File this one under "What could have been great." A cult classic that comes up every now and again. Pitched to the studios as 'the Shining in space' and directed by then up and comer Paul W.S. Anderson hot off the success of one of the only decent video game adaptations Mortal Kombat from 1995.
Pros:
A variety of generally good and great actors. Sam Neil is underused but Laurence Fishburne elevates it somewhat.
Great production values. The set they used was very impressive. The actual Event Horizon is a great sight to behold.
Decent story. It's nothing terribly impressive but it's a great foundation for good ideas. You could argue that Galaxy of Terror did it better or worse but Galaxy of Terror had a certain B movie charm.
Cons:
No likable characters and no build up to said characters. In a movie like this you can execute the idea in two ways: either you go for the gore (Which, again, Galaxy Of Terror did) or you go for the psychological horror. You can't have it both ways generally speaking. But it would be interesting to see a movie done like the Shining but has a Fulci-style intestine puking scene.
Poor overall execution. It shifts back and fourth from horror film to generic Sci Fi flick. Leading to...
Pro and Con:
The infamous cut footage.
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/471...ou-didn-t-see/
Supposedly 20 something minutes of gore was cut out of this thing. I doubt it's 20 minutes exactly but judging from the stills of the cut footage it did seem like lengthier shots of the carnage. Anderson found a completely uncut VHS back in 2012 or 2013 but so far no new info on a release of that.
This could be a case like My Bloody Valentine where the cut to shit version is judged as being pretty "meh" but the uncut version elevates it. But then again this is Paul W.S. Anderson so it's a coin toss.
Pros:
A variety of generally good and great actors. Sam Neil is underused but Laurence Fishburne elevates it somewhat.
Great production values. The set they used was very impressive. The actual Event Horizon is a great sight to behold.
Decent story. It's nothing terribly impressive but it's a great foundation for good ideas. You could argue that Galaxy of Terror did it better or worse but Galaxy of Terror had a certain B movie charm.
Cons:
No likable characters and no build up to said characters. In a movie like this you can execute the idea in two ways: either you go for the gore (Which, again, Galaxy Of Terror did) or you go for the psychological horror. You can't have it both ways generally speaking. But it would be interesting to see a movie done like the Shining but has a Fulci-style intestine puking scene.
Poor overall execution. It shifts back and fourth from horror film to generic Sci Fi flick. Leading to...
Pro and Con:
The infamous cut footage.
http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/471...ou-didn-t-see/
Supposedly 20 something minutes of gore was cut out of this thing. I doubt it's 20 minutes exactly but judging from the stills of the cut footage it did seem like lengthier shots of the carnage. Anderson found a completely uncut VHS back in 2012 or 2013 but so far no new info on a release of that.
This could be a case like My Bloody Valentine where the cut to shit version is judged as being pretty "meh" but the uncut version elevates it. But then again this is Paul W.S. Anderson so it's a coin toss.
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