kalel J

  
  A half-interesting plot housed into a half-complete movie assembled by a half-assed production team, Event Horizon has its interesting aspects and turns but ultimately falls far from a memorable film in either of the two genres that it steps heavy treads into. The potential was there… More
  A half-interesting plot housed into a half-complete movie assembled by a half-assed production team, Event Horizon has its interesting aspects and turns but ultimately falls far from a memorable film in either of the two genres that it steps heavy treads into. The potential was there for Event Horizon to be an endearing, stimulating science fiction horror journey, but due to its truncated running time, hokey script, and turgid performances - it shambles constantly.

• _kelly .

  
  a guilty pleasure "So Fucked Up" highlight: recovered tape from hell

• Alexander W

  
  Excellent sci fi movie wth lots of scary atmosphere

• Aaron N

  
  Miller: Smitty have you seen... anything unusual at all? Smith: No, I haven't seen anything and I don't need to see anything sir but I can tell you... this ship is fucked. Dr. Weir: Well, thank you for that scientific analysis, Mr Smith. Probably Paul W.S. Anderson's… More
  Miller: Smitty have you seen... anything unusual at all? Smith: No, I haven't seen anything and I don't need to see anything sir but I can tell you... this ship is fucked. Dr. Weir: Well, thank you for that scientific analysis, Mr Smith. Probably Paul W.S. Anderson's best film. It's not saying much, since his second best would probably be Mortal Kombat, but all of the elements that keep getting him invited to direct movies are present here, namely his set design and ability to create a fitting atmosphere. We have a sci-fi concept taken straight from the original Solaris and put in the midst of a B-horror film. Dr. Weir: You can't leave. She won't let you. Pre-Morpheus Laurence Fishburne and Sam "Merlin's the Shit" Neil star as a captain and scientist hoping to find a ship designed by Neil years ago only to disappear after its first mission. Right there, anyone should know that if the ship suddenly turns up, you do not want to be the crew in charge of salvaging what's left. Upon arriving on board, low and behold, creepy shit starts happening, and the truth about what has happened to the ship is slowly revealed. Even if the film is not necessarily original, it looks great and does what a sci-fi/horror/thriller should. The atmosphere is creepy, the production design is wonderful, there is somewhat of an embrace of the B movie feel of it, and the two leads are effective. There are other characters as well, but they will just be victims, so who cares about them really. There is some talk of hell dimensions, providing answers too where the ship went, but once again, it only provides reasons for sweet looking gore to be used in the movie. Dr. Weir: Captain... don't do this. Capt. Miller: It's done. Dr. Weir: What about my ship? You can't just leave her! Capt. Miller: I have no intention of leaving her, Doctor. I will take the Lewis and Clark to a safe distance, and then I will launch TAC missiles at the Event Horizon until I'm satisfied she's vaporized. Fuck this ship!

Read all 20 featured audience ratings