Event Horizon (partially lost unreleased 130-minute cut of sci-fi horror film; 1997)

This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its disturbing subject matter/visuals.

---

The film's poster

Status: Partially Lost

Event Horizon was a 1997 sci-fi horror film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Initially, the film ran for at least 130 minutes. This cut contained far more graphic violence and gore than the released version of the film. When Anderson screened the film for Paramount, they were disturbed by how gruesome it was. Anderson felt that they had not been given enough time in post-production to completely refine the cut, and it went before test audiences too early. Consequently, the test audiences were equally upset with the gruesome content, and the negative reactions led to Paramount forcing Anderson to edit the film by 30 minutes, specifically the extremely grim material.

Deleted Material

• Dr. Weir gets briefed on the ship's return and is demanded to go on the mission to recover it. This scene was on the DVD release of the film in 2006.

• Captain Miller finds a human tooth with gum attached to it in the corridor while exploring the ship. It is assumed that the tooth was ripped out while the original crew of the Event Horizon was being massacred.

• The “bloody orgy” scene that the main characters come across in the ship's log and learning the original crew's fate was longer in the original cut. The scene lasts twenty seconds in the theatrical version but is infamous for the incredibly graphic violence it contained, including shots of a character being stabbed through the head and a man pulling his intestines out of his mouth. The initial version was longer and included shots of a character getting screws drilled into their teeth and a character having their legs beaten so hard they’re eventually broken off as he crawls away.

• The final battle between Weir and Miller originally saw Miller fight with the burning Weir who haunted him during the film. A backstory were the trauma Miller has from a crew member he was forced to let die on a prior mission was present.

• The visions of Miller's crew suffering in hell Weir is forcing Miller to experience were more graphic.

• A cryosleep tank fills with blood and explodes, unleashing a wave of blood.

• Weir crawls down a ladder like a spider.

• Weir's wife Claire's suicide reenactment was more graphic.

• The discovery of D.J.'s corpse by Captain Miller was longer.

Daylight Station Deleted Scene (courtesy of TheDronemaster).

Portions of Extended Hell Sequence (courtesy of DaneTheConqueror).

Extended Hell Sequence in its entirety (courtesy of randomchannel137).

Extended Operating Table Sequence (courtesy of randomchannel137).

Availability

Portions of the deleted scenes were included as bonus features on the 2006 DVD release. Unfortunately, they were sourced from poor-quality footage and had editor's marks visible in various places. Supposedly, the cut scenes were found in a Transylvanian salt mine (salt mines are commonly used to store film reels due to their arid environments), but they had deteriorated beyond repair. According to the director's commentary, Paramount had junked the rest of the deleted footage in the late 90s/early 2000s, as they were not interested in keeping it.

During an interview at ComicCon 2012, Anderson revealed that producer Lloyd Levin had found the original cut of the film on a VHS, though he admitted that he hadn't watched it. However, nothing has been heard of it since. Scream Factory attempted to restore Anderson’s original cut for its 2021 Blu-Ray release but was not able to locate any new footage. The VHS copy was also revealed to have been badly stored and was thus unwatchable, and Anderson believes he’d have to shoot new footage to create a director’s cut. Despite this, what was in the deleted footage has been very well documented and extensive summaries exist online.

External Link

• The script for the 130-minute cut