Event Horizon: Slashed aka Killer Horizon

You know, I've always really liked Event Horizon. It scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it, and I think it's still one of the best in the limited "space horror" genre. So I was really excited to experience the movie in a different way, and I'm happy to report that Mollo did not disappoint. The mood in this version is a lot more serious, with much of the worst character "dialogue" removed (I'm looking at you, Cooper!). The flip side of this is that some of the characters don't make nearly as much of an impression, but I'm going to say that it was still a good move as they're not constantly wrecking the tone with their foolishness. The demonic angle is amped up in this version as well, to great effect. With so much cutting and re-arranging of scenes, some of the original's slow-burn sense of dread is lost, but the added demonic flourishes and adjusted music compensate for that enough to bring everything back into balance. I thought all the integrated footage from other movies worked swimmingly, especially the extra audio elements. The new ending, too, was IMO a smashing success, very artfully done and disturbing. There were a few rough edges, editing-wise, but nothing so glaring that I was taken out of the film, and (while still watchable) I wouldn't necessarily recommend the SD AVI file as it's just too compressed for a film this dark.

Event Horizon is a cult classic, and it shows. Even after the MPAA made Paul W.S. Anderson cut out half an hour of gore, this is still a violent, darkly toned movie. Going into this edit, i was not sure what to expect, since Event Horizon it not exactly something that leads to a lot of interpretations.

First off, the video quality is not the best. The custom intro had some major artifacting, but everything after that was pretty decent, it was entirely watchable. Although the footage looked a little low quality. Nothing terrible, but since i watched the DL-DVD, i expected a little better. The Sound is a lot better in terms of overall quality. Again, with the intro, when the title popped up, it came with a loud, crashing sound. I feel like it could have been done a little better.

The footage put into the movie fits. There was one or two things that were a little noticeable. Like when Lt. Starck meets her end and the audio cut of her screaming/grunting seems to appear a little too suddenly. Some footage seems to repeat or be reverse, but overall, there is not a lot to complain about here.

The DL-DVD comes with some good special features, such as "slashed" (deleted) scenes, an audio featurette, which shows off how the editor did a pretty good job at doing the audio, trailers for other fanedits, stills, info, and an easter egg. It's a pretty good package for a fanedit, and it goes beyond what's expected. There was a weird issue with my copy of it, and i don't know if it affects anyone else, but when selecting things on the menu, the highlight for whatever option i was on didn't match the icon on screen.

Killer Horizon is an even darker cut of Event Horizon and does a pretty decent job it. Outside of a few minor problems that a 2.0 version of this can fix, this makes for an interesting alternate version of Event Horizon. All of my problems could easily be fixed with a second version of it, but i doubt the editor will ever return to this,

uncanny antman oct 31 2008

I enjoyed this edit very much. There were a few minor rough edges, but nothing to get too worked up about. (One spelling mistake and a few continuity gaffs.)

I love the approach of the new ending. It's amazing how easily an early sequence becomes chilling when moved to the climax.

If you enjoyed the original Event Horizon, definitely check this one out. If you didn’t care for it, you should still check this one out.

A grim overhaul of a muddled SciFi / Horror film. Mollo pulls this out of tech and into fire and blackness, heightening the horror elements with relish.

Audio/Video Quality - The DVD is not available. Not that I am complaining. This is one of those edits I waited and waited for. Literally. One particular file refused to download and I waited over two weeks, until one afternoon when it started going. For newcomers, patience does bear rewards.

The avi image is a little soft and is undoubtedly superior on the DVD version. The audio is muffled at times and I suspect is not better on the larger DVD.

Video - 640p, MPEG-4. Well done throughout, in an ambitious edit. Numerous alterations are unnoticed. The additional scenes were worked in nicely.

Audio - 2-channel, MP3 128kbps. Man, this is where the edit really shines. This is an outstanding soundscape Mollo has crafted. Do not overlook the extras! The “Evil Sounds” bonus is a clinic on relayering audio channels. Aspiring editors would be well advised to study this.

Narrative - Coherence gets lost in this. Of course the film was always a jumble. Dr. Weir seems even odder from the get-go and his usefulness onboard is negligible. An asteroid (from Deep Impact) sweeps past in the beginning for no real reason, though it is in the alternative ending bonus. At the end, Capt Miller sends Lt. Starck to the command deck for intel, and she ... it is not explained. This turns into a flat out horror film with many stray threads and unanswered questions. That is not a problem, a lot of mysteries have no solutions, but there seem to be an awful lot in this edit. The pacing also feels rushed, very much so past the midway point.

