Event Horizon

Event Horizon – 1997 – United States, England

I like this movie. In fact, I like it so much, that I wrote an essay about it for my college cinematography course. Event Horizon isn’t especially original. It’s basically Alien (1979) combined with a haunted house story with a bit of Hellraiser (1987) thrown in, but that sounds like a winning combination to me. Director Paul W. S. Anderson (director of Mortal Kombat and Death Race) and actor Laurence Fishburne are always a delight.

In the year 2047, an outer space rescue team goes to Neptune to recover a ship that disappeared while testing an experimental warp drive. The ship is abandoned, and the only clues are some bloody remains and a series of violent and surreal video recordings from the crew. It turns out that the warp drive accidentally transported the ship to Hell, and the crew were all possessed by demons. As the rescue team uncovers the mystery, they are plagued by hallucinations and specters from their past. Eventually, one of them is possessed by a demon, and then the murders start.

Predators

Predators – 2010 – United States

20 years after the last Predator movie, we get this unambitious, crowd-pleasing sequel. That sounds harsh, and Predators doesn’t deserve that. Here is the premise: Elite commandos from around the world are abducted and transported to an alien planet to be hunted by a squad of Predators. There is a sniper from the Israel Defense Forces, a Spetsnaz soldier from Russia, a Mexican drug cartel enforcer, a Japanese yakuza, a death row inmate, a serial killer, and others. The premise is a bit like The Cube (1997) combined with the TV show Deadliest Warrior. This time though, the Predators have been upgraded with drones, alien hounds, and cooler looking armor.