Paul W.S. Anderson is best known for his string of lackluster video game adaptations that can nonetheless be relied on to do a turn at the box office, even if we’re not going to argue about his Mortal Kombat adaptation being a glorious slice of 1990s cheese. However, the filmmaker showed a serious knack for horror with Event Horizon, yet he hasn’t returned to the genre in a straightforward manner since.
The ambitiously gruesome intergalactic tale of things going bump in the night may have flopped at the box office after failing to recoup the $60 million budget, and landed a middling 29% Rotten Tomatoes score into the bargain, but it didn’t take long for the movie to find cult classic status on home video.
Event Horizon was butchered in post-production, something Anderson has lamented on numerous occasions as he continues to dismiss the notion of returning to the well for a Director’s Cut, but it’s a riotous thrill ride for those with strong stomachs and a disposition for seeing body horror taken to the extreme.
When the titular ship suddenly reappears after having been presumed lost years prior, a motley crew is dispatched to investigate. The Event Horizon appears to be completely deserted, but it doesn’t take long for the rapidly-dwindling cast to discover that something dangerous and decidedly evil is prowling the corridors.
It’s a haunted house in space film, then, but a wonderfully enjoyable one regardless. Prime Video subscribers clearly agree per FlixPatrol, propelling Event Horizon up the most-watched charts a quarter of a century after it first scraped, scratched, clawed, and flayed its way into our hearts.