Did Paul W.S. Anderson actually make a good film? No.
Riding the success of Mortal Kombat, W.S. took on an R-rated horror film in space about a crew led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) to board the Event Horizon, a ship that disappeared for seven years. Along with the rag tag crew of cliches is the ship's designer Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill).
Where the ship has been and what happened to the ship's crew are the main points of order for Miller and his crew aboard the Lewis and Clark. Once on board the ship, however, they see no signs of the crew but find evidence that they are not alone.
Event Horizon is basically Hellraiser in space. Obviously, being W.S., this film is nowhere near on par with the original Hellraiser and its creator, Clive Barker. What we do have, though, is a decent horror film with a lot of style and energy. Paul W.S. Anderson makes good use of his sets and lighting to create a somewhat effective horror film.
The two lead actors, Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill provide some weight to a corny script, though as the film progresses, the acting gets more over the top. Sam Neill especially becomes more over the top as the film goes along. Having to recite some of the over the top dialogue that Laurence Oilvier couldn't say without getting a chuckle out of the audience.
The awful dialogue comes courtesy of Philip Eisner, with an uncredited rewrite by Andrew Kevin Walker. It is unknown how much AKW brought to the script, but as Eisner is the only writer credited, one can wonder. Either way, this is not a script that I would want at the top of my resume.
Not a lot more can be said about this film. It is nowhere near a classic in the horror genre, but it serves its purpose and doesn't hang around too long. Plus, in Paul W.S. Anderson's career, this is much better than the Resident Evil films and Death Race. A win for W.S. I guess.
Along with Sam Neill, Event Horizon is kind enough to provide us with Richard T. Jones and Jack Noseworthy. A win for the audience.
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