*Blog was post started on June 8, 2021.
Event Horizon - Inspiration for Gory Bastardized Remakes?
I
am now on a leave of absence from my retail job, so I am acting like I
have more energy. Too bad I am in the midst of a final 10-day work week.
It might just be me feeling like I am on a winning streak. Dad already had
some free VPN promos so I might have reduced my primary entertainment
bill to just $85. That is for Internet and AEW Plus.
"American
Gods" season 3 was concluded, so Starz is out of my streaming budget.
Without Xfinity TV, my NJPW World subscription should get more use. Hulu
is great for lunch breaks at work. HBO is still the best premium
network, so I am not cutting that. Shudder is the only thing that I need
to jump at adding. ESPN+ will be good for Euro 2020. It is tempting to
just change the credit card numbers to my benefactor, but Experian says
its good for my credit.
And
my sports betting is getting back on track. If I learned anything after
my earnings went from $600 to $400 is that the only blue I can trust
are the Chicago Cubs. We could spin that into some ACAB humor, but I
digress. Anyhow, frustration is the wrong way to react to this. The
knowledge that my little brother has some losers (Toronto Maple Leafs)
that he lovingly endures is just one more thing to bond over.
Enough
of how I have been getting my introverted groove back, let us get into a
baiting sub 100-minute movie review. This means I might need to listen to
all of my friends' podcast, but do you really need an excuse to rewatch
what maybe Paul W.S. Anderson's only classic feature on his resume?
"Event
Horizon" is a 1990's horror classic, but I do not even know if it is
Anderson's best movie. The man operates from derivatives, so nothing is
ever expected of him. But, he is the only director that you expect cool
3-D from, so there is at least a niche he is filling and thus some
talent. This leaves me to ponder if that was even present with his first
American non-established IP film.
In
2040, the experimental spacecraft Event Horizon traveled to the orbit
of Neptune to test its gravity drive. The intention of this was to
create a mini black hole that would suck space time in allowing the
craft to travel to a different location instantaneously. But the
intentions of the craft were not made public, so all anyone is suppose to know is
that the ship was lost. So it is quite the surprise for Captain Miller
and the crew of the Lewis and Clark to find out that they are suppose to
salvage this craft and rescue the crew seven years later.
The
crew arrives at the craft to find it in a seemingly state of deep
freeze. At subzero temperatures, surely the crew is dead, but life form
readings are detectable through out the ship. As the crew inspects the
ship, one of them, Justin, tries to turn the power back on. When this
occurs, he seems to be sucked into the gravity drive and the
accompanying power surge cause a breach of the Clark's hull. To survive,
the entire crew has to board the Event Horizon while they wait on
repairs to the ship that got them there.
Justin
is essentially spat out of the gravity drive in a catatonic state. His
rescuer describes the incident to Miller, but his believability is
immediately questioned by Dr. Weir. Weir is accompanying the Clark's
crew since he was one of the scientist who designed the ship. Logic and
physics are soon thrown out the window as other crew members, including
Miller, start seeing what can only be considered hallucinations.
Miller's lieutenant has a theory. This theory is that whatever the life
readings
are must be creating these experiences.
Once
Justin awakens only to soon enter an air lock without a spacesuit to run
from the darkness he saw, surviving becomes paramount to actually
finding out what happened. Too bad Dr. Weir does not see it that way.
My
synopsis for "Event Horizon" may have excluded the pitch for this
feature: Spaceship returns from hell. With that said, going with a
gothic horror approach to the premise is unique when you consider that
the video game "Doom" is very similar. Horror was on a downturn in the
mid 90's as we recovered from 80's slasher fatigue, so this was a brave
60 million dollar gamble on the "Mortal Kombat" director. The initial
loss was 20 million, but after home release, it is surprising that there
were not attempts to capitalize on the IP.
In
the end, the movie ended up managing to be a hit in some form, and that
tends to indicate great quality. That quality is provided by the cast
and script. Anderson's direction is adequate, but there are not many set
pieces that show his strengths when it comes to directing. If anything,
it seems to me that the off-and-on auteur can only see in 3-D. I do not
find this to be a weakness though when you take in to account how his
"Resident Evil" franchise was able to have three additional sequels
solely because of 3-D filmmaking's popularity. A 3-D re-release with some
polished computer-generated effects would be worth telling streamers to
bugger off.
I
implied that the special effects are not great when it comes to the CG.
They may have been great for the time, but like "Mortal Kombat",
FDR/HDR does not do them any favor.
If
there was one more flaw, it is the pacing. This is gothic horror on a
spaceship which had been done before in the greater classic, "Alien".
When you move from one scene to the next without anytime to revel in the
horror of the situation, you are watching for the cool suggestive
imagery of hell instead of being at the edge of your seat. This is
primarily the reason that I am not going to declare this feature to be
Anderson's best. I am leaning towards the first "Resident Evil".
As I discussed with Andrew Tiede on NinetyForChill - The Podcast,
Anderson seems to have an abundance of cool premises like Ivan Reitman
when it comes to talented actors. They are really cannot miss ideas and
as long as you catch it all on the frame, it should turn out alright.
Unlike Reitman, the script can be lacking. Anderson can make
everything look cool enough that you at least have something that can be
on mute that fits in a lowly Downstate Illinois dance club. You cannot
say that about "Twins".
Returning
to the gothic horror elements, was this the feature to inspire the Dark
Castle remakes of the late 90's and early 00's? This can be a goreless
feature, apart from the air lock scene, but a lot of the films fans are
there for the gory sets and eyeball removal. "Alien" was subtle with its
gore being limited
to the chestbuster. Did Dark Castle see this feature and just pick up on
how the feature's devotees talk about the gore? Is this why we have
"House on Haunted Hill" and "House of Wax" remakes that lack all of the
charm of their predecessors?
"Event
Horizon" is a film that had a greater impact than its box office
indicates. It is a fun and entertaining bit of horror that has become
more camp than it is scary. Too bad that any horror flick between this and
torture porn strives to be this film because the hole it started to fill
is still quite a void.
Pinterest @martinriggs1981
r/MoviePosterPorn
