Is EVENT HORIZON Really "Disturbing"?

[@RyanHollinger]

*Let me know your thoughts on Event Horizon below, and even share some examples of "disturbing" media!* If you want to help the show survive, get early access, voting privileges, etc - head over on Patreon: www.patreon.com/ryanhollinger

[@V0rish]

It's my favorite guilty pleasure movie of all time. The effects are nice, the atmosphere is mostly creepy, it's at some points hilariously (the jetpack scene) and I always have a good time watching it 😍

[@schulzbrianr]

It's one of my favorite horror movies, along with Lord of Illusions

[@nicholasleon5584]

I actually just watched this movie a couple nights ago. I wasn't absolutely terrified throughout my viewing experience, but when I went to bed afterwards, I couldn't help but notice how eerily silent my room felt. That, to me, is why I value the film: it had an effect on the way I perceived the world around me, even if only for a few minutes. It's not a perfect film, but I value it for Anderson's ambition and the atmosphere he created.

[@Tyear]

To be honest, it works really really well as humanity's first warp drive as seen in warhammer 40k. It throws the crew into the warp without a gellar field and that is what happens to the ship. Which in terms becomes possessed. In the warhammer mythos Chaos is an insidious thing that often creeps into people's mind, which is what happens to Weir. Then again, it could just be a messed up horror movie that could have been so much better without studio dickery.

[@EmmaEquinox]

I watched it on a whim a few months ago for the first time. I had always heard the title but didn't know a damn thing about it going in. I had just watched 2001 A Space Odyssy and was itching for more existential space sci-fi. And what I got in EH was... certainly interesting. To a degree. I liked the production design. But the movie as a whole was kind of boring. And the shocking gore and horror felt there just to BE shocking and gorey. Which is fine I suppose. I just agree that the film lacked a certain about of substance that made me really give shit. I think by the end,i was just ready for it to be over with haha

[@samuelhonywill4499]

The fact that lots of footage from the movie turned up in a salt mine in Romania is one of my favourite random film stories. Someone at Paramount must have REALLY disliked the original edit...

[@baron8107]

Samuel Honywill So has anyone pieced-together a Director's Cut?

[@TarksGauntlet]

@Scowler Salt damage made it mostly unsalvageable sadly.

[@HellRider_]

Fuck

[@jwnj9716]

You would think they would actually look after their stuff carefully but nah.

[@FedorovAvtomat]

Well generally a salt mine is an ideal place to store it. Absorbs the moisture in the air so it can't reach the film or corrode the container. Somebody didn't give a shit and poorly sealed the container where salt dust could get inside and mess up the whole thing.

[@VeritabIlIti]

Miller will forever go down as the smartest character in horror history: "We're leaving"

[@ShiestWorldBangers]

that line still was the best line ever....

[@janinebelleestrada7096]

Whats sad is that the ship doesn't want them to leave. To be honest being stuck in space without any other means of escape asides the rescue ship miles an dmiles away from home inside a demon ship powered by human torture that emerged from the depths of hell and the idea that you might get caught and be tortured by hell demons inside your mind made me consider that being haunted by earth monsters is a better idea.

[@EdGattsek]

Get the files. Vacate. I want off this ship! Love it!!

[@haon2205]

Another of my favorite: "Here I come you motherfker!"

[@jesseperry9602]

Smartest line ever said in a horror movie ever!

[@The80sWolf_]

The most disturbing thing with it is how the director later went on to do 6 resident evil movies.

[@stevangonzalez5908]

The 80's Wolf sadly. That's one franchise I think would benefit from being rebooted. Someone like a James Wan or Fede Alvarez would do it justice better

[@The80sWolf_]

I agree, I think right now it cant be worse. Its like beginning from zero.

[@stevangonzalez5908]

The 80's Wolf Hell they can even do RE 7 as a movie and that would be a great concept

[@straighter100]

The 80's Wolf *Screams internally*

[@jasoninkurai5463]

I would like a Dead Space movie

[@businessburd2071]

My dad constantly quotes one line from this movie (much to the chagrin of my mother) 'Where we're going, we don't need eyes"

[@jencgold]

Business Burd ewwwwwwww

[@jacquelineess1141]

Your dad's fucking cool.

[@RandolphTheWhite1]

Where we're going, we don't need roads.... Oh crap that's Back to the Future

[@powerofberzerker9487]

Libera te tutumet ex inferis

[@alextromagnetic]

And the sad thing is it's still by far Anderson's best movie because at least it has ambition

[@khalnetherfields7263]

anderson who, not wes anderson surely?

[@TheDRODOR]

Nah, Soldier is better

[@LucyLioness100]

Khal Netherfields Paul W.S. Andersen, the bozo who kept making endless ‘Resident Evil’ movies

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Seeing this and Alien vs Predator and seeing his filmography its really obvious he has a tendency towards meandering, run-of-the-mill action/horror films. Event Horizon was at least out there, very 90s, great cast and cool effects. AvP was saved only by the fact that its namesake was in the movie.

[@nerdstorm596]

Khal Netherfields ... the guy who made the movie being discussed. Not to be a dick, but don’t you think the comment section would be filled with comments that relate to the video in some way, and not random opinions about a director who has nothing to do with the video at hand. Maybe I’m the who’s not right and have been commenting wrong all these years. I’ll start throwing at random opinions and see if people can guess what I’m talking about it. Screw what the content creators I enjoy are talking about. My random thoughts that their videos make me think of make more sense to comment than discussing the subjects they present. Right? Or is that wrong? The world may never know.

[@dopejoel]

To me it's visually intriguing, narratively average, but executed decent enough to make people's imaginations run wild-despite its limitations. It's because it has provoked curiosity and captured imaginations that it has such replay value these years later.

[@nicodemusbrausebier5378]

Oh man, that was so well spoken. Kudos!

[@dopejoel]

@@nicodemusbrausebier5378 Thank you! I learned to write non-fiction by copying a lot of Richard Dawkins' style.

