Critics Tore This Sci-Fi Horror Apart 28 Years Ago – But It's 100% Worth-Watching Today
In this cult horror film, Paul W. S. Anderson mixes Hellraiser and Alien and embellishes the resulting hybrid with apocalyptic references. The result is a dirty, bloody poem about the fear of the unknown void of space.
Not all of the films that have gone on to be universally acclaimed were well-received at the time of their release. Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon can be considered the main casualty of James Cameron 's Titanic.
Producers demanded that all violent scenes be removed from the final cut, and post-production was cut to one month because the studio did not have time to prepare a disaster movie about the crash of an ocean liner for distribution.
Instead of the planned 130 minutes, the final movie was only 95 minutes long, losing some important scenes. When Event Horizon became a cult classic, Paramount offered the crew to go back to work and release a new version of the film, but it was too late.
What Is Event Horizon About?
Event Horizon tells the story of a rescue team sent into orbit around Neptune, where the ship Event Horizon, missing for seven years, appears out of nowhere.
The mission's commanders, Captain Miller and Dr. William Weir gradually realize that the ship is being controlled by an entity that came to our universe from another dimension during the Horizon team's experiments with a high-tech spatial drive.
Event Horizon Was Panned by Critics, but Became a Sci-Fi Classic
Event Horizon, whose title is borrowed from astrophysics, was not well received by critics upon its release – now it has only 35% on Rotten Tomatoes. It was called a mix of Solaris, Alien, and Hellraiser, and criticized for genre clichés, but the film still found its audience, albeit much later.
Today, space horror movies are often inspired by scenes and visuals from Anderson's film. The director himself is best known today for the Resident Evil film series, and at the time of Event Horizon's release he was directing Mortal Kombat, which also received mixed reviews from critics but was well received by fans.
There Have Been Several Attempts to Recreate the Deleted Scenes
Event Horizon didn't do well in theaters, but it did well on VHS and DVD. At one point, Paramount Pictures even approached Anderson with a proposal to make a director's cut and re-release it.
But it turned out to be impossible to restore the lost deleted scenes – the originals had been lost or destroyed.
In 2020, Anderson saw the power of fans in the example of Zack Snyder's director's cut of Justice League and suggested that the studio re-create the lost scenes by inviting the actors back to the set. But his idea was not adopted.
Event Horizon Is Now Available for Streaming in 4K Ultra HD
In 2022, for the anniversary, the film was rescanned and released in 4K Ultra HD for Blu-ray discs.
So it's a perfect time to rediscover one of the most underrated sci-fi films of its time. Currently you are able to stream Event Horizon on Paramount+ Apple TV Channel or for free with ads on Pluto TV.