MovieChat Forums > Event Horizon (1997) Discussion > just watched for the first time

just watched for the first time

posted 7 years ago by [deleted]
8 replies | jump to latest

The first hour was pretty good but it went off the rails toward the end. I wanted to like this but in the end its a poor man's Alien. I know it has a cult following but once is enough for me.

[–] MikeCable (1665) 7 years ago

I tend to agree, it was very interesting and creepy in the first half but then got a bit old-hat in the second.

But I think this happens with a lot of films... great setup and getting into a situation, then it leads to a standard kind of survival sequence which has been done so many times.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72154) 7 years ago

Agreed
It was soooo good for a while...i think the script needed some work...still, pretty decent but could have been a classic

[–] lordbishop34 (1442) 7 years ago

I still enjoy this film, its not perfect. I think its does a good job displaying the horror in space it was going for, it had some effective imagery and a creepy atmosphere. It could have used some work at the end, but I really would love to see another film set in the same universe.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72154) 7 years ago

Me too!
A gateway to hell in a black hole is an extraordinary set up...hope someone is getting on this idea!

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

Once was definitely enough for me. It was a stupid, ripoff of Alien. Bad.

😎

[–] Volley (3368) 5 years ago

The first quarter was actually really well done, it set everything up and got me right into it. The set pieces feel gritty and realistic, something that today's computer graphics have an issue doing even in the latest movies. There's that 'Alien' vibe.

But then the second quarter begins and things accelerate perhaps a bit to quickly into the weird and distasteful. This is a pretty gross movie, and a lot of blood. I get that some people love that kind of thing. I think the atmosphere and immersion horror should have been used way more in the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and then get to the physical horror in that final quarter.

So to make it short, not enough use of atmosphere and immersion--the potential was there the entire time, but wasted with gross horror early on.

[–] TandyMan (10393) 5 years ago

I get what you're saying, but disagree. The first half of this movie is strong for sure. And the second half may seem rote, traditional and gory. But I actually think that's a strength of the film. In taking something of the standard horror genre and putting a fresh spin on it. Maybe this film doesn't age well today, I don't know. But it felt a height of the genre at the time of release.

[–] redban (5228) 4 years ago

Agree. The opening had a really creepy vibe, the way they explained their mission to find a ship that disappeared for 7 years. And there was the Liberate Me words in the tape recorder. Even when they first started exploring the tomb-like ship, the movie was still doing well.

The movie lost some edge when the doctor became Freddy Krueger (which wasn’t explained satisfactorily), and the hallucinations were a little lame.