Mario’s Musings (Quarantine Edition): Event Horizon
Dr. Weir: I created the Event Horizon to reach the stars, but she's gone much, much farther than that. She tore a hole in our universe, a gateway to another dimension. A dimension of pure chaos. Pure... evil. When she crossed over, she was just a ship. But when she came back... she was alive! Look at her, Miller. Isn't she beautiful?
Miller: Your "beautiful" ship killed its crew, Doctor.
Dr. Weir: Well... now she has another crew. Now she has us.
You know, seeing Sam Neill go from Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park to Dr. Weir in Event Horizon was like a sharp betrayal. Dr. Grant was that guy who, despite his hatred of kids, ends up bonding with a pair while they tried to survive the horrors of Jurassic Park. Dr. Weir, on the other hand, succumbs to the horrors of his creation and brings half the crew of the Lewis and Clark down with him.
But enough about Dr. Weir for now, and let’s talk more about his creation, and the title of the movie, Event Horizon. Released in 1997 to critical and commercial failure, this movie gained a bit of a cult following in the next decade. The movie tried to be the heir apparent to Ridley Scott’s Alien, with some Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and Stanley Kubrick’s Shining thrown in for good measure. Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy it, the film didn’t live up to the hype it had set for itself.
The story of Event Horizon focuses of the ship of the same name; a futuristic Titanic that vanishes without a trace on its maiden voyage to Proxima Centauri, and the crew of the Lewis and Clark that was sent to investigate the reason for its return. The ship was supposed to test out the new gravity drive that would allow the ship to travel instantaneously from one point to another by using an artificial black hole. The distress signal that the Lewis and Clark picks up features nothing but bloodcurdling screams and a single Latin phrase “libera te tutemet ex infernis”.
D.J.: There - I think that says "ex inferis." "Save yourself... from Hell." Look, if what Doctor Weir tells us is true, this ship has been beyond the boundaries of our universe, of known scientific reality. Who knows where it's been, what it's seen... or what it's brought back with it?
Miller: From Hell? You don't believe in that kind of stuff, do you?
D.J.: Whoever sent that message, he sure believed in Hell.
Upon boarding the ship, the crew of the Lewis and Clark slowly succumb to visions brought forth by the ship, most members seeing their darkest fears come to life. In the case of the ship’s designer, Dr. Weir, he sees visions of his dead wife, who drives him to insanity, and the gouging of his own eyes (for the viewing audience, I’m leaving that image to the imagination).
Honestly, despite its failures, this movie STILL gives me the creeps. Sam Neill’s performance as Dr. Weir is chilling, as his turn is so gradual, especially the moment Captain Miller straight up tells him that he’s blowing up the Event Horizon once they leave.
Miller: You just get your gear and get back on the Lewis and Clark, Doctor, or you'll find yourself walkin' home.
Dr. Weir: I am home.
Baby-faced Jason Isaacs.
From that point on, things go from zero to sixty and all hell breaks loose. From the glimpses of hell, the fate of the crew of the Event Horizon, Weir without eyes, and later bald Weir with gashes all over his body, this movie knows how to rack your brain with horrific sights. And it helps that you have a pretty great cast to react to everything. I already mentioned Sam Neill, but the rest of the cast is pretty stacked as well, especially in hindsight. You’ve got Laurence Fishburne, Joely Richardson, Sean Pertwee, Jason Isaacs (seriously, he looks like a baby in this), Richard T. Jones, and Kathleen Quinlan filling out the cast.
All in all, you’ll either love or hate this movie, and I needed a break from comically bad movies and watch something that genuinely gave me the creeps for once.