The quick and easy review of 1997's Event Horizon is "what the hell was that?," a sentiment that seems to have been shared by critics and moviegoers on its initial release. The film has since grown into a verifiable cult classic and has enjoyed a reevaluation that skews more favorably towards it. Is it deserving, though?

The plot itself is relatively straight-forward. In 2040, the Event Horizon, a spaceship, went missing and was presumed destroyed, until seven years later when a distress signal from the ship prompts the dispatch of the rescue ship Lewis and Clark. Along for the ride with the Lewis and Clark's crew is Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill), the designer of the Event Horizon. En route, Weir discloses that the Event Horizon wasn't destroyed, but had disappeared into a black hole created by its experimental gravity drive, and has only just reappeared again. When they reach the ship, they inadvertently damage their own, so the entire crew has to board the Event Horizon. Slowly but surely, the ship reveals its dark secret: it has been past the known universe into a world of chaos and evil. It has literally been to hell and back, and now the ship itself is possessed and in need of a new crew.

In fairness, that is really dumbing it down, as the film contains much, much more to chew on visually and intellectually. The first shot reveals the Event Horizon, which from the outside looks like a cross, which is just the beginning of the religious imagery that director Paul W.S. Anderson uses throughout the film. The inside of the ship looks like a darkened cathedral, with interiors that blend the appearance of stained-glass and gothic building structure with sci-fi elements. We then cut to Weir, who awakens harshly after seeing his deceased wife alive and with her eyes gouged out in a nightmare. The station he is on has a sterile, white aesthetic, the first indication of Anderson's use of shades to convey the journey to darkness the rescue ship embarks on. While in stasis, Weir falls victim to another nightmare, again featuring his wife. Soon after, the entire crew awakens. The aesthetic on the rescue ship is decidedly gray at this point as Weir gives the crew the lowdown on the mission, a move into the darker element coming. It's also the first time they hear the distress call, which sounds like painful screams and a dark voice that speaks in Latin, another interesting link to Catholicism, and is mistakenly translated as "Save Me."

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Image via Paramount Pictures

When they arrive at the Event Horizon and are forced to board while repairs are made to the Lewis and Clark, it becomes very apparent that something very, very bad happened, but no clues as to what. The crew members investigate the ship, and the first sign that things are about to go down is when the gravity drive turns on (which Weir is adamant is impossible) and drags Justin (Jack Noseworthy) in, forcing Cooper (Richard T. Jones) to rescue him. Justin is pulled out but completely catatonic. Soon the crew members start seeing visions: Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) sees a young man he was forced to leave to his death, Peters (Kathleen Quinlan) sees the son she left behind and Weir again sees his wife, who urges him to join her. It's at this point that it's not only the background that is black, but now Weir is seen in shadows, or sitting on a chair that gives him the appearance of something otherworldly, foretelling his turn into complete darkness. The crew finds the captain's log and watch it, only to be bombarded by horrific images of mutilation and sexual deviation, and the entire Latin message is translated fully by the doctor, D.J. (Jason Isaacs). It's not "Save Me," it's far more disturbing: "Save Yourself From Hell".

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Lieutenant Starck (Joely Richardson) rightfully deduces that the ship itself is alive, and the visions and other disturbances are the actions of the ship itself, and Miller realizes that the ship has been to what can only be described as the epitome of hell as held by the church, a realm of unspeakable evil. Weir gives in to the evil through his wife, who gouges his eyes out as he falls into possession. Miller, Cooper and Starck, the only remaining crew, plan to blow up the tunnel that links the control room to engineering, freeing the control room as a "life raft," only Weir prevents Miller from escaping, forcing him to set off the explosions and release the life raft, saving Cooper, Starck, and Justin, barely alive but in stasis. The film ends on an ambiguous note, suggesting they may not have escaped at all.

Anderson proves a master at heightening tension with simple camera effects and set pieces, an asset he's proven in other films of his. There are a number of disconcerting shots taken at off-kilter angles, and a memorable shot where Peters sees her "son" standing in a coffin-shaped doorway before falling to her death. A very, very subtle technique he uses that adds to the tension of the situation are steady shots that aren't actually steady shots, as if the camera were not on a stand but handheld. It gives a slight shake to the shot, disorienting but not obviously so. It's really clever, and is the only film offhand that even uses it.

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Image via Paramount

One of the early criticisms of the film was its excessive gore, and make no mistake - there is definitely gore there. It's just that the gore is, well, interesting. For the most part, the gore is seen in montages, or brief glimpses, as when the crew watches the captain's log, Weir pushes images into Miller's mind, and the end result of Weir's vivisection of D.J. But those images are disturbing, haunting and, yes, excessive, particularly the captain's log where the original crew are seen in a bloody, hedonistic, death orgy. There are certainly worse (a rumored director's cut was significantly gorier), but it does earn its reputation that way.

The acting in the film is, overall, average at best. To be fair, the story doesn't give the actors much to grab onto for their characters, but the supporting cast come across as more "Star Trek red shirts" as opposed to people the audience care about. Fishburne is definitely mailing it in, playing Fishburne. There are two exceptions: Isaacs rises above the script, and nails the character's gradual change from vocal cynic to haunted believer. Neill is clearly having fun inhabiting Weir's descent into madman, and attacks his villainous, creepy turn with gusto.

The verdict? Event Horizon is a grand, ambitious vision that tries to marry elements from the Alien films (the first half-hour or so hews very closely to Aliens) with spiritual depth. It doesn't quite pull all of it together, but where the pieces do fit work better than expected, a film aiming for A+ that is content with its B grade. So yes, Event Horizon is indeed worthy of its reevaluation.

Rating: B