It may not be remembered widely as an excellent sci-fi movie, but Event Horizon has grown in stature since its release in 1997 with an army of probably slightly deranged fans. In the best way – I should know, I’m one of them. Released in 1997 to uninspiring reviews and an equally unimpressive box office take, it slowly transformed into the kind of cult classic that passes right into legend. It’s not just the marriage of Lovecraftian nightmare and psychological trauma, Paul WS Anderson’s mind-bending sci-fi is one of the most affectingly scary and gory films of the 1990s. Of any decade, in fact. Now, almost 30 years on, the story is expanding.
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At the heart of the film’s enduring appeal – as with all the best cult stories – is the knowledge that what we actually saw wasn’t Anderson’s unhinged, unfiltered vision. Thanks to the infamously cut “blood orgy” sequence, we never got to see Event Horizon in full bloom. Deliciously, that sequence was trimmed down after a disastrous test screening and then partially lost to time, with only the few flashes of it that stayed in the final cut and some footage later used in a documentary surviving. For nearly three decades, the scene has been like sci-fi mythology, held up in the collective imaginations of the fans. But now, thanks to the ongoing Event Horizon prequel comic series, and December’s Issue #4 – which I am lucky enough to already read thanks to IDW – we have a full realization of the scene that absolutely delivers.
Event Horizon’s Prequel Finally Goes Where the Studio Wouldn’t
IDW’s Event Horizon: Dark Descent comic series has been steadily building toward its inevitable descent into Hell, exploring what led up to the ship’s disappearance and crew breakdown leading up to the events of the original film. The first two issues were a strong start with evocative images and the same sort of urgent, haunting horror that continues to make the film so enthralling. The prequel series has announced itself as essential for fans as both a lore expansion and a celebration of the original. And it’s in the upcoming Issue #4 that longtime fans will get what we’ve all been waiting for: because the blood orgy is back.
And having read it, I’m telling you, it lives up to the decades of hype. Not by simply showing everything the film couldn’t, but by using the comic medium’s strengths to twist the knife just right. It’s both exactly as graphic and as implicative as it needs to be. Without getting into spoiler territory, you see a lot, but the imagery also leaves enough gaps for your imagination to fill in the connective tissue between the panels. It’s the same psychological trick the original film used with its flashes of hellish imagery, just extended, clearer, and far more provocative.
Originally, Event Horizon had a fully realized version of this chaotic, orgiastic hell tableau that showed the true horrors of what the ship had seen in another dimension. This sequence was brutal: bodies torn, skin flayed, frenzied violence, the literal breakdown of the human soul and mind. And typically, early test audiences recoiled, and the studio panicked enough to insist it was removed. So the brief story of Captain John Kilpack, the captain of the Event Horizon was unwittingly shrouded in mystery. We knew bad things happened to him, as he warned, but the extent of it was left out.
Dark Descent Fills In Event Horizon’s Background Grimly
Issue 3 isn’t actually about Kilpatrick, it focuses on another character – as the first two issues did – this time Doctor Peter Adjei. The series is effectively a tapestry exploring the intertwined traumas of the crew members (including Sam Neil’s Dr. William Weir, who makes a welcome return), and how they also twist into the doomed fate of the titular ship and a demonic plot that started long before Anderson’s movie timeline. The manifestation of Adjei’s personal horror in Issue 3 is gruesome, and further cementing the creative team of Christian Ward, artist Tristan Jones, colorist Pip Martin, and letterer Alex Ray as a real force.
If Issue 3 is about escalation, with the arrival of the now-named demon Paimon who comes through Weir’s machine, Issue 4 is about the erm… money shot. And it’s both bleak and wonderfully worth the wait, because the “blood orgy” is a dark triumph. It’s actually a bit of a difficult read, with Kilpatrick’s trauma offering an existential challenge set against a crescendo of gore. It’s not just for shock value either, but as a long-time fan of Event Horizon, there was a lot riding here, and I can happily report Dark Descent does Anderson’s original vision justice.
Event Horizon: Dark Descent #3 is set for release on November 12, with Issue #4 coming December 24, 2025. The pre-orders cut-off is November 10, so don’t miss out. And trust me, it’s worth the wait.
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