Event Horizon is a sci-fi horror film from 1997 directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film was originally going to be 130 minutes long (about 2 hours in change), when the film was screened by Paramount, the small group of people who were within the screening were disturbed by the film, leading to at least 30 minutes of the film being cut for the theactrical release.
There were 9 total scenes that were removed (or changed) before the initial release.
- Dr. Weir is briefed on the ship's return and is demanded to go on the mission to recover it. This scene was released on one of the DVD releases in 2006.
- Captain Miller finds a human tooth with gum attached to it in the corridor while exploring the ship.
- The scene where the new crew finds the original crew's fate on the event horizon was much longer in the original cut. It was dubbed the "bloody orgy" scene, with the original crew having shots shots of a one being stabbed through the head, a man pulling his intestines out of his mouth, having their legs beaten so hard they’re eventually broken off as he crawls away, and one where a crew member getting screws drilled into their teeth.
- A Cryosleep container was filled with blood, exploding in the ship.
- Weir's wife Claire's suicide reenactment was more graphic
- The scene where D.J's corpse was found was originally longer in the first cut.
These scenes are widely known- The director has spoken about the deleted scenes, and the full film was supposedly found in a Transylvanian salt mine, though the footage was unusable. (Salt mines are used in lots of film storage sites, the salt acts as a way to keep the film reels dry. A wiki page about a salt mine in Kansas, USA, can be found Here.) Parts of these scenes have been released on DVD releases, though not all have been found.
Click the images below to watch the (found) deleted scenes.
My Thoughts
Event Horizon was one of my first walk ins with horror sci-fi, outside of Alien. It was one of the films that one of my family members saw in theatres and vowed to never watch again. I rewatched it recently, and I have to say that if the deleted scenes were kept in the movie, it would have been a lot better. The deleted scenes show the pure helplessness and pure horror of the space horror genre, being completely alone on a ship that held something that completely decimated the previous crew. I hope that one day the original cut of the film is found, or at least remade, and inserted into the original film.