A Favorite

I'm a horror writer. That being said, Event Horizon is my favorite movie of all time.

Epinions lists this movie in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre, but I think that's misleading. This movie definitely takes place in the future and in a science fiction setting, but this movie is really geared more toward fans of horror and suspense films, not Trekkies.

Dr. Weir, played by Sam Neill, is a top-notch scientist who has built a ship called the Event Horizon. This ship is special because it can travel faster than light not by breaking the law of relativity, but by dodging it. The Event Horizon does not travel in a straight line, the originally assumed fastest route, but instead folds space and time until the starting point and the destination point reside within one time, and then the Event Horizon simply moves through.

When the Event Horizon initiates this mode of travel for the first time, however, the public is informed that it exploded and the crew was lost. The truth is it disappeared, no one knew where to. Nine years later it shows back up in Neptune's orbit and Dr. Weir is brought along with the crew of the Lewis & Clark (whose captain is played by Laurence Fishburne) so save any of the crew and find out where the ship has been.

From the first moment a foot is stepped onto the Event Horizon, pressure suits hissing and clanking inside the zero gravity of the returned ship of monstrous size, the movie provokes suspense, fear, and all the nail-biting one can take. The film quickly spirals into terror, horror, and mystery, as each of the crew see things from their past around them. At first they're speculative, trying to find excuses, but then tempers flare, the rescue crew's ship is damaged by a mysterious explosion, and they've only two days worth of oxygen on Event Horizon before they die. Will they be able to repair their ship in time to leave behind the Event Horizon and return to Earth? Will they be able to figure out what happened to the original crew? And what can explain the visions everyone is having about the darkest secrets and truths from their past?

Event Horizon is a whirlwind that, in the theatre, where I originally saw it, had me cringing into a tight ball and often looking away from the screen as the building of suspense was fantastic. The screenwriter for this film, Philip Eisner, hasn't yet released another film since, and Event Horizon was his first, but here's to hoping he comes back soon with more of his incredible building of tension and plot.

Event Horizon is, no contest, my favorite film of all time.