Event Horizon‘s theatrical cut was heavily trimmed down from the director’s original vision, and here’s what was lost to fans along the way. One of the sad realities of working within the Hollywood studio system is that the producers and the studio are more likely to get final cut on a film than the director. This doesn’t really make sense, since the director is often blamed for the failure of their film, or praised for its success. At the end of the day though, the people funding the project usually get final say over its creative personnel.
This has led to many cases over the years of final cuts that the director ended up hating, and in some cases even publicly disavowing. On the other hand, it also sometimes leads to producers and studios realizing they made a mistake, and agreeing to release a film in the form the director originally intended. Often this proves too little too late, but other times it leads to an initially disliked film getting reevaluated. Event Horizon, directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, is a case where putting out a director’s cut would definitely be warranted.
A critical and commercial flop when released in 1997, Event Horizon has since earned a large cult following. Anderson has talked many times about his much longer, even gorier director’s cut, and fans would love to see it, but sadly, it’s unlikely to ever materialize. According to Anderson, the original cut of Event Horizon was a whopping 2 hours and 10 minutes in length. That’s over 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut of the film. Sadly, most of the original film elements for this cut footage has been lost, as apparently Paramount didn’t care about properly storing it, a decision Anderson says they came to regret once the film became more popular. Here’s what we know to have been trimmed.
Dr. Weir Gets Briefed on Event Horizon’s Return
This scene, which is missing some special effects, appears in full on the special edition home video release of Event Horizon. It’s entirely expository, and sees Dr. Weir (Sam Neill) receive a briefing about the ship’s sudden return, and then demand to go along on the mission to recover it. Some of the dialogue from it actually made it into the film’s trailers. Diehard fans will find it interesting, but the finished film gets across most of the same information.
Captain Miller Makes a Disturbing Discovery
One of the Event Horizon deleted scenes to have survived, albeit in incomplete form, this short extension sees Captain Miller (Laurence Fishburne) make a disturbing and gruesome discovery while initially exploring the ship. Floating through a corridor is a human tooth, with partial gum attached. One assumes it was ripped out when the original Event Horizon crew were massacred in Hell.
Extended “Blood Orgy” Death of the Event Horizon Crew
The most infamous scene in Event Horizon is where Miller and company view the ship’s log, which shows the crew being slaughtered and tortured in extremely graphic and often sexual ways. Watched frame by frame, the footage shown in the final film is already seriously twisted, but the original director’s cut was even nastier, to the point where when it was screened for Paramount executives, Anderson received shocked and outraged reactions. To give one an idea of the cuts, Anderson actually hired adult film stars to simulate some of the sexual violence. Not that all the material cut was sexual. Some just included pleasantries like forced tooth removal, cannibalism, and broken legs.
Spider Weir
Near the end of Event Horizon, a cryosleep tank fills with blood and then explodes, unleashing a torrent of blood that seems like a clear homage to The Shining. A brief extension to that sequence sees Sam Neill, now in the naked, Cenobite-esque final form he also sports during the final confrontation with Miller, crawl down a ladder like a spider. It’s really creepy and unsettling, and should definitely never have been cut.
Extended Burning Man Confrontation & Visions of Hell Ending
The final battle scene between Miller and Weir originally saw Miller fighting with the burning man who haunts him during the film, a crew member he was forced to let die on a prior mission. There was also additional backstory earlier in the movie that would’ve expanded on the trauma Miller has from that incident. However, test audiences disliked the climax, so it was changed to have Miller fighting a demonic version of Weir. The part of the ending where Weir forces Miller to experience visions of his crew suffering in Hell was also much more graphic.
More Scares Involving Weir’s Dead Wife
In the final cut of Event Horizon, Dr. Weir’s dead wife Claire appears to him several times, including by violently reenacting her own suicide. The original version of Event Horizon had a much more graphic and bloody version of the suicide scene, and also an additional scare in which Weir hallucinates that Justin – after he’s rescued from a horrific decompression death – turns into Claire.
Extended Discovery of D.J.’s Corpse by Miller
As if D.J. (Jason Isaacs) getting dissected by Weir wasn’t disgusting enough in the theatrical cut, Event Horizon originally featured an extended scene in which Captain Miller discovers his friend and colleague’s mangled body, guts strewn everywhere and look of terror on his face. An earlier bit of deleted material would’ve seen D.J. express that such a death was his greatest fear, adding more to his character arc.
Other Small Character-Specific Additions
In addition to the above scenes, Event Horizon‘s longer cut also includes various other small extensions and deleted bits that serve to flesh out the characters. For one, the friendship between Justin and Cooper was established more, as was Cooper’s fear of losing someone close to him, making Justin’s suicide attempt by decompression more poignant. It’s also revealed that Justin very much wanted to go on the mission, and was fascinated by the Event Horizon, explaining why he so readily approaches the gateway in the gravity drive room. The relationship between Miller and Starck was also expanded on, presenting a possibly romantic attraction between them. Finally, the scene where Peters hallucinates her son with maggot-covered legs was originally longer and more upsetting.
