'Probably' everything that Event Horizon ripped off

Influences for Paul W. S. Anderson's space horror include 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Solaris, The Shining and Hellraiser.

But 1997 cult classic folds space-time in more sinister ways.

Alien Universe¹ (1952 novel) - Volsted Gridban²

Over a dozen spaceships had disappeared into hyperspace, never to return. The lost vessels included the Jason, the Starbird, and the Invincible. Everyone assumed they fell victim to some kind of mechanical failure.

Rogue pilot Caleb (hired by Professor Armitage to find his missing daughter), finds the Invincible drifting in space six months after it vanished, with engines undamaged, the hull intact, but no trace of its crew or its two hundred passengers.

Something nasty is aboard.

Work was reprinted in 2009 as ¹The Green Helix under the author's real name ²E.C. Tubb.

Sphere (1987 novel) - Michael Crichton

In the South Pacific, 1,000 feet beneath the surface, a spaceship at least 300 years old - rests on the ocean floor of Habitat DH-8.

Five scientists are rushed to the scene: psychologist Norman Johnson, astrophysicist Ted Fielding, mathematician Harry Adams, zoologist Beth Halpern and biologist Arthur Levine, descend into the depths of the sea to investigate.

When they find a mysterious spherical object (clearly of extra-terrestrial origin), someone or something begins transmitting messages onto the team's computer screen, spelling danger for all concerned.

1998 film

Despite a stellar cast, Barry Levinson's adaptation bombed.

Surnames of characters played by Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone were changed to Goodman and Halperin respectively.

Why? Don't know.

There is no Arthur Levine (or equivalent), and the giant squid barely features due to budget constraints.

Titular sphere is described in the novel as an oversized ball bearing, but film depicts it as a smooth gold sphere that reflects everything except what stands in front of it.

Nightflyers

George R. R. Martin's novella was originally published in April 1980, in Analog Science Fiction & Fact.

Short was adapted into a film of same name in 1987.

Unlike excellent poster.

Robert Collector's effort (as T.C. Blake) sucked hard.

Mopping things up, 2018 TV series (based on expanded 1981 novella), ripped off imagery from Event Horizon.

Gravity Drive

The 'core' aka the 'heart of the ship', pays tribute to the Lament Configuration and Clive Barker was consulted during pre-production.

But...

Warlock (1989)
Richard E. Grant's Redferne gazes at his witch compass.

War Gods (1996)
End boss Exor apparently has a gravity drive spinning away.

Well it sure looks like one, right?

(Laughs).

Bringing in M. C. Escher.

Cube with Magic Ribbons (1957 lithograph)

The Black Hole (1979)

Deemed a loose remake of 20000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), the first Disney film to be rated PG shares stark similarities with Event Horizon.

In 2130, the USS Palomino is returning to Earth after completing its mission.  En route, spaceship discovers a black hole, with the USS Cygnus nearby, that vanished 20 years ago.

Damaged by the black hole's immense power, the Palomino is forced to emergency dock with the Cygnus, and the crew soon encounter brilliant scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt, who's hiding dark secrets.

Lest we forget, Dr. Weir explains that the gravity drive works by creating a singularity, an artificial black hole.

Both feature what is essentially Hell.

Now shit gets more serious than a heart attack.

Memories (1995)

Sci-fi anthology adapts three manga shorts by Katsuhiro 'Akira' Otomo, who also serves as an executive producer.

Magnetic Rose is directed by Kõji Morimoto and written by Satoshi Kon, who would soon helm brilliant psychological horror Perfect Blue (1997), 'inspiring' Black Swan (2010) and Smile 2 (2024).

Anyway.

Deep space salvage freighter the Corona responds to a distress signal from a giant rose-shaped space station.   

Heintz and Miguel learn the station belonged to Eva Friedel, a once-famous opera singer, who disappeared after her fiancé Carlo Rambaldi was murdered.

Eva takes on the form of Heintz's wife, telling him he "will never leave".

The station is controlled by AI that traps visitors as holographic memories of Eva, but haunting atmosphere drips with menace.

Roots Search (1986)

OVA was Hisashi Sugai's only directorial work, and was criticised for being highly derivative of Alien (1979), and even Galaxy of Terror (1981).

The Green Planet suddenly drops out of hyperspace in a forbidden sector near the Tolmeckis Station.

