Event Horizon

The stormy atmosphere of Neptune and a space ship spewed from the depths of hell didn’t give me a moment of rest for the whole 92 minutes. Anderson can do it if he wants (the faultless dizzy beginning) and if it weren’t for the slightly over the top ending I would easily give it 5*. But now I can only remember the perfect build up of atmosphere in the first two thirds, the superb acting performances of Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, the very decent effects and the idea which, if it had been developed right could have satisfied my dark side. (08/12/2009)

A rather unbalanced picture with huge potential, a horror clone of Solaris. It starts out boringly, then becomes a great movie with a chilling atmosphere which rather curiously becomes a B-grade sci-fi full of plotholes, illogical behavior of characters etc. On the other hand, someday I would like to see the director’s cut, since Anderson subsequently distanced himself from this version. A shame that he has been stringing us along about how great it will be, but nothing has come from it (the question is whether a 45-minute longer version ever existed). For the time being, Event Horizon is an average movie that remains, however, the best thing that Paul has ever made. Which is sad. (21/03/2005)

For about two-thirds of the film, I was convinced that Anderson had accomplished something absolutely unique. The atmosphere in Event Horizon completely took me by storm and caused me to have very unpleasant mental states. The magic of the unknown evil works perfectly – we find ourselves in the morbid bowels of a long-lost ship, we don't know what's going on around us, we just know that every next shot can bring fright and horrific brutality. Anderson plays, stretches thrilling moments, then increases psychological pressure with short cuts, spares no blood, but leaves evil in disturbing anonymity... until the ending. Then suddenly he waves a magic wand, and the film turns into a B-movie with an eyeless monster, and all the carefully built tension is for nothing. It’s too bad that Event Horizon won't settle for what is suspected, and instead serves up a fistfight with what is nasty but palpable. It was confirmed to me once again that Anderson is a talented director but lacking in sound judgment. I saw a film, most of which is the work of a smart strategist, and the point is the work of a B-movie routinist. A split personality? But the better part of the film will remain with me for a long time to come, along with good music by Michael Kamen, quality acting performances (just that jovial nigga again... for God's sake, why?) and watchable tricks. This may have been a memorable sci-fi horror, but as a result, it's a victory squandered in the final third. What a pity! (06/10/2004)

Paul W. S. Anderson embarked on a path of action B movies and in some cases genuine oddities, such as "The Three Musketeers". However, with the film "Event Horizon" he created one of the best science-fiction horror films, where neither genre predominates and the film is a perfect combination of both. It is a sci-fi that is at least interesting for fans of this genre, but it is also a horror that will not disappoint any horror fan, because the atmosphere is simply there. (09/01/2015)

The fact that this is without a doubt the strongest contribution to the discussion since Paul W.S. Anderson's automatische doesn't mean it's a very well made spectacle, but the premise is exactly what I look for and need in a science fiction film. The constant strobes, retarded jump-scares, and sweat-soaked zooms are thankfully outweighed by a gutted Jason Isaac, decompressed crew members, and cute visions of hell. The fact that 40 minutes of mostly gore scenes were cut and lost from the original 130-minute long cut is the biggest crime with this film. Otherwise, Andrei Anastasov would have been happy. (07/09/2015)