October 19th
Event Horizon (1997)
Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson
31 for 31 is a curated film program for the month of October. Conceived of as a compilation mixtape, the program explores the historical and cultural legacy of Horror cinema. Consider this my billet-doux to the genre.
Cosmic horror is defined as the “fear and awe we feel when confronted by phenomena beyond our comprehension, whose scope extends beyond the narrow field of human affairs.” The concept is rooted in the writings of author H.P. Lovecraft. He was fascinated by mankind’s anxiety in feeling insignificant amongst a vast and dark universe. Few films have been more successful in evoking Lovecraft’s work than 1997’s Event Horizon—nor from a more unlikely source. Directed by the other Paul Anderson, Event Horizon is a horrific glimpse into the eldritch void.
In the no-so distant future of 2047, the starship Event Horizon reappears in orbit around Neptune after mysteriously vanishing seven years prior. A rescue vessel, the Lewis & Clark, commanded by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishbourne) is dispatched to uncover what happened. Upon entering the derelict ship they find the mutilated corpses of the previous crew. No answers are found but this much is certain: they did not die well.
Tagging along on the mission is the Event Horizon’s designer, Dr. Weir (Sam Neil). He explains to Miller’s crew the ship’s secret purpose: an experimental gravity drive meant to tear open gateways between dimensions. It appears that something went terribly right. The ship did manage to cross over to the other side—but it has come back alive. Things go “Shining in space” quickly as the crew starts to unravel mentally; haunted by visions produced by the now-sentient Event Horizon.
Paul W.S. Anderson’s resume does not inspire a whole lot of confidence. It’s riddled with guilty pleasures like Mortal Kombat, Alien vs. Predator, and six Resident Evil films. His name is more prone to elicit groans than excitement, but Event Horizon is unquestionably his peak as a filmmaker. Hell has been imagined by hundreds of directors, but the torment described by Anderson is scarier than all of them combined.
A key component of Lovecraftian lore is that the horrors are incomprehensible to our primitive human minds. Event Horizon embraces this theme by relying on the audience’s imagination to fill in the gaps. Anderson only allows the viewer subliminal glances into this chaotic dimension, but these brief flashes are enough to make the Upside Down look pleasant in comparison. As one character, driven to suicide, whispers, “if you could see the things I’ve seen, you wouldn’t try to stop me.” To quote another character, “this ship is fucked.”