Moira and co board the ship and find everybody except second officer Buzz have been killed.

After a creature is destroyed on the Green Planet, shape-shfting psychic creature Alien X (calling itself a 'Messenger of God') invades the station and uses the environment and telepathy to rip crew's minds, forcing them to confront their darkest fears, leading to madness and death.

Sounds vaguely familiar, right?

Justin and Norman enter a room and are attacked.

The only difference is that Justin survives.

Claire vs Catherine

Weir's wife sunk into a deep depression due to husband neglecting her, whereas Scott's former lover reacted to him calling things off in the most extreme way.

Both took their lives by taking a straight razor and slitting their wrists inside a bathtub.

What... the... FUCK?

The Dark Side of the Moon (1990)

Sorry to disappoint everybody, but this is unrelated to 1973 Pink Floyd album of same name.

The year, 2022.

The maintenance ship SPACECORE 1 is on a routine "refab" mission. The refabs are fixers.

Their purpose is to repair nuclear-armed satellites orbiting high above the earth. Due to the atomic capabilities of these sataellites, refabbing is considered dangerous...

Very dangerous.

While doing its thing, the ship experiences a mysterious power failure, and drifts towards the Discovery 18; an old NASA shuttle that hasn't been in operation for 30 years.  Whilst on board, they hope to salvage parts to repair their ship, but the badly mutilated body of Michael Gotier falling from the rafters complicates matters.

Having learnt from the ship's records that spaceship disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle, a malevolent force initially possesses Gotier's corpse and begins playing a game of stalking.

Coincidences

The Event Horizon goes missing in 2040 and suddenly reappears seven years later.

So film was released seven years after D.J. Webster's obscurity.

WHY?

The entity of Satan gives its host snake eyes. 

With that said, check out this excerpt of Steven E. McDonald's novelisation, which is nothing like film:

"William Weir stood before him now, but this was not the Weir he knew. The body was larger, misshapen. The face was Weir's, but the skin appeared to have the texture of wood. Runes had been etched into Weir's forehead and cheeks.

The monster had eyes. They glittered green, too large, too deep. There was a reptilian coldness there, a look that spoke of millions of years. The creature had some of Weir's form, but it reaked of an alien nature that left Miller with a sense of horror that transcended anything he had ever felt."

Of course not all snakes have green eyes, but shit is still deliciously bizarre.

Coyote vs. Acme - The scoop and digest

For those not aware, film was actually completed in 2023 but Warner Bros. refused to release it, because spin-off company WB. Discovery preffered to claim a tax loss of about $30m instead.

Ketchup Entertainment acquired the rights last year.

Anyway, live-action animated comedy is directed by Dave Green, written by Samy Burch and based on Ian Frazier's 1996 New York magazine article Coyote v. Acme.

Will Forte - Kevin Avery

Lana Condor - Paige Avery

John Cena - Buddy Crane

Tone Bell - Sal Maltese

P. J. Byrne - Bill Pelicanos

Martha Kelly - Dottie Jones

Oh, expect the dulcet tones of Eric Bauza, as and including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn and Tweety.

Summary

In 1992, Acme scientist Dr, Lorre leaks a message to an unknown contact and imprisoned inside a portable manhole.

30 years later, outside Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Road Runner

(Fastas Hellus)

Coyote

(Hungrious Carnivorus)

Tired of Acme products failing to catch the Road Runner, self-procalimed genius Wile E. Coyote goes back to his cave and watches an advertisement for Avery, Jones & Maltese Attorneys, who specialise in cartoon accident cases.

He goes into town and hires Kevin Avery to sue the Acme Corporation, but said lawyer is reluctant to take shit on, as he's going against Buddy Crane, the best defence attorney in the country.

Kevin is eager to accept a settlement of $50,000, but Coyote ain't having none of it.

In the build up to trial, Kevin and co learn about Project Sisyphus, Acme's insidious plot to exploit cartoon violence to improve products for humans.

Will Road Runner become stew? Is Acme going down?

Beep beep.

Pain for the greater good

Despite chaotic production history, this was an absolute riot from beginning until the end, and you'd have to be exceptionally Looney to disagree.

No offence Daffy.

Poster is a parody of the story in Greek mythology, as Coyote replaces Sisyphus, pushing a giant lit bomb up a hill, rather than boulder.