[@autopilotlevel7296]

I love the fact that we are left to put so many em pieces of the puzzle together ourselves and that takes us into our own Darkness

[@mckenzie.latham91]

I felt that the film managed to get a good horror and creepy atmosphere going, and the concept itself is quite interesting. the problem is that i felt that it’s not executed like what a psychological horror should have been. it focuses more on showing you things which only end up resembling cliche horror tropes and or trying to win points on a gore and shock value...something that the director does exactly the same in his resident evil films. had the director combined psychological horror as well with visual storytelling, it could have been a far more psychologically undermining film which is what it should be.

[@lordinquisitor6233]

This film shows what happens when humans without the emperor’s guidance try to enter warp space, they get murder by demons

[@TheThingInMySink]

Listen, I'm all for the one true faith but it was their lack of gellar fields on that ship that fucked them over.

[@cms3816]

haha yes I have played warhammer and know about what you’re talking about

[@mastercheff09090]

The emperor protects!

[@fleshtorn]

Lord Inquisitor am I having a stroke

[@PHILDEBEAST]

Wrong dude.it shows what happens when people fuck with shit they don't know exists.if you can go to hell and back through a black hole in space that is

[@TheVolgun]

haha! - always love hearing a northern irish voice on youtube! - keep up the good work man.

[@LucasDimoveo]

Always good to see a familiar face here. Love your content

[@JustinY.]

The more disturbing fact is that it may be a Warhammer prequel

[@JasTheFagge]

liked your own comment

[@Xhawk777]

Justin Y. That’s a good theory

[@dalhar20]

More like "Justin Why you make so many comments?"

[@Xhawk777]

Justin Y. How could it be a prequel though?

[@Xhawk777]

Miguel Mauro ooh, that’s interesting

[@beebomcgroober9316]

It's the implications of what happened to the crew that get to me. When they cross over into "Hell" they go INSTANTLY insane. And not just insane, they mutilate, rape, rip, and gouge each other until there's nothing but a red paste on the walls. Whatever they experience over there is so terrible they immediately rip their own eyes out without hesitation. What did they see over there? That's what keeps me up at night. BTW I like your videos but sometimes I don't know how you enjoy these movies with your tendency to over analyze everything. Does there have to be some sort of underlying symbolism or exploration of humanity? It's just scary visions of what Hell might be like dude.

[@Voitan]

Combined with the idea of being stuck on that god forsaken ship is part of the horror.

[@dancooper5423]

Maybe not, but you can clearly see how these films attempt to do so and must be judged bases on that.

[@RhinoTown]

I always feel for the captain going to hell for his crew

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

You do have a point.

[@VSPhotfries]

Ya know, I don' want to claim the film is perfect by any stretch, because it sure isn't, but I am firmly in the 'cult following' category: I watched it years ago, zero hype, no knowledge of the popular opinions, nothing, just watched it, and found it pushed all my buttons. For one, every main character has an arc to their story. Dr Weir didn't start out a cenobite knockoff, he was just a psychologically disturbed individual, the cause of which was the suicide of a loved one that haunts him and is well presented in the film as as disturbing as such things can be - people who haven't experienced recurring nightmares might not realize how vivid and exaggerated they can get and just assume it's schlock being schlock, but I don't feel it was at all. Later, deemed useful, the intelligece controlling the ship (which I'll note here remains nebulous enough as to not ruin its own mystique) used this to manipulate him, then torment him to the breaking point making him a useful and loyal servant (e.g. a knockoff cenobite, but at least surprisingly accurate knockoff when compared to Barker's originals). The same can be said of the other main characters (whose content wasn't cut): They all get their own personalized psychological torture throughout. As for the gore, sure, it's plentiful, but I wouldn't call it over-the-top at all, especially since it's remarkably controlled, purposeful, and splashed around a small, claustrophobic environment. Besides, the looming threat is unending pain, torture without the release of death, and madness being the only reprieve - a blend of the more visceral Lovecraftian moments and Warhammer 40k as clear inspirations - essentially on it's surface a simple fear of death and pain magnified by the knowledge that it's the true death of self, not the body, that will free you: Your soul will not move on, it will simply be that you will one day become unrecognizable *and it's going to hurt for the whole journey*. And lastly (that I bother to write since this is a waste of time anyway), though the bad CG and budget limitations definitely took a toll on the experience, the environment - as much of a knockoff of Alien franchise entries as it was - did a good job of being claustrophobic and unsettling. A lot of criticism was levied as it being 'dark and cramped because dark and cramped', and I can't really disagree, but being trapped in a tin can floating through space is genuinely unsettling: Even in a vast, dark, cold ocean, if you jump overboard you have a moment to reflect on the fact you escaped a worse fate, but in space the death is so sudden, gruesome and painful it takes a LOT to convince someone they'd rather try escaping that way, and the oppressive atmosphere goes a long way to solidify that. Not to mention the airlock scene highlights the trauma that poor kid went through: He wasn't reduced to the level of jibbering idiot, unaware of the danger he was in, he was *fully aware and wanted desperately to escape* so he wouldn't have to experience even a little more. THAT is a scary thought, at least to me.

[@carysbebard3690]

TheRev I thought this was really insightful, hits the nail on the head of what works about this film

[@yurihageshi8008]

And that the ship itself was ultimately trying to kill everyone through suffocating w/O oxygen in only a few hours.. Wow. And they did not escape even through a cryosleep

[@johndee2990]

This film might kinda warrant a reboot with that description.. Maybe a look through Anderson's notes on the cut content, but an incohesive story belays deepening madness well. Especially when death is no escape.

[@plum_swf]

The concept of something being infinite is shuddering. That something being pain is horrifying. The fact that the death of self, of madness in totality, is the only laughably minor victory to have in that space, and that it's not even certain to be a permanent reprieve? I think that as a kid this movie introduced me to imaginings that would later help me really enjoy writers like Kafka and painters like Bosch. Even other movies dealing with madness and dread like Apocalypse Now. Maybe. I dunno. It's difficult looking backwards. But i still love to watch this movie.

[@Falkenhorst2000]

You hit the nail on the head, buddy. I really don't get why so many people paint it "that bad". I mean sure, it isn't perfect, but, like you, it hit all my buttons; so I don't really get how so many can have so many problems with this movie. :/

[@Reapis.]

