Summary

• Event Horizon had extensive scenes cut, making the film shorter and less terrifying for audiences.
• Director's cuts and deleted footage are often the saving grace for heavily edited films, but Event Horizon's footage was destroyed.
• The lost footage from Event Horizon was sent to a Transylvanian salt mine and deteriorated, forever preventing a director's cut.

A 27-year-old horror sci-fi movie was extensively cut short before its theatrical release, leaving it with almost none of its best scenes. To make things even worse, its deleted footage was later destroyed, leaving no trace of the director's initial vision for the film. After being filmed and compiled together into a final cut, most movies are often trimmed before their release for several reasons. While some of these reasons are practical, others are driven more by early audience reactions, budgetary constraints, and market demands.

Primarily belonging to the latter category, a 1997 movie was significantly altered before it reached audiences. Extended scenes and director's cuts are usually the saving grace for such films that undergo heavy editing and narrative restructuring. Unfortunately, this film's footage was long damaged before its deleted scenes could see the light of day.

Event Horizon Had Some Truly Horrific Scenes, And Some Were Curated By Clive Barker

The Scenes Were So Terrifying They Made The Test Audience Sick

Event Horizon's theatrical cut is incredibly terrifying, which explains why the film's popularity has only grown from strength to strength since its initial release. However, the movie's original cut reportedly had some even more horrific scenes. As John Isaacs (who plays D.J. in the film) revealed (via Yahoo! Movies), the film occasional flashes of some grim deleted moments, but none of them are easy to comprehend because they barely appear for a few fleeting seconds. The actor also added that director Paul W. S. Anderson's "best mate" kept revisiting their soundstage, saying, "You will not believe what I saw this morning."

Reports also suggest that Clive Barker, notably known for his work in the Hellraiser series, was also involved with Event Horizon during pre-production.

Although most details surrounding the deleted footage from the film are still shrouded in mystery, many scenes in it were part of the sequence where the central spaceship's crew experiences the dark depths of hell. Isaacs, too, confirmed that he does not know much about the film's explicit deleted bits but recalls the filming of one scene in which his character's body was hung naked and gutted from neck to the navel. The scene was apparently so disturbing that test audiences could not help but get sick while watching it. Funnily, Isaacs wanted to take the latex model used for the scene home but was not allowed to.

Reports also suggest that Clive Barker, notably known for his work in the Hellraiser series, was also involved with Event Horizon during pre-production. He curated some of the most explicit body horror moments from the movie, many of which likely did not make it to the final cut. Upon closer inspection, one might even notice Barker's touch in Event Horizon, especially during moments when the film portrays nightmarish visuals of hell.

Event Horizon Was More Than 130 Minutes Long, And Heavily Cut By Producers

30 Minutes Worth Of Footage Was Deleted From The Final Cut

While Event Horizon's final cut was only around 96 minutes long, the film had at least 30 minutes of extra footage cut by producers. Isaacs disclosed that the cut footage included scenes that were "definitely illegal to do now, probably illegal to do then." Event Horizon's premiere was reportedly rushed because Paramount wanted a summer blockbuster in 1997. To director Anderson's dismay, before the film hit the theaters on 15 August 1997, many of its scenes that were too gory and sexually explicit were removed.

Considering how many director's cuts of recent films, like Zack Snyder's Justice League, have performed incredibly well among audiences, Event Horizon could have enjoyed a similar level of success decades after its release.

Over the years, after Event Horizon garnered a cult following, and audiences learned about the film's deleted footage, many started demanding its director's cut. Considering how many director's cuts of recent films, like Zack Snyder's Justice League, have performed incredibly well among audiences, Event Horizon could have enjoyed a similar level of success decades after its release. Unfortunately, since Event Horizon premiered in the late '90s, its deleted footage cannot be released for one primary reason.

The Deleted Footage Was Lost, Found, And Then Destroyed In A Transylvanian Salt Mine

Event Horizon's Director's Cut Will Never See The Light Of Day

As director Paul W. S. Anderson confirmed (via EW), Event Horizon came out during the VHS era, right before DVDs took over. Since VHS left no room for deleted footage, the studio had no reason to keep all the additional deleted scenes. Therefore, as reports suggest, the unused footage was sent to a Transylvanian salt mine for storage because salt mines offer the ideal conditions for film preservation. Unfortunately, Anderson could still not get his hands on Event Horizon's deleted scenes because the stored footage had deteriorated and become unusable.

An Event Horizon TV show is reportedly in the works on Amazon.