P. J. Byrne's character is a fun nod to Nicky "Rugat" Koscoff in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), and when Acme CEO Foghorn Leghorn produces a newspaper in front of Buddy, headline reads "Sued by Wolf".

(Laughs).

Trial climaxes on a touching note, as Road Runner tells the court he's witnessed his 'friend's' pain and suffering over the years

Buddy and Foghorn are arrested for misconduct and Kevin's firm achieve national attention for winning hundreds of cartoon cases.

Coyote and Road Runner resume neverending chase in NM, as this Batman can't live without his Joker.

That's all folks!

Insidious: Out of the Further - The scoop and digest

Initially subbed The Bleeding World, Jacob Chase writes and directs sixth instalment, which serves as a sequel to The Red Door (2023).

Amelia Eve - Gemma Hall

Brandon Perea - Nick Mendoza

Maisie Richardson-Sellers - Clare

Lin Shaye - Elise Rainier

Sam Spruell - Cyrus Lam

Island Austin - Maya Hall

Laura Gordon - Ingrid Hall

Joseph Lopez - Lester

Summary

Pittsburgh, 1999.

A young Gemma Hall watches her mother Ingrid apparently have a mental breakdown and commit suicide in the bathroom by smashing her head several times against the wall, before a supernatural force slams the door.

20 years later, dental hygienist Gemma still lives in the same house with her daughter Maya, and single mum is determined to make new happy memories to overcome tragic past.

When walking Maya home from school, Gemma notices three creepy elderly people across the street are having more than a butcher's.

After a series of terrifying experiences, Gemma is rescued by Elise Rainier in the Further, saying to come find her before it's too late.

At a tattoo parlour ran by Clare, who is also capable of astral projecting, Elise possesses Clare, explaining to Gemma that she's more than just a traveller, but a "courier", capable of bringing objects back from the spirit realm to the real world.

Basically, a blindfolded man called Cyrus Lam grew his following in the Further on the promise of resurrecting the dead, but he needs Gemma to achieve dark goal.

Mid-credits

Cyrus is strapped to a chair in the Further and tortured with a drill by the same dentist that previously attacked Gemma.

The door is open

Nothing special, but the most effective entry since Chapter 3 (2015).

Jump scares are predictable, but at least payoff is delayed long enough to allow some tension, particularly when Gemma examines Lester's mouth containing pustules and rotting molars.

Towards the end, other villains briefly return, including Doll Girl, Darth Maul and the Bride in Black.

Cool.

Unfortunately though, the dead consuming Cyrus rips off the principle of Overlook's ghosts swarming Rose the Hat in Doctor Sleep (2019).

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma - The scoop and digest

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun combines splatter, satire and taboo subject matter.

Hannah Einbinder - Kris Williams

Gillian Anderson - Billy Presley

Jack Haven - Little Death

Arthur Conti - Alex

Eva Victor - DJ Ella Giastic

Zach Cherry - Will

Sarah Sherman - Kris's agent

Patrick Fischler - Rudolph

Dylan Baker - Jeffrey

Summary

To revive slasher franchise Camp Miasma, 29-year-old long-term fan and queer filmmaker Kris Williams is hired to reboot series, lovingly based on Friday the 13th.

She travels to Camp Tivoli, where series was filmed and also the adopted home of original film's final girl Billy Presley.

As a very physical relationship develops, Kris enters a dangerous world of hypnotic fear, with spear-wielding villain Little Death at the centre of sexual desire.

Flesh and fluid

While previous projects We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021) and I Saw the TV Glow (2024) weren't exactly shabby - this was a huge step up.

Against an excellent cover of R.E.M.'s Nightswimming by Okay Kaya, title sequence is a kick-ass compilation of promotional material, merchandise and scathing reviews of later instalments.  But Camp Miasma arcade really made me smile, as gameplay parodies fighting Jason (here obviously Little Death), in the infamous NES version of Friday the 13th (1989).

Film has the vibe of Censor (2021), and flesh wall towards the end pays homage to Videodrome (1983).

In French, la petite mort literally translates to "the little death", an idiom referring to the brief loss of consciousness and trance-like state experienced immediately after an orgasm.

Plenty of gore is spilled, with blood geysers symbolising ejaculation.

Billy explains that when she was sexually assaulted for a scene in Camp Miasma, she learned to orgasm by virtue of Little Death watching her having sex.