Great analysis, however I would say that the crafting of an audience's belief in a protagonist only to reveal later that in fact they were rooting for a bad guy is a brilliant aspect of this movie. Whether it was intentional or not, it is uncommon and done well here even if inside of a campy product.

[@RyanHollinger]

I don't believe I said it was a bad thing. It's unclear if that is intended, but like I said, if it's unintentional, it sometimes feels intentional. The incompleteness somehow works.

[@festo8756]

44 5 Your praising it as brilliant but the intent of the film was The Shining in Space. All they did was copy the plot of the Shining.

[@DapperDill]

@@festo8756 And Aliens is literally an exact copy of Alien but turned into an action flick. It’s bizzare how people nonsense if they belong to the same universe. So what is your non-point.

[@festo8756]

@@DapperDill Aliens is a direct copy of the 1954 movie Them! My point is most movies are just copies of other films. Don't the audience lose if they are being sold the same story over and over?

[@scarletcarsonmarie]

@@festo8756 copying the plot of the shining? Why because one of the characters went mad, and there was a flood of blood? The shining isn’t the first movie to use insanity in the plot. Honestly I loved Steven kings books, but the shining movie didn’t really do it for me, it was creepy but not really horror, the book was way better.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

One of the things that I do appreciate about this film is that it doesn't degrade into being a standard monster/slasher movie. For me the most distinctive parts of Alien are the sequences in which we are shown the lifecycle and reproduction method of the xenomorph. Once the alien actually shows up it loses a lot of the tension for me because I'm very familiar with the tropes and the limitations of the effects are very apparent any time the alien is on screen, for the first film at least. Danny Boyle's Sunshine tried something similar to EH but falls apart when it becomes about a naked man running around trying to kill proxy Jesus and his friends. The closest analogue I can think of would be a film like cube, which is much less graphic but perhaps a bit more existential in the sense that the purpose of the cube is never truly clear.

[@RyanHollinger]

Nicely put!

[@ABLEARC]

The cube series was so under rated.

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

Well, I would definitely say that for the original cube film. The sequels are a bit more mixed in my opinion with Cube 2 having some fascinating ideas but suffering from fairly bland visual design and the third film being a bit more campy and fun in its own way but being hampered by the low budget. I do feel like the less the cube is explained the more interesting it is so while I do enjoy them up to a point the sequels do kind of diminish the impact of the first film for me.

[@tdfern1]

Casanova Funkenstein did Cube get a reboot?

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

Thomas Fernandez I'm not aware of one but it's not impossible. I would imagine remaking a film with less than 10 actors on a single set would be pretty cheap.

[@onkelberra3166]

I think it's sad that they cut out most of the disturbing Hell photage. They were afraid people wouldn't handle it.

[@franohmsford7548]

I think it makes those sequences even better and WAY SCARIER when all you see is almost subliminal flashes of the horrors that are being committed - This is why I've never paused the film to see these scenes in all their glory...It ruins the effect. Another example of this would be Rodriguez' nurse on bed scene in From Dusk Till Dawn - We all know what Tarantino's character did to her, we don't need to see it in all it's horror - The quick flash of the camera is enough. And Event Horizon IS in my opinion a MASTERPIECE! The flawed production may have been a blessing in disguise! In the Sub-Genre of Sci-Horror only Aliens surpasses Event Horizon for me {Alien has to settle for 3rd place}.

[@tabbydragonhd9519]

NurturingTalents is that what it was??

[@subcomandante77]

@@tabbydragonhd9519 yes it was they considered it a snuff film

[@IIISWILIII]

Can you imagine what it must have been like for the actors filming that scene?

[@breathoffreshair7795]

NurturingTalents less of an orgy moreso rape. Its rumored they were all possessed at that point and thus it was just unwilling self inflected torture, which honestly is fucking terrifying

[@ianrotten4453]

Without "Event Horizon", we would've never gotten "Dead Space'! So, yeah, it is disturbing!

[@trager8933]

Yea and dead space has clear system shock 2 insipiration.

[@my88110]

Hopefully one day, someone will make a cosmic horror movie with the type of grand scale the genre deserves; maybe Del Toro will finally adapt At The Mountains of Madness, now he's an Oscar winning director. One Oscar and you're suddenly an auteur, before that he was just a well respected fantasy director, and I don't even like The Shape of Water that much.

[@WickedWicka]

The Void comes pretty close if you haven't seen that.

[@jacobjohnston3983]

I feel like "at the mountains of madness" would be the best story to adapt (at least out of the truly huge-scale cosmic ones), though the Shadow over Innsmouth would also be a great choice. Mountains is my favorite Lovecraft story by a mile, though, so if such a movie does come out and it sucks, it'll just hurt twice as much

[@my88110]

WickedWicka Yeah i've seen the void, it was pretty good, the third act was a bit boring though.

[@my88110]

Jacob Johnston Yeah, I'd like to see something by Thomas Ligotti or Robert Chambers adapted as well, if not as a film, maybe in TV. It all comes down to what audiences generally want to see, I don't think any Cosmic Horror adaption would make a profit with a big budget, unless it had an acclaimed director or star behind it.

[@LicoriceLain]

Techinically, he already did with Hellboy.

[@bubbles8871]

For me at least, the message they got warning "Save yourself from hell" was a lot more disturbing than when Dr. Weir was showing Miller the visions of hell.

[@GameplayandTalk]

The hell sequences always got me when I watched this film. Anyway, I appreciate the video and how you often take a look at horror and suspense films.

[@briarhaven01]

Event horizon is a wild ride man

[@samuelgault7118]

I always appreciate your sincerity in these videos, maybe more than anything. The consistency of your uploading, coupled with your very genuine love of film makes each one seem less like a nerdwriter-y video essay, and more like listening to a new friend gush about their favourite movies, which is something I love to do IRL anyway

[@RyanHollinger]

Thank you! I don’t subscribe to the concept of a “video essay” anymore - ever since I felt more in control of myself, I like these videos purely as my stream-of-conscience thoughts of watching a movie. It feels more human, sincere and real.

