Subject: Review: Event Horizon (1997)

From: James Sanford <[email-masked]>
Date: 9 Nov 1998 05:39:17 GMT

In astronomical terms, an "event horizon" is defined as the point in the
boundary of a black hole at which light or matter cannot escape being pulled
in. In cinematic terms, "Event Horizon" almost immediately grabs the
attention with lavish sets, first-rate special effects and an intriguing
premise, only to end up chucking its careful set-up and resorting to a
blood-drenched finale better-suited to a "Nightmare On Elm Street"
installment. It's a classic exmplae of many admirable parts added up to an
unsatisfying whole.
 In its first hour, "Event" is startlingly beautiful and compelling,
borrowing heavily from the influential 1977 Russian film "Solaris," in which
an investigator looking into the cause of mental breakdowns among the crew
of a space station finds himself haunted by images from his past.
 "Event Horizon" revolves around a prototype superspaceship of that name
that mysteriously vanished near Neptune in 2040. Seven years later it
reappears, and Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill), the designer of the vessel,
joins the mission to salvage the ship. What made the Event Horizon special
was its "heart," a gravity drive that could fold time and space, allowing
the craft to travel at speeds faster than light. But now, the gravity drive
appears to have developed an evil mind of its own, as Weir and his teammates
are terrorized by vivid hallucinations and spooked by manifestations of
their own memories.
 Director Paul Anderson is often heavy-handed, frequently trotting out the
old false-scare-accompanied-by-a-burst-of-shrieking-music to jolt his
audience. Even so, the film has some genuinely chilling moments and
memorable visuals. The passageway through a revolving tunnel that looks like
a giant meat-grinder is a brilliant setting, and the gravity drive itself,
with its multiple rotating rings, is a thing of creepy beauty.
 The impressive cast -- Laurence Fishburne, Kathleen Quinlan, Joely
Richardson, etc. -- play out Philip Eisner's script without a hint of
campiness or condescension, although Neill's initial restraint finally gives
way to shameless hamminess.
 Likewise, "Event" deteriorates in its last half-hour into a gore-drenched
free-for-all, with images of Hell that seem to have been lifted directly
from a Nine Inch Nails video and numerous gruesome murders and
self-mutilations: One character is even forced to put out his eyes with his
own thumbs. By the time Richardson is swept through the corridors of the
ship on a tidal wave of blood, you'll realize that's a pretty apt metaphor
for what's happened to the film itself. Once "Event Horizon" goes
off-course, it never regains its bearings.
James Sanford