After Little Death (who wears an air vent for a helmet/mask btw), goes on a killing spree, he 'skewers' Kris and Billy simultaneously.  The following morning, they wake up, still covered in blood, and return to the gas station where the original film began.

In a split-diopter shot, Kris and Billy smile and walk off together holding hands.

Mutiny - The scoop and digest

Action thriller is written by Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis and directed by Jean-François Richet.

Jason Statham - Cole Reed

Annabelle Wallis - Angie Ellis

Chaneil Kular - Kameron Campallo

Jason Wong - Taran

Ramon Tikaram - Tibu Campallo

Adrian Lester - Captain Adam Spencer

Ben Cartwright - Lieutenant Underwood

Roland Møller - Captain Marko Madsen

Simon Kluth - Jaran Daniles

Summary

In Bangkok, former cop and Royal Marine commando Cole Reed is now the personal bodyguard of billionaire industrialist Tibu Campallo, and considered almost family.

So character is basically the same as Levon Cade in A Working Man (2025).

(Sigh).

One night, Tibu is shot dead and Cole is framed for his murder.

Vowing to clear his name, he boards cargo ship the KMG Artemis and discovers a human trafficking operation aboard.

Cole kinda teams up with unlikely ally Angie Ellis to take gun-toting bad guys down.

Guidance and protection

First off, title makes no sense, as sailors, or in this case traffickers, do not rebel and/or defy their Captain.

I'm a fan, but the Stath has become the new Steven Seagal.

And that is obviously not a fucking compliment.

Close-quarters combat/gunplay can be decent, but the whole thing is just tedious and boring, especially since it takes over 30m for something to happen.

Final fight between Cole and Marko results in Captain getting shot in the head by a harpoon, then the Navy conveniently turns up.

But we're not done, because another tortuous 10m focuses on 'revenge', setting up a possible sequel.

Seriously?

How Boats Disappear and Reappear Completely

As Paul W. S. Anderson's Event Horizon popularised said concept in space, I've decided to dig out my life jacket and explore the same principle at sea.

Miscellany

1899 - 2022 TV series

Passengers aboard steamship the Kerberos sail from Southampton, England to New York City to start new lives.  En route, they encounter sister ship the Prometheus, which disappeared four months earlier.

Shortly after its release, Brazilian author Mary Cagnin accused creators Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese of plagiarising her 2016 comic book Black Silence.  Both works include black pyramids, codes and suicides, but similarities weren't considered suspicious.

From Below (2022 novel) - Darcy Coates

No light. No air. No escape.

Hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, a graveyard awaits...

In 1928, the SS Arcadia vanished without trace during a routine transatlantic voyage.

Sixty years later, the wreck is discovered more than three hundred miles from its intended course.  

Cove's diving team are given permission to explore rusting hull to record evidence of what happened.

Some things are best left undiscovered.

Films

Rose of Nevada (2025)

Titular vessel suddenly reappears in the harbour of an unnamed fishing village, 30 years after it vanished.

The third in Mark Jenkin's Cornish trilogy is beautifully shot, superbly acted, and puts a unique spin on time travel.

Ghost Ship (2002)

This is cheating slightly, but whatever.

Unrelated to 1952 film of same name, story begins in 1962 aboard the ocean liner MS Antonia Graza, where an awesome massacre involving a metal cable plays out.

40 years later, a salvage crew (led by Captain Sean Murphy), are alerted to a vessel drifting in the Bering Strait, carrying boxes of gold.

An invisible force destroys their tug, the Arctic Warrior, meaning the only means of escape is to repair the abandoned ship.

But angry ghosts may have something to say about that.

Lost Voyage (2000)

In 1972, the SS Corona Queen vanishes into the Bermuda Triangle.

25 years later, vessel reappears, and not alone.

Film is primarily set in 1997 (the same year Event Horizon was released), suggesting all concerned were taking the piss.

We've all heard of Lance Henriksen, right?  But here, end credits misspell his surname as Henricksen.

(Sigh).

Oh, must show you how they ripped off Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Holy fire

Angelic spirit

Angel of death

Video games

Silent Hill: The Arcade (2007)

In 1918, sightseeing boat the Little Baroness, mysteriously disappears with 14 crew members and passengers on board.

75 years later, the ship returns to Silent Hill.

Eric and Tina find the town crawling with iconic monsters, and eventually meet Hanna, a girl resembling Tina's pen-pal Emilie, who's engulfed by the Phantom, a giant monstrous head.