[@plaguedoctormasque8089]

Asskiss

[@thomasdawicki141]

As a hellraiser fan, this is what bloodlines could have been. “Hell is just a word” is far more faithful to Clive barkers vision that the boiler plate hell the labyrinth becomes in later Hellraiser installments

[@StandAsYouAre]

I still really enjoy this movie. The thing I take most from it is that the crew from Louis and Clark weren’t your traditional horror movie victims. They were there to do a job, they wanted to get it done as quickly and safely as possible so they could go home to their loved ones. And to me that’s what made the characters relatable, everyone just wants to do their job and get it done so they can get back to their families. There would be so many people out there who have had to deal with trauma from workplace accidents beyond their control.

[@jetfire851]

One of the things that makes this movie so beloved to the Internet is two simple words: "We're leaving." For once the main character of a horror movie realizes that they really need to get the fuck out of the haunted house (well ship in this case). Of course it's too late for them, but "We're leaving" is up there with "I say we nuke the entire site from orbit, it's the only way to be sure" when it comes to movie characters being self-aware.

[@MarylandDude9005]

*the weirdest thing about this film is that the uncut version ended up in a salt mine in Romania, in it had more scenes like more visions of hell and lot more messed up shit like that orgy scene (that of which they hired porn stars so yeah, there was actual fucking in that movie) so how the hell it ended up in a salt mine of all places?*

[@antgm93]

Imagine the timeline where this script got tabled for decades and sold off to A24 where they had Ari Aster or Robert Eggers make it for 15% of the budget. Masterpiece.

[@riffbw]

What the movie is missing is a little more development for the characters that die. We need to know why they act the way they do and what makes their fears believable. Other than that, it's a nearly flawless Lovecraftian haunted house movie. And the hallmark of a great horror is how believable the characters are and this ones gives you great characters that just need to be fleshed out a bit more to make this an all time great film that comes from the horror genre.

[@jayfiggs4656]

One of The only films I want remade.

[@always-steelers]

Jose Figueroa just announced today they are making the event horizon series.

[@jeambeam3173]

@@always-steelers thats not good. Idek if this is true bc still nothing has been released or teased but that just means its going to be more censored

[@always-steelers]

Dean Mckenzie true it’s just rumors lol

[@wretched17]

Watch "Pandorum" it's a spiritual successor to Event Horizon and not a bad film either

[@TheTrueFeleas]

Honestly, I always thought Event Horizon was an film about The Imperium's first attempt at Warp Travel.

[@silverfiste]

Me too, really feels like an origin story the discovery of the warp.

[@WAcrobat19]

Same, I'd like to believe this takes place around the Dark Age of Technology

[@xxlCortez]

It's a "why should you keep your gellar field up" training movie.

[@TheTrueFeleas]

@@xxlCortez Precisely!!!!

[@Dirt_McGirt_Osirus]

@@WAcrobat19 I’d argue it’s pre dark age humanity as the dark age humans were incredibly smart and very technologically advanced leagues ahead of the Imperium while these guys are just discovering interstellar space travel

[@CarmeloSantosF]

My dad rented this movie and we watched it together when I was like 12. What was he thinking. Even when I am now mature enough to understand its flaws, the idea of an unspeakable chaotic hell at the borders of the universe still makes it one of the creepiest films for me.

[@connorv.9337]

Looks like someone forgot to turn on the Gellar Field.

[@Mcdannydew]

One of my favorite horror flicks, along with Cube.

[@Mastaace]

Check out 'Circle' (2015). I kind of thought of it as an even more campy Cube-type thriller, and I don't even think it was super great, but the concept was still kind of cool.

[@Mcdannydew]

Circle was a great flick! Definitely had heavy Cube vibes.

[@Mcdannydew]

The laser hallway?

[@HenryFordOfficial]

cube is better by far, but event horizon is decent

[@darkprince56]

I rarely keep thinking about horror movies once they're over, but this one perturbed me. It bothered me. Instilled paranoia. It's disturbing to think that maybe somewhere out there, in the blackness of space, evil could be lurking there...in the void. The Thing was also another movie that left me thinking.

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Oh man, imagine a full directors cut, with nothing removed! We need this in its full glory.

[@Mastaace]

Full gory.

[@yurihageshi8008]

Nuka Dash where?

[@MrFu75]

Vaguely remember seeing a video where the extra footage shot hasn't survived, stored in damp conditions if I remember correctly, hope I'm wrong.

[@Take12music]

@@MrFu75 you're right. A Transylvanian salt mine...of all places

[@AsylaRo]

I've been trying to become a better consumer of movies, TV shows, and other, similar forms of entertainment, and I just wanted to say that your channel has been a HUGE help in teaching me how to take apart and understand themes, characters, composition shots, etc. Your videos are always presented in a clean and precise way while also being enjoyable in their own right. I really appreciate your channel!!

[@Ninquelote]

side note: I love your accent and I love that you're on the internet with it.

[@magic-window]

Same here. Very chill to listen to.

[@RyanPatton94]

Mildly controversial opinion: this is one of my favorite movies. Less than controversial opinion: this is the closest thing Anderson has ever made to a good film (even if you're willing to stretch the definition of "good")

[@Jay-qh6uv]

I know you didn’t talk about pre-production, but I think a really important fact to point out is that Event Horizon was supposed to be a fun, campy, alien creature-feature and at the last minute they were like hey what if we did a kind of Hellraiser sort of thing with it (I believe they actually consulted with Clive Barker himself). That’s one of this movie’s biggest issues imo, the tonal confusion. It doesn’t know what it wants to be, so it tries to be several things and it does them all in a weird, dissonant, half assed way. You’ve got a movie torn between “Where we’re going, you won’t need eyes to see...” and “fUcK tHiS sHiP”. The style is just all over the place. Are you trying to be gothic, something Clive Barker would be proud of? Or are you trying to be a fun, campy 90s romp? Still, it’s super charming for me. There’s something about it I just love and find really endearing. I think it’s pretty entertaining, and I always love media that features a torture realm or a force that causes people to hurt themselves. I love the idea of the torture orgies and that you become a zealot of this...lifestyle when exposed to the mysterious realm, again similar to Hellraiser. I also like the idea of a place so dark and chaotic and beyond human understanding that our only cultural reference point is “Hell” so that’s what we call it, although it’s not actually hell in the Christian sense, just a dimension with a way of life and an existence radically different to ours. Those are fun, interesting concepts.

