Nothing quite captures deep existential dread like cosmic horror. Instead of relying on traditional sources of terror, like serial killers or paranormal spirits, cosmic horror taps into the fear of human insignificance when compared to the unknowable nature of the universe.
This indifference often comes with entities or concepts beyond human comprehension, fueling the horror of sci-fi movies like Annihilation (2018), The Thing (1982), and Color Out of Space (2019). Sometimes, things take a terrifyingly Lovecraftian turn in The Void (2016) or In the Mouth of Madness (1994). Conversely, reality loses all meaning in The Endless (2017) and Coherence (2013), prompting characters to question everything they know about being human.
Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997) explores each of these facets while mapping an experience that feels like a literal descent into hell. While the film was a box office flop and a critical disappointment, Event Horizon excels due to its uncompromising commitment to the grotesque. The film’s ability to shock and frighten relies on our collective apprehension of the unknown, along with that of eldritch terrors that lie just beyond the edge of the void. In the event of the film getting an unexpected sequel, here’s some good news: Event Horizon is now available to stream for free on Pluto TV.
Event Horizon opens in the year 2047. A distress signal is received from the titular spaceship, which had disappeared during its maiden voyage seven years ago. A rescue vessel led by Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) is dispatched soon after, along with Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill), the designer of the Event Horizon.
Although Dr. Weir does his best to prep the crew regarding the ship’s experimental gravity drive, the rescue crew are greeted with an unsettling sight as soon as they board the target vessel. This sense of unease, combined with a deeply disturbing video recording, turns Event Horizon into a particularly gnarly cosmic horror.
Anderson uses the design of the Event Horizon to reinforce the themes of guilt and hubris that permeate the story. When the abandoned ship first looms into view, it resembles a giant crucifix, while its interiors feel like a dreary gothic mansion instead of a stark spaceship. Even the experimental gravity drive, which represents human hubris, has a disorienting effect on the rescue crew, who soon feel haunted by their own trauma. These developments, although gradual, feel unnerving. At some points, the vessel feels almost sentient, turning its residents against their own minds and each other.
Although the plot might draw inevitable parallels to better space horror films like Alien (1979) or Solaris (1972), Event Horizon etches its own identity, thanks to Anderson’s unnerving vision. “I wanted to do something different that hadn’t been done in spaceships before, and because we were telling a gothic horror story, I reached back in time,” Anderson told The Ringer in 2020. The Mortal Kombat director went on to explain how the design elements of the Notre Dame Cathedral were redesigned into the titular spacecraft, making it stand apart from the spaceships we see in popular space horrors. This lends to the film’s distinct aesthetic, allowing the more eldritch horrors to come alive without any thematic disconnect.
Event Horizon might seem like a straightforward rescue-mission-gone-wrong narrative at first glance, but the film accomplishes a lot with this initial premise. Characters who are exposed to forbidden knowledge are immediately robbed of sight, as the human mind is ill-equipped to process what is supposed to be unknowable. The cosmic horror of it all is uncomfortably visceral, as the film doesn’t shy away from the violence of bodily mutilation or sadomasochistic torture.
This is reminiscent of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, where exposure to a hellish dimension can completely strip a person of their humanity, or corrupt them beyond redemption. Anderson develops this thread even further by bringing guilt and trauma into the mix, subjecting characters to vivid hallucinations that expose their fears and vulnerabilities.
Few movies have explored the consequences of hubris like Event Horizon. There’s a steep price to pay for accessing primordial knowledge, and even the most measured human hearts are unable to handle it. Although Anderson’s cult classic is flawed on many fronts, it delivers exactly what it promises: The feeling of being trapped inside a bleak nightmare.
Event Horizon is streaming on Pluto TV.