For clarity, steamboat was first mentioned in Silent Hill 2 (2001), in a magazine at Toluca Prison.  

Echo Night (1998/1999)

A.D. 1913.

The passenger liner Orpheus mysteriously disappeared.

A search team was assembled to find the missing ship, but failed to uncover any evidence.

24 years later, America.

Richard Osmond receives a letter from his father Henry, and a small key used at Henry's house to wind a grandfather clock reveals a secret passage, where a red book is hidden.

After pushing two busts together, Richard is transported into a painting of the Orpheus, with the Captain's ghost soon revealing entities aboard are merely shadows.

Our job is to pass through the passengers' memories and give them peace, while avoiding hostile ghosts who attack if a room is too dark.

Best find a light then.

Oh, all this has been caused by the corrupting powers of an ancient artefact called the Red Stone. 

Lazerat (2024)

Four years ago, the MTS Endurance disappeared on its voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.  It has recently re-emerged (no year given).

After all attempts to communicate with the ship fail, rescue team member John investigates a distress signal coming from the once-lost cargo vessel.

Game boasts impressive brain teasers, but one in particular made me cringe.

A wooden statue must be rotated until the shadow matches the rider and his weapon.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (2017)

Shadow puzzles are solved in the same way.

WHAT THE FUCK?

Finally.

Return of the Obra Dinn (2018)

Weighing 800 tons and built in London, 1976, the good ship Obra Dinn is lost at sea in 1803.

Four years later in Falmouth, England, it's back, without crew or passengers.

An unnamed investigator for the East India Company is sent to reconstruct events, find clues and determine how each person died, using timepiece the Momento Mortem.

To help track progress, we're given a logbook containing a drawing of all passengers and crew, together with a plan of the ship.

Game is effectively one giant non-linear logic puzzle, and each of its ten chapters (split into several parts) can be tackled in any order.

I'd describe shit as a fascinating chore, but Apple Macintosh 128K-esque monochrome graphics are excellent, and sound design isn't too shabby either.

The End of Oak Street - The scoop and digest

Originally titled Flowervale Street, mystery thriller is written, co-produced and directed by David Robert Mitchell, who made a name for himself with It Follows (2014).

Anne Hathaway - Denise

Ewan McGregor - Greg

Maisy Stella - Audrey

Christian Convery - Brian

P. J. Byrne - Mel

Summary

In 1982, Denise and Greg Platt live with their kids Audrey and Brian in Flowervale.

One night, the family dog Starbuck witnesses a blinding ball of light, which is soon revealed to be a wormhole.

The next morning, their neighbour Mel shows them a huge pile of excrement in his backyard from an unidentified animal, making the load the Triceratops left in Jurassic Park minuscule in comparison.

During a violent storm, a much larger wormhole engulfs the street, transporting the neighbourhood millions of years in the past.

When dinosaurs begin eating folk, Denise and Greg reconcile and draw on every resource to protect Audrey and Brian.

Two points in space and time

Although domestic stuff sucked and it's never explained why wormholes are opening up, this was still the best dino horror since the criminally overlooked Primitive War (2025).

Film basks in the nostalgic glory of E.T. (kids bombing about on bicycles), but apart from dinosaurs, is nothing like Jurassic Park.

However, big bad Allosaurus drinking from a paddling pool is presumably a subtle nod to the T-rex quenching its thirst from a swimming pool in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

I also note surburban neighbourhood smacks of Cuesta Verde in Poltergeist (1982), which Spielberg was heavily involved in.

Our prehistoric friends don't appear for about 30m and the boundaries of gore for a 12A certificate are pushed like never before.

At one point, Denise and Greg observe dinosaurs mating, a bizarre cinematic first.

Gamers may raise suspicious eyebrows when a giant white snake attacks, as out of place creature immediately reminded me of the Great Serpent, an optional boss in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019). 

Action sequences can be thrilling, and Mark Renton getting eaten with a decent chunk of running time remaining surprised me in a good way.

Unfortunately, everything is undone by Denise and co escaping through a wormhole, returning 20 minutes before on the same night street disappeared.  Denise warns residents to get the fuck out of dodge and arranges for Greg to be a safe distance away.

Two years later, the news informs the area has been contained and Denise publishes a novel based on her experiences.