[@zoegaia1745]

The fact that lots of footage from the movie turned up in a salt mine is a metaphor for how fans are going to be forever upset that all the footage will never be released.

[@The_Reviewist]

I saw Event Horizon on release when I was only a teenager, and both myself and my friends walked out somewhat shellshocked. But none of us had ever seen any of the Hellraiser films, and to us the concept of Hell bleeding through into the real world was a new one, outside playing Doom. To be honest, Ryan, I'm not sure why you make so many references to it being incoherent and what it's about being unclear. We all understood it fine at the time, and having revisited it in later years, while it doesn't hold up, it's in no way complex or incoherent. It does show many signs of being butchered down from a much larger or more complex script, to a threadbare version. The most telling moment being when, apropos of nothing, Joely Richardon announces that "this ship has been to hell" and wallops down the main conceit of the story at the midpoint. I always assumed there was a lot more to the movie, and have since learned this to be case. It's definitely a guilty pleasure, but I'm not sure it was really supposed to be "about" something more than it being a sci-fi horror with biblical themes and aesthetic to the design choices. Maybe it's just me but this video felt a little... threadbare itself, and maybe even half-hearted? Perhaps because it's not a film you like particularly or were that interested in. Still, thanks for the video.

[@karrinnev4585]

The film holds up for any person who enjoys it. The film holds meaning for the person who sees art in it. 🙌💖

[@feliciabimboman6557]

Ryan, I've been getting into your channel recently and I've been finding your analysis of film not only compelling but all round enjoyable, always good to be able to enjoy cinema from a deeper perspective that channels such as yours provides. I'm half Irish myself and I've copped ridicule for having an affected accent and have since adjusted how I speak, but I just wanted to put it out there that your voice and personality are part of what makes this channel so great, along with the content of course, but it is you the individual that sets the channel apart from other film reviewers. Never change who you are for someone else, we all appreciate what you've brought to KZbin.

[@travisbewley7084]

I think the scariest thing for me when I watched it as a teen was that these people were doom/damned. I didn't take the hell stuff as literal. I took it as space being so incomprehensible and scary that the only way our brains cpuld make sense of the horror was with hellish iconography. Its like the idea of a desease that you cant even see but once exposed will horrifically kill you. The helplessness to ever fight back, the inability to even understand it and the idea that maybe humans are just so frail and small in the universe that we cant handle reality outside of our little safe corner of it. I guess its the same fear that drives xenophobia. That this invading evil cant be understood and will tear you apart from the inside.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

@Mm Mm The author of the above comment dropped a bomb in the middle east and hit a hospital. See, I can make silly assumptions that have no meaning other than to show the lack of nuance in my world view too.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

​@Mm Mm Fun fact: You saying something doesn't make an actual fact. I could believe you, or I could believe the hard evidence from the police themselves that shows crime rates as a whole have gone down. Media overreaction and reporting excessively on every exceptional case notwithstanding. You see, there's this strange thing with media and news agencies in that they report exceptional things because they are newsworthy. So they don't report about the hundreds of other stabbings that might occur between two Europeans, but they'll report the one that just happens to involve a specific foreign group because it's "relevant". Welcome to the real world, where you have to actually analyze things to get the bigger picture sonny boi. Don't trust the stuff in the news to be reflective of reality, for the very reason that it's newsworthy. Reporting boring reality just doesn't sell news, sadly.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

Except for the fact that I specifically said not to trust the media, IE television. Boy Mm Mm, you sure are a dense one. Using talking points that have already been disproven by the previous post, and having a passive-aggressive arrogance about it. It'd be so cute if it didn't remind me of 2/3 of the current generation.

[@Mifian]

I watch quite a few essayists and I have to say you have been my favorite for over a year now. I love your content, and you have an amazing passion and talent for it.

[@uunderfjortis]

Easily one of my favorite films starting in my late teens. I had seen it earlier but the existential dread mixed with B level gimicks drew me in strongly. It's the kind of film that carries the same weight as a rich meal even if those flavours aren't great but feel just new. The weight of the concepts of Event Horizon plays much longer then the viewing and watching this in VHS with a group of friends every other month definitely added to that. A lot of the cheese of effects were removed, adding to terror as there was more you could hear versus see. Apologize for bad grammar.spelling I do not have english.

[@Mastaace]

LOL I do not have English was worse for grammar than the entire paragraph proceeding it. You didn't do too bad though, a few things here and there led me to believe it wasn't your first language, but it was still very comprehensible. I also say this knowing if I ever tried to learn your language I'd be utter dog shit at it haha. But I've also heard English is the worst language to start with if you want to learn new ones.

[@BloodiedDoomguy]

I must say I do enjoy the self aware remarks you make at times. Not so wink wink or drawn out, they're fresh and each one carries the flow without dropping it. Stellar stuff, my man.

[@antonthemanton3065]

This film is a good example of what happens when you don't have proper Gellar Field Maintenance.

[@smcinstosh9]

Despite its production woes, I absolutely love love love this movie. The atmosphere, the characters- how they mess with expectations of who will live/die; not overly delved into back stories, just enough to care, not so much they tried too hard. the alternate dimension being hell itself is only suggested, never explicitly stated out right. I honestly think the final product came out amazingly as a singular film, especially when you compare it to films with similar problems like Batman v Superman, Alien 3, The Island of Doctor Moreau- these are all dumpster fires by comparison. The only way I think it really falls short is some of the special effects, and maybe that it tries a bit too hard to be Alien. SIDE NOTE- I had a friend who waited tables in New York City for a time, sometimes celebrities would dine where he worked. Once, Lawrence Fishburne came in. He texted me asking what to say. I told him to say he was awesome in Even Horizon. Mr Fishburne was allegedly super flattered by the compliment. Which he should be, since he gives one of the best lines of the film- "Fuck this ship!"

[@neuralmute]

Fuck this ship indeed. But not literally, because this ship fucks back.

[@Starcraftgamer97]

Honestly him saying, "We're leaving" after seeing the blood orgy is my favorite moment of the movie

[@TheBeefCentral]

I won’t lie this movie scared the shit out of me when I read about the rape/cannibal scene that was supposed to be longer

[@cookie1157]

Nuka Dash where did you see it?

