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The horror film that's so scary you have to sign a scare waiver
by Dominik Bärlocher
And cut! Why you don't see porn stars in "Event Horizon" and never will
1.11.2018
Translation: machine translated
The science fiction film "Event Horizon" was supposed to take space horror to a new level. However, the film flopped after the director had to cut scenes with amputees and porn actors.
"Event Horizon" was supposed to shock the world. Porn actors and amputees. Blood and scenes straight from hell. "Event Horizon" was supposed to be the successor to the science fiction hit "Alien", simply with more blood and the best film technology that 1997 had to offer.
And if you don't like carnage, naked skin and demons, then please press CTRL/⌘+W. From here on, you can no longer claim that you weren't warned.
In August 1997, cinema-goers instead saw a rather confusing science fiction film that was almost completely devoid of horror. Flashing images of carnage suggested more, however, and the film did not resemble the advertised work of art. Film fans asked questions and the search for clues led them to a salt mine in Transylvania.
Hell is a little too good
At the beginning of the film's production, director Paul W.S. Anderson had just finished shooting "Mortal Kombat". The film, based on an extremely violent video game, does without a drop of blood. Now Anderson wanted to make a film that was really violent. In "Event Horizon", he wanted to tell the story of how a group of astronauts in the near future find the gateway to hell in the vastness of space. And the remains of the crew of another ship.
The team around Anderson and production designer Joseph Bennett spared no effort in the production design. Every detail was considered. One example: the astronauts carry flags that are unrivalled in the world. The US flag has 55 stars, the EU flag has 22, the Union Jack has disappeared from the Australian standard and the Aboriginal flag has taken its place. In this way, the filmmakers created a world that was intended to seem alive and believable and to provide references to things outside the spaceship.
Of course, they wanted to get the blood flowing in the horror scenes. Since everything that makes people uncomfortable happens in hell, it was clear that it was going to be ugly. Anderson shot scenes in which porn actors get down to business covered in blood. Scenes in which amputees wearing make-up crawl around on the floor and scream. Demons that spoil the afterlife for the inmates of hell.
You can't underestimate the shock that the first viewers had. People were very, very stunned. Even with the amount of nasty stuff we have in the film now. I mean, imagine the reaction to the hardcore version we once had.
Then the test screening: the decision-makers at Paramount are sitting in a cinema auditorium. They watch the finished film. 130 minutes of horror, space, guts, blood and missing limbs. Sex and depravity.
The studio bosses are shocked. They are disgusted by the violence, the sex, the raw impudence with which Anderson has staged it all. A test audience confirms this. They also find that it all goes massively against their morals.
The studio pulls the emergency brake: "Paul, shorten the film by 30 minutes and make it less gory."
Anderson agrees. The film flops.
The flashing hell
In the finished film, the elaborate sets of hell can only be seen in short, flashing sequences. Gone are the porn actors and many of the amputees. Hell is more of an idea than something you see on screen. Horror fans, however, have long since paused their VHS tapes where a demon shows Laurence Fishburne visions of hell and see the elaborate sets, the frames of nudity and the practical effects where litres of blood flow. You know: There's more.
But the story of the hell scenes is leaking out.
Over the years, the flop becomes a cult hit. Paul W.S. Anderson saw the film as his best work, as did his fans. But above all, they see a film that no longer exists. Or do they?
Hell in the salt mine
20 years pass after the flop before an incredible story comes to light. One year after the film's flop, Anderson was approached by the Paramount head of production. "Event Horizon" had been released incorrectly. The studio now wanted to show the long version of the film. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt got on a plane and travelled around the world to find footage they thought was lost and incorporate it into a longer cut.
They find snippets of the film in every corner. Among them is a complete version of the original cut in an abandoned salt mine in Transylvania.
However, the film has not been digitally archived. Therefore, the film reels and VHS tapes that Anderson and Bolt find are either incomplete or have been stored incorrectly. In the age of DVDs, this would not be a problem, as film lovers appreciate deleted scenes as an extra. The market follows suit. But the cut with porn actors and amputees remains lost.
Some scenes can be reconstructed and find their way into the public domain. These include a scene from hell that resembles the one in the finished film, but is far more brutal.
But there is no extended or original cut. Or is there?
The VHS cassette from 2012
The film portal Movie-Censorship.com reported in 2012 that "Event Horizon" producer Lloyd Levin was in possession of a video cassette on which the original cut can be seen. The hearts of film fans beat faster. Will the vision of space horror finally be seen as it should have been?
The film goes quiet.
In 2017 - 20 years after the cinema release of Event Horizons - the film has achieved cult status. People keep asking Paul W.S. Anderson about the film. Whether the original version is coming, or a director's cut or even a sequel. The film magazine Crave Online, new Mandatory.com, asked the director about this in a Facebook Live interview.
With this interview, the saga surrounding the film and the lost original cut comes to an end: the original film reels are no longer preserved or destroyed well enough to release a director's cut or original cut. Anderson also rules out a sequel.
I think people are still talking about it because [Event Horizon] is a film that invites discussion, because we don't explain to the audience exactly what actually happened and what they have to think about it. And I think that's become one of the strengths of the film, and I think there's a great danger that we over-explain things when we go back to the world of the film.
Journalist. Author. Hacker. A storyteller searching for boundaries, secrets and taboos – putting the world to paper. Not because I can but because I can’t not.
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