Tag Line : Infinite space. Infinite terror.

Set in the year 2047, this futuristic sci-fi shocker stars Laurence Fishburn as Captain Miller. The commander of a rescue team who've been asked to investigate a deep space distress call from a ship that disappeared some 7 years ago named the "Event Horizon".

The Event Horizon had been testing a new faster-than-light drive when it apparently vanished, and so Miller and his predominantly English crew take the ships designer Dr William Weir (Sam Neill) along with them to see if they can discover why the ship has just suddenly re-appeared after a 7 year absence.

Upon arriving at the stricken spaceship they find no signs of the crew, apart from a few bloody marks. There doesn't appear to be any immediate clues to their whereabouts, nor can they establish where the ship has been during the last 7 years when it disappeared.

However, as the plot unfolds it would appear that the ship is not as empty or abandoned as they first thought, and wherever the ship had been it's brought something extremely nasty back with it. First of all the rescue ship explodes, killing several members of Millers crew, then the surviving members start to act erratically. Dr Weir does a runner and subsequently goes missing, people start walking out of airlocks and others get killed in the most bizarre fashions. Such as one unfortunate person who gets burned alive by a fireball during an explosion.

At first they think Weir, who they have now established as being stark-raving-mad, is somehow behind it all. But very soon it becomes apparent that the ship itself is somehow causing the mysterious deaths of Millers crew, which has something to do with the place that the ship disappeared into all those years ago.

Whilst the film has a lot of promise and contains some excellent special effects and gore scenes, it doesn't quite deliver the goods you would expect from a production of this type. Indeed, genre fans will undoubtedly be able to predict what happens next, and fail to be frightened by it. Although it must be said that the films overall production quality is good, those that have seen the film "Galaxy of Terror" may find the plot more than a little familiar.

Overall Marks : 5/10.

Other Information.

• The Event Horizon spaceship was modelled on Notre Dame cathedral. Its interior is filled with cruciform shapes.

• The flag worn on Dr Weir (Sam Neill)'s overalls is a combination of the current Australian and the Australian Aboriginal flags.

• A scene which was apparently filmed but not included in the final release showed Dr Weir at the Daylight space station being informed of the ship's return and listening to the garbled distress call. This scene is included in the novelisation and parts of it appear in the trailers.

• The model of the Event Horizon included a complete "X-Wing" from Star Wars as part of an antenna array. The model is visible on the lower portion of the Event Horizon during the first flyby by the rescue ship.

• Laurence Fishburn has also appeared in "Apocalypse Now", "Death Wish 2", "Red Heat" and "Boyz N the Hood". He also had a co-starring role in "Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors", although his most recognised role to date is the character of Morpheus in "The Matrix".

• Sam Niell has had a similarly distinguished acting career, having appeared in Kane & Abel, The Hunt for Red October, Dead Calm, and The Piano. His most popular role is undoubtedly that of Dr Alan Grant from "Jurrasic Park", although fans of "The Omen" series may best know him for his role as anti-christ Damien Thorn in "Omen 3 - The Final Conflict".

• Sean Pertwee, who appears as Smith, had previously appeared in "I.D." and has also appeared in "Soldier", "Tube Tales" and "The 51st State". And for those that don't know, he is the son of the late Jon Pertwee who played Dr Who back in the 70's.

• Joley Richardson who plays Lt Starck has also appeared in the drama "Shining Through", the British comedy "Maybe Baby" as well the historically inaccurate insult "The Patriot". UK viewers may also remember her from her role as Emily in the 1998 BBC TV drama "The Tribe".

Cast & Crew.

Buy the UK DVD (standard).

Buy the UK DVD (spec-ed).

Buy the US DVD (spec ed).

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