[@TheBeefCentral]

CookieDoge 115 he would have to be part of the test screening of the film to have seen the scene. Cause I believe that cut parts are lost

[@ShiestWorldBangers]

@@TheBeefCentral the director actually had a few of them... he "had" it but it was destroyed... i read about the scene and the shit the men had to endure in it

[@santiagogarcia1606]

@@ShiestWorldBangers what did they endure actually?? Asking out of curiosity

[@Monstercat_No.4]

The most disturbing thing about this movie is how they represented hell This was the only horror film that actually scared me It had something similar to devil and had smart crews and that’s what made this film great

[@peterhernandez7817]

Saw this movie high and was scared out my mind during a nightmare that very night. Ever since then, I can't rewatch this movie.

[@diedrichfilms6437]

I actually really love the film. I do see the issues with it but nearly no other film has been as disturbing for me as this one. Also, I really love almost every part of the film, even though it may not be the best movie by any means.

[@V0rish]

My favorite scifi horror movie of all time 😍

[@Exel3nce]

@DC The Eyepoke Champ not rlly

[@geektanic]

I saw this movie as a kid and I've been genuinely and deeply terrified of space ever since - and I think you hit the nail on the head that the more terrifying thing than this whole Hell-subplot is the utter, empty loneliness and desolation, the basic human horror of being truly alone, isolated and without help

[@GeraldDarden]

For some reason I straight up LOVE this movie. Maybe it’s due to the fact my friends and I watched it a lot as a teenager. This is the movie I turn on when I want to fall asleep. It calms my brain down.

[@RhinoTown]

Dude…? lol

[@mikaross4671]

All I want is a full director's cut version of this movie. I enjoyed it when I first watched it. I love Dead Space, so it was one of those 'you gotta check this out' type movies. I just wish we had it less censored.

[@steerpike66]

Not really. It has some fine horrific imagery (seen really FAST, so you can't quite register how horrific it is, which is part of the trick) but the story is a grab-bag of H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker tropes combined with a sort of William Castle 'House on Haunted Hill' vibe, transposed into space. The effects are largely good (the miniatures and gothic production design excellent, the 90's CGI not so much) and you have very decent actors slumming in B-movie roles (Fishburne, Neill, Pertwee, Issacs and Richardson in particular are all good performers. I like it because it's essentially a sci-fi homage to the history of horror: nothing truly original: the warp dive is the box from 'Hellraiser', as is the suspension from and evisceration by hooks, and Weir's eventual transformation into a sort of lacerated cenobite, with additional nods to 'The Shining', 'Don't Look Now', 'The Exorcist', found-footage, 'Solaris', 'Alien', and 'The Haunting'. I guess the best thing about it, which is common to all good haunted house films and Gothic fiction, is that the ship itself acts as a silent character: it has a strong geography and visual personality: it poses the main threat and the fact that it is a spaceship means that traditional questions about 'how to escape' are quickly resolved. I would really like to have seen the 'hardcore' cut of the film (now, alas, lost) but I wonder if more would have indeed made it a better film. Along with 'In The Mouth of Madness' it is possibly the best Lovecraft-influenced film, and realistically, Lovecraft is a B-author: big on chills and ghastliness, but pretty clunky in execution. With Lovecraft (and indeed Barker) the ideas are powerful but the writing can be a bit purple, ropey and even intermittently silly. But the big cosmic horror ideas tend to overcome the stylistic shortcomings of the text. This movie reflects that.

[@steerpike66]

'I disagree with Barker's text being *obtuse and hard to follow* You did notice that I never said any of that. I said it was *a bit purple, ropey and even intermittently silly* You shouldn't paraphrase people and them respond to stuff you just made up,.

[@user-zb8tq5pr4x]

@@steerpike66 It's a few people with red paint on them. I never saw why people think the hell sequence is so scary.

[@steerpike66]

It's scary because you DON'T pause it and then you think you've seen what you haven't. It's called the power of suggestion. Like the hooks snagging the flesh in Hellraiser look ridiculously latexy now but it was horrific at the time.

[@steerpike66]

@@user-zb8tq5pr4x And my perennial answer to this sort of thing is; have you ever found any imagery of torture and mutilation disturbing and if so; which one(s)?

[@kaskus7147]

I always liked to imagine that Wier has been to the Event Horizon (a theoretical boundary around a black hole beyond which no light or other radiation can escape. A point of no return.) before. He is obsessed it. He brings people as sacrifice to the ship. I also believe that this has something to do with his wife's suicide.

[@xenon3990]

Tbh that’d be one hell of a plot twist

[@lissaquon607]

I was wondering that. He acts like he knows whats going on beforee veryone else. Which makes me wonder if somehow working on the thing exposed him to it? Was his obsession already present before the ship was lost? Is that was drove his wife to suicide?

[@dedwards475]

I'm glad that you made this because this is one of those movies that I was always interested in but I knew I would never actually watch.

[@JasTheFagge]

the production history is more interesting than Anderson's whole filmography.

[@kevincharles1983]

Watch it!

[@ryanpetersen3789]

One of the few movies that legitimately scared/unnerved me. I went into this movie cold, with no prior knowledge of the plot, and was shocked by the “hell twist.” The found footage scene is the stuff of nightmares.

[@jackharb8348]

this is one of my go to horror movies. for whatever reason, it gets under my skin.

[@tituslafrombois1164]

I know you've never done a video on anything anime (as far as I'm aware) but I'd really love to see your interpretation and thoughts about the Evangelion franchise. There's not _that_ much to watch, a 26-episode anime, a movie that retcons the last 2 episodes, and a recent reboot film series, all of them worth examination or at least experiencing. It starts off as some post-apocalyptic action anime, but by around the middle you start to see a lot of really intense character introspection and by the end you're left with pure existential chaos. If not the entire anime, at least the last two episodes or the film ending.

[@danielquick7541]

I love this movie. Best representation of the 40k Chaos realm.

[@cimbakahn]

Ryan Hollinger: What do you mean 3 out of 6 victory? Don't you mean 3 out of 8? Because there were 8 people that came from Lewis & Clark to board the Event Horizon. 5:17 I liked the movie very much!

