While low-budget, high-return horror films from A24, IFC, and Blumhouse currently rule the genre, it’s worth remembering there was a time when a major studio like Paramount was willing to take a risk (admittedly a costly one) and utilize seven Pinewood sound stages to deliver an immersive experience for audiences. Like The Shining’s Overlook Hotel, the Event Horizon itself is as much a character as anyone in the cast, and those impressive sets on the cavernous 007 Stage at Pinewood contribute enormously to the film’s atmosphere and sense of scale. There was a huge smile on Anderson’s face, and the first thing he said to Eisner was a jovial “You did this!” Eisner said it was the best moment of his career, and he was amazed to see how Anderson, his production designer Joseph Bennett ( Deep Blue Sea), and cinematographer Adrian Biddle ( Aliens) had turned his words into a beautiful, menacing reality. In one of the interviews on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray of the film, Phillip Eisner shared a story about visiting the set, where he found Anderson atop a mountain of scaffolding that overlooked the gravity drive set.
#Advent horizon movie movie
He has never been shy about the fact that he was a young director who was given a lot of money to make his cinephile dreams come true by showcasing his take on films that inspired him, but the movie also manages to stand on its own. Anderson drew inspiration from The Shining, Alien, and paintings by Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel, and you can clearly see their influences throughout. The movie isn’t without its faults, of course, but it’s a solid horror romp about a rescue crew trapped inside a haunted spaceship that has been to literal Hell. Anderson and the critical and financial drubbing the film suffered upon its release. For many longtime fans of the film, it was a whiff of validation for its pop culture relevance, which has been an uphill battle due to the general distaste for Paul W.S. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster makes a cheeky reference to Event Horizon as she attempts to explain wormholes.
Here’s why we think Event Horizon still holds up, a quarter century after its release. But much like Anderson, we’ve grown to love the scrappy horror film because the practical effects and makeup design still make us queasy and the lore around the never-going-to-happen director’s cut has kept it relevant and thriving on Blu-ray and 4K. We’ll be the first to admit that the truncated editing schedule and disastrous early test screenings that forced wholesale edits hurt the final product. The production wasn’t an easy one – a soundstage burnt down due to an out of control fireball, and the production schedule intensified when its release date was moved up to accommodate the delay of Titanic, which left a gap in Paramount’s summer release calendar that needed to be filled. In the span of one year, Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt built gigantic sets on the famous 007 stage, cast a group of excellent actors, developed impressive special effects inspired by Clive Barker, and released the R-rated gorefest during the summer. (Photo by ©Paramount Pictures courtesy Everett Collection) Anderson remembered Phillip Eisner’s script for Event Horizon, and in a flex move, the 32-year old fledgling director used his recent success to rush the $60 million-budgeted film, branded as “ The Shining in Space,” into production at England’s Pinewood Studios. Anderson was signed on to direct the action film Soldier, but star Kurt Russell needed a year to get into shape, so Anderson had an empty slate and didn’t want to waste any of his Mortal Kombat (1995) momentum while Russell was building his bulging biceps. What’s interesting about Event Horizon is that it all came about on a lark. It was in and out of theaters in just a few weeks, but something miraculous happened when it found its way to video store purgatory, where movie lovers rediscovered the film and helped build its reputation as an underappreciated, even ambitious horror cult classic. While the film didn’t travel to hell and back, it was released into the hellish cinematic landscape known as August, which until recently was traditionally considered a “dumping ground” for lesser studio fare.
The 1997 film Event Horizon and its titular ship have something in common: both disappeared quickly from the public eye, only to reappear later with new life breathed into them.
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