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Event Horizonmay not be as well - have sex or cherished as other sci - fi horror movies , but for buff of the genre it stay on an intriguing man of cinema for its inventive combination of an array of influence . Namely , the motion picture utilizes the space architecture and Lovecraftian enigma ofAlienin tandem with the possession element ofThe Shiningto produce an original hybrid . It ’s a square example of how film maker can deconstruct genre , especially horror , for create reimagined idea .
The connection betweenEvent HorizonandAlienis perhaps the most obvious , debate the fact that Ridley Scott ’s chef-d’oeuvre remained the pattern forsci - fi horrorfor X after its freeing . In fact , the first drawing of the picture centered on tentacled extradimensional monsters that hunted the crew , but director Paul W. S. Anderson thought the thought bore too much of a resemblance toAlien . The shadowy , ominous interiors of the starship sure enough resemble the dark of theNostromomore than the tawdry , sterile sets commonly found in lighter science - fable tarradiddle .
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However , W. S. Anderson and screenwriter Philip Eisner claim that they have always thought ofEvent Horizonas more blood-related to a haunted planetary house movie than a traditional science - fiction tale . The titular ship was based on the Notre Dame Cathedral to capture a Gothic aesthetic , as well as to emphasize thehellish perversionsfound within . The film explores the presence of an otherwordly scourge that is essentially demonic possession , and Eisner himself compares the flick to haunted menage pic likeThe ShiningandThe Haunting .
Event Horizon Takes the Best of Alien & The Shining
The form of character resembles the crew of profane - taking into custody " space truckers " fromAlien , a rescue escort group foregather from military force who have no idea what panic they ’re about to reveal . They suspect Dr. Weir , whose knowledge of the missingEvent Horizonship gives him power over his cohorts in the same conniving way of life thatAlien ’s android Ash desist from telling others about his ulterior motif . When the role figure theEvent Horizonand witnesser the crashing remains of its retiring crowd , it ’s hard not to think of the derelict ship that veil theXenomorpheggs and themysterious infinite jockeycorpse .
As the mystery of the ship becomes clearer , however , the plastic film resemblesThe Shiningeven more . TheEvent Horizonis possessed by a occult power emanating from another dimension , mean that the vessel has a head of its own and tortures its victims with hallucination about their fear and insecurities . Dr. Weir may start off like Ash , but as he knuckle under to the ship ’s hold over him , his transmutation into crazed Orcinus orca turns him into a supernal Jack Torrance . The ship makes him imagine his deceased wife in a bathtub , only to appall him with her gouged - out eye sockets , which plays out the same way the infamousbathroom cleaning lady scenedoes . There ’s even a scene when blood pours out of a gravity tank in the same slow - motion way as inThe Shining’selevator successiveness .
IfAlienwas to begin with pitched as " Jawsin space,“Event Horizonfollows in the same tradition as " The Shiningin space , " a description that is often used to explain the movie ’s construct . That does n’t mean that the script is devoid of original melodic theme , though . LikeAlien , a film that altogether repackaged musical genre convention to produce an entirely new type of style , Event Horizonmixes concepts from both of these classic to produce a strange yet unsettling scenario rooted in both supernatural and cosmic horror .
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