Enjoyment - Appreciate would be a better word. I recognize and admire much of what Mollo did here. It does feel like a horror film, which was his intention, though not a particularly intelligent one. He removed much of the stupid factor, which is commendable, yet many of the characters are reduced to sketches. I never cared about them, so I never cared what happened to them. Tough luck, kids, I thought.

On one hand, the outro music, the last taste one gets from any film, was incongruous, intrusive and irritating.
On the other hand, the bonus features, redeemed quite a bit for me. Seeing how much Mollo had done, just with one brief scene, had me recognize and applaud the work he did with this. Adding those bonus features in a folder along with the feature .avi is genuinely considerate.

Good edit, worth viewing. Based on other reviews, tracking down the DVD is recommended.

jokersmailbag jan 25 2009

Event Horizon was cool idea- kind of an attempt to mix elements of 2001, The Shining, and Alien – with a dash of The Philadelphia Experiment thrown in. It has a lot of positives, solid production design & visual effects and a mostly talented cast. Unfortunately, the rest of it -dialogue, characters, story- never really comes together. It borrows from other films, but doesn’t deliver anything new of it’s own. It has a few OK moments, but also has a lot of “huh?”- corny lines, confusing plot points, etc. From my point of view, it is pretty deeply flawed in a lot of ways. So, plenty of opportunity for a creative faneditor to apply his skills. Enter Mollo.

I have seen a few of Mollo’s edits now and can fairly say I believe his skills improve with each new edit- of course, technically he has always been way above average in the video and audio departments. So far this ranks as the best edit of his I have seen overall, both creatively and technically. Mollo strives for perfect with each edit- you know you are always getting his best effort. He also seems to like coloring outside the lines, always thinking of alternate routes form point A to B and isn’t afraid to take risks to get there. The more his skills improve, the more this approach is paying off. I think the guy may well create a perfect fanedit one day. Killer Horizon is certainly a step in that direction for him.

As I said, this is his finest work, for me, so far. Firstly, the video quality is top rate. And the titles are expertly done, and mesh perfectly with the new opening music. I was particularly impressed with the insertion of footage from other films, which is by now sort of a Mollo trademark. Here I found it his most seamless use of this technique by far. Really imaginative and assured, very smartly done. They give the film much needed jolts of energy. Especially good is Justin being “tempted” (although it might have been nice to hear a female voice seductively calling his name before he puts his hand in). Audio-wise, the work here is fantastic, really impressive. From the new soundtrack to the new little bits of sound design here it was a magnificent job. One thing I would have left out: The “I am Lucifer” dialogue near the end. It sort of made the evil more “Earthbound” in a sense, less universal. Plus I recognized it straight off. But this is more of a storytelling quibble, for technique my hat goes off to you. Flawless.

While Mollo has given it much more direction and life I still did not find it to be too great of a movie in terms of character and narrative flow. And I found myself not really caring to much about the characters- they didn’t seem to have any real relationship with each other and some were just not that strong anyway. Plus, I never got the sense of location or proximity. I wasn’t sure where some things were taking place, or how far characters were from each other at various times. Plus, some of the side characters didn’t seem to be affected at all by the mysterious goings on, so overall there was not an all-encompassing atmosphere of claustrophobic fear. The danger level is not really felt all the time. But, most of this is due to the problematic source material. The crew just does not seem all that smart or together to begin with, and there are some questionable logical and motivational choices made throughout. And frankly Sam Neill for me is never a very interesting actor. Here is no exception; he just doesn’t seem to have it in him to give the sort of slowly unhinging madman performance that I think the role required.

While it still sports a few logical gaps and some weak characters and dialogue, Mollo has done much to improve the original. By adding a more sinister tone through the intelligent use of new visuals and enhancements to the sound design/soundtrack (as well as cutting out some “huh?” stuff) Mollo effectively makes it a better watching experience. However, for me, the result is now simply an average sci-fi movie instead of a rather bad and boring one.

Video/Audio: An enthusiastic 5
Editing: 5
Entertainment/Story: 2.5

Overall: 4
Again, Mollo delivers a product that is superior to the original.