[@Minotaur-ey2lg]

I would argue that it is very Lovecraftian. Part of his works were about men succumbing to madness when faced with the unknowable. The only thing that isn’t quite there is that feeling of being unable to escape the danger.

[@King-ci8sk]

This movie has a special place in my heart. I saw it when I was very young, so back then it literally scared the hell out of me among creating other feelings. The entire idea of the movie always made me feel a little uneasy the older I got. Nowadays It doesn't exactly mess with my head in that way anymore, now I just see a more or less very decent scifi psychological thriller complete with an awesome cast. I still love the movie for one main reason, and that being I find that at the time, it was a ballsy movie to take a complete 180 turn on the general idea of "Hell" itself as being your classic fire lakes and what not and instead focus on the pure chaos that it could actually be. That Idea of hell that no one really likes to think about

[@bleepbloop101010101]

I read the entire plot of the movie right before seeing it, and I was let down immensely. Reading the plot legitimately scared me (I LOVE cosmic horror), but the actual execution was very poor (imo). It was cheesy at times with bad special effects and lighting (especially on any gore). The acting was okay for some actors and very poor for others - Fishburne's was the only character that felt realistic throughout (not necessarily the other actors' faults, some issues were casting, characters in general, script writing etc). It had real potential to be an enjoyable cult classic though, the concepts and premise were very unique. I'm not really surprised it has a following because the concept is such a good one , but it was very meh for me. (Nice vid)

[@hls6787]

Love this movie, which was introduced to me by a friend who found it truly horrifying. Could not watch it alone or at night because it gave him nightmares. But, while I didn't find it scary, it was unsettling, and I enjoyed the story for many of the reasons you mention (the hero switcheroo, etc.). Although, to me, the thematic imagery isn't about the fear of the unknown but the fear of pain. I think that's why it unsettled me. In some ways, this movie is about the very human efforts to avoid pain, and the horror of a life of never ending pain. The Hell dimension is, of course, horrifying physical pain; however emotional pain is shown, too, through the madness and guilt Wier feels. And there's a hopelessness to it, too, in the story arc of the Captain, who suffers from his own pain (guilt) and is "cured" by sacrificing himself in order to save his crew, only to be doomed to never ending pain in Hell. I dunno what one can take from that. Existence is pain? Pain is unavoidable? Maybe that's Lovecraftian, as well.

[@lucasbermudez2575]

I just wanted to say I just discovered your channel and its already my favorite on youtube

[@olivernelson5355]

I am twelve and saw this yesterday great movie. No nightmares just day visions. This is what I think about when I’m not doing stuff. No nightmares yet, knock on wood. One of the greatest movies I’ve ever seen

[@dohlecarnett1866]

I really enjoy this film because space + (supernatural) horror is just an amazing combination. It works simply so well together. Yeah, the film has flaws. I don't think it's part of the lack of the apparently extreme gore scenes but more the butchering and characters arcs. I love how you explained the hero-villain route of the two main characters. I have one interesting side note though: To my knowledge of history and theology there are indeed more vivid descriptions of hell but not of heaven. Yeah, that's right: To say you will be with God and loved ones in the next life (in the Middle Ages that was especially the idea: You basically continue your existence because life on earth is miserable - and that also for a lot of theological and moral reasons) is enough. Angels with feathery wings? The big light? A city in the clouds? Most of that is rather modern. The bible is pretty vague about the image of heaven - also of hell, yeah, but it's a bit more detailed.

[@TheGuindo]

Finally, someone who feels the same way about this movie that I did. Most of my friends loved it but it just didn't land for me. It just feels too narratively confused. The movie can't seem to make up its mind about whether the ship is haunted, alive, or occupied/influenced by some entity. Spooky things happen but for a lot of them, it doesn't feel like the script knows _why_ they happened, they just do because they're spooky. Don't get me wrong, it does have some good spooks in it - the bit with the banging on the door is _excellent_ and easily one of the tensest scenes in the film, but even that suffers from the problem I just mentioned. _Why_ was there a banging on the doors? in a haunted house movie, the answer would be "because the ghost did it." In this movie...I don't know what we're meant to assume, because it just doesn't fit in with what the movie later decides is going on. Things do start to come together more in the 2nd half when it mostly settles on "hell is influencing the characters", but the visions of hell that we do see are like....idk it feels very unimaginative. Oh hell is just gore? Seeing your own dead bodies dismembered and impaled on spikes? Ok. Doesn't really feel like the kind of thing that would drive people mad if they saw it, but ok. I know a lot of the hell stuff got chopped down for censorship but it also seems like....that's all it was, regardless. The relatively "tame" visions of Hell that we do see just made me go "that's it? _that's_ what drove the whole crew to tear each other apart out of madness? Desecrated and dismembered corpses strewn around the ship?" If that was the best they could come up with, they shouldn't have tried to show us any of it. Just let the implications spark our imaginations, because nothing you could show us would be as scary as what we can imagine. Honestly it's disappointing, because the _concept_ of the movie is brilliant, but it has such mediocre execution. It has some great moments and some great characters - Lawrence Fishbourne's character was easily my favorite part of the film - but ultimately I felt like the movie never comes together into something that feels like more than the sum of its parts.

[@KawaiiKat22]

I didn't even know this was a guilty pleasure. I thought it was good! I love this movie Event Horizon is my shirt

[@nickmagrick7702]

1:00 sooo thaaaaats what happened. Movie didnt make sense at parts, but it was still GREAT. imagine how much better it would be if people wern't total pricks and ninnies about censorship.

[@marksimpson2321]

This scared the wits out of me to such an extent that there was relief when the film broke for a few minutes. I had difficulties walking home afterwards and I was in my 20s. Brilliant shocker. V sinister atmosphere throughout.

