Event Horizon, ....to Hell and Back

Before Paul W.S. Anderson (Mr. Milla Jovovich) gave us the "Resident Evil" movies, he directed the best sci-fi/horror film of the 1990s.  1997's "Event Horizon," like "Alien" mixes two genres, introduces us to a gritty crew, is set on a spooky and cavernous space ship, and is over-the-top gory.  The man with the extra initial takes us on a voyage that will cause nightmares.  Unlike "Alien," the antagonist in this film is....well..you'll see.

The plot:  It is the year 2047.  Seven years previous the space ship Event Horizon set course to explore the outer reaches of the solar system....or so the public was told.  Secret NSA files indicate the mission was a bit more far-reaching.  While in orbit around Neptune (see picture above), the Event Horizon disappeared without a trace (....so we are told).  Now, seven years later, the Event Horizon is back.....but from where?  The mysterious Dr. Weir (Sam Neill) joins a search and rescue crew on the space ship Lewis & Clark to meet up with the Event Horizon.  After some hyper-sleep, the Lewis & Clark rendezvous with our creepy ship in Neptune's orbit.  The grouchy crew, led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) demand Weir level with them.  Weir advises them the Event Horizon is equipped with a reactor (see photo below) that can move the ship faster than the speed of light by folding space.  Now the crew sets out to find survivors (there are none) and figure out where the Event Horizon was for the past seven years.

As the crew boards the space ship the creepiness intensifies.  Human guts are splattered all over the walls.  Some corpses are found and their eyes are gouged out.  Occasional human appendages float by.  Peters and Lt. Starck (Kathleen Quinlan and Joely Richardson) are able to get the Event Horizon back on line.  Meanwhile, Weir seems to be increasingly possessed by the ship.  As the crew uncovers the mystery of the fate of the Event Horizon's crew, Starck realizes the ship is alive.  Cryptic log entries indicate an orgy of blood-shed felled the former crew.  When the reactor mysteriously turns itself on, a burst of energy from the Event Horizon destroys the Lewis & Clark, thus everyone is now aboard our monster ship.  Each character is visited, through hallucination, by horrific episodes from their past, and the possession of Weir intensifies.  The death scenes are incredibly graphic, and pure evil has never been captured better on film since "The Exorcist."

As Weir joins forces with evil (....Satan?), the crew realizes where the Event Horizon has been for the past seven years.  Miller and his crew set out on a plan to destroy Weir, the reactor, and to save themselves.  They undertake incredibly heroic measures for the ultimate battle in space.  The entire movie is intense and highlighted by a pounding musical score (Michael Kamen).  Exciting and horrific, this is not a film for the squeamish.  The revelations uncovered by Miller and his crew are even more terrifying than the kills and gore...be warned.  Available on Netflix, DO NOT MISS "EVENT HORIZON."