Event Horizon (1997, 24%)
Sunshine (2007, 76%)

I initially watched Event Horizon as a double feature with Good Will Hunting…hey, you make do when the only rental option was a Blockbuster across from home. While Good Will‘s idea of adult R-rated scenarios put me and my brother to sleep, Event Horizon had us jumping from the sofa with its heavy guitar intro theme. We were fans of Doom like all good suburban kids, so Event‘s deep space descent through portals of Hell resonated. And the movie remains a propulsive ride — not too scary, but about as entertaining a movie featuring blood orgies and Dr. Alan Grant as you’re gonna get.

Next: Sunshine, big budget sci-fi from Danny Boyle, following a ship with a nuclear payload heading towards the galaxy’s center to reignite our dying sun. Like Event Horizon, Sunshine‘s a space sprawler that trades on isolation and madness, but it’s not a horror movie per se. It does, however, tweak the genre: Most villains in slashers (which this movie gradually turns into) operate in darkness and shadows; here, Boyle challenges himself to shoot the villain in full blinding light, drawing from a toolbox of dazzling visual tricks to mostly pull it off.