[@Mastaace]

I know your self deprecating a bit, but forget about your accent. You're genuinely one of the best overall essayist as far as your voice-over work. Your cadence and emphasis is very engaging. I've been getting hyper critical of certain things lately, and some narrators/VO artists on this platform are kind of sub par. I know for a fact I could probably do a better job than a lot of them, but I don't think I'd be in your league tbh. Also your editing is well done with regards to you being on screen. One thing that's been bothering me lately are jump cuts in a static shot. I get that sometimes they need to do it, but it's sticking out like a sore thumb to me lately. You always do a good job of speaking on screen and getting everything you have to say out before using an edit. (Hopefully you don't do that many re-takes of your script to do this lol) Anyways, I'm still glad you were the first person I ever pledged $1 to on Patreon lol. I figured I watch so much KZbin content these days I may as well spread $10 out among the creators I'm into.

[@GentrifiedPotato]

This film is about the importance of having a Gellar field before traversing the Warp.

[@upsetspaget2885]

I think youre one of the more underated channels around. At least in the "video essay/thesis" categories.

[@LadyNatascha]

"Like comparing a cheeseburger to Zeus" - yeah, I definitely gonna use that in the future.

[@nomadichippie1930]

I only ever seen the picture of the shredded face all over Facebook so I decide to finally watch it, such a great movie. If ever there was a remake or a new film strongly inspired by something, event horizon deserves it. The directors cut could’ve been a game changer for he film

[@shanearnold7781]

I thought this was a pretty clever cross between Solaris, Alien, and Hellraiser. Pretty good stuff

[@simplicitylost]

I think what captivates people is the hell aspect. That hell may be an actual place that can be visited. The one line that always sticks with me is when Miller and Weir are talking and Miller says (in a sort of "yeah, I got it" tone) "I know, back to hell". And Weir is like "You have no idea; hell is a word but the reality is much much worse".

[@reneelasswell3734]

This movie is so underrated, it has fantastic acting throughout and I was never "bored". I'm a huge Sam Neill fan though, one of my first crushes.

[@ashleys9397]

O.K., let's see if I have this straight: According to this movie there somewhere exists this maximally fucked-up parallel universe or wholly other time-space dimension that's totally governed by ultimate chaos, unending psychotic rage, senseless violence, mass insanity, mass murder, endless carnage, cruelty, butchery, savagery, and every other manner of mean nasty ugly shit. Is that about right? Well what the hell---that sounds a whole lot the world we're already living in! So, like, where's the difference? And is there any? Huh? Silly silly science-fiction.

[@SpammerRapist]

Subbed. There's always room for awesome moviereview/-talk channel on my feed.

[@Delta-rj3lb]

I don't get people's inability to understand Ryan's accent? Its really easy to understand and pleasant to listen to.

[@jayfolk]

larry fishburnes slowly turning chair

[@alexandernickaboine4798]

Honestly this might be one of the only times an unfinished feeling movie is actually boosted by said unfinished vibe. The fear of the unknown is boosted to the max for me because of this. The implications of everything that is shown without downright showing it even if it was only due to censorship it still is almost scarier than actually seeing it to me.

[@aderemiporsche]

The earliest I have ever been to a Hollinger video.

[@Chris951021]

I just saw this two days ago. The atmosphere was insane! I felt so anxious the whole movie. This definitely needs a remake. Everything was great but the graphics. Or a sequel. Anything that expands on the story.

[@mckenzie.latham91]

I always thought that the idea was that the ship has become cursed to the point it torments its crew mentally into creating their own hells which makes them go mad and kill each other and or themselves in self mutiliation and etc.

[@jpvielleux]

A Lewis and Clark joke? Too soon Ryan.

[@rocklord27]

Your content is the best. You’re the only creator I have notifications on for.

[@BenjoC8632]

I remember coming off watching that movie thinking how plagued with missed opportunities it was. It certainly had disturbing elements, I just thought so much potential was at its fingertips; it certainly was a VERY interesting premise I thought.... ....incidentally it cracked me up when I watched Interstellar how they ripped off the folded-paper-in-half-and stick the pen through the middle scene from Event Horizon(that depicts the wormhole effect).

[@frankaliberti]

Good or not, this is one of my all time favorite horror/sci-fi movies. And definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. It also came out at the wrong time. If it had been made in the mid to early 80’s it would have been very popular. Late 90’s was a time for Scream copies. Teenage-Jump Scare-Serial Killer-Twist Ending formula.

[@BloodylocksBathory]

As you mentioned, the film's inability to be self aware of the silliness is rather strong. The first time I watched Event Horizon was an airing on tv, so all of the disturbing content was cut, and what was left was the silliness. Anderson doesn't seem to have any faith in the use of subtlety either, even though I posit that this is one of his most subtle films.

[@Gustav_Kuriga]

If you're watching the TV version you're not really in a position to judge well. Anything will look silly with half the content gone.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

@@Gustav_Kuriga Like that time they aired Pulp Fiction with all the swearing edited out and the entire Zed scene.

[@IAmPovidone]

I know its reputation has lessened somewhat but I have an abiding fondness for this film. Me and a mate rented Event Horizon when we were at school and that video scene shat me up good and proper, I think the first time I watch it I actually covered my eyes which allowed my imagination to take over and make it soooo much worse. There's a good reason it's maintained a cult following and I would argue it was a pretty unique film for its time.

[@STRZB001]

As a lover of all SciFi horror, including Dead Space (one of my top three favorite games of all time that I play yearly), this was an awesome movie in my opinion. It actually scared me when I was a kid. I thought there was some great acting in this movie. Except the “I’m coming mother f*ckers!” nonsense. Awesome movie in my opinion.

[@Aster_Risk]

Weirdly coincidental video topic for me! I just had my husband watch this for the first time on Friday the 13th, just about a week and a half ago. He loved it, and even had a weird ass dream about it that night. The airlock scene is so disturbing. I remember seeing this in theatres as a little kid. It was terrifying and I loved it. Edit: I love Hieronymus Bosch.

[@Sandybowls_9001]

I've always loved EH. Maybe bc it's one of the first rated R horror movies my parents let me watch but I've always found this film hauntingly intriguing.

[@epiemarner4543]

When I started watching this movie (which was only about four years ago), I had no idea it was a horror movie. I thought it was just a sci-fi movie. Needless to say, I was a bit taken aback when the torture images were first shown. I loved your analysis! I found your channel not too long ago and I have really enjoyed your explanations and commentary.