The Warhammer franchise is one of the biggest cultural phenomena of the past few decades, but its presence is absent from multiple mediums. There have been attempts to make a film or a TV series out of the game, but no such project has ever seen the light of day. It's strange, but Event Horizon is currently the closest fans have.
Paul W. S. Anderson is known for his video game adaptations, most of which have been very poorly received. Anderson's action schlock has its fans, and his 1995 Mortal Kombat movie has been redeemed by the cultural memory, but his few original films are notably unpopular. Event Horizon isn't his best-known project, but it is the one that inspires the most ardent defenders.
What is Event Horizon About?
In the distant future of 2040, a ship called the Event Horizon leaves on its maiden voyage to the distant star Proxima Centauri. Unfortunately, the vessel disappeared before reaching its destination. Seven years later, the ship mysteriously reappears near Neptune. A rescue ship called the Lewis and Clark is sent to check it out. The Event Horizon is a unique starship, equipped with an experimental gravity drive that has the power to open a wormhole. The crew of the Lewis and Clark are swiftly forced to board the Event Horizon, and they discover something inexplicably evil within its walls. Before long, the entire crew suffers hallucinations, bodies start to drop, and it becomes clear that the Event Horizon is in contact with the very forces of Hell itself.
Event Horizon was a unique project in Paul W. S. Anderson's filmography. The year was 1995 and Anderson was riding high off of the success of his aforementioned Mortal Kombat film. He was fighting off scripts and offers from every major studio. He turned down the Mortal Kombat sequel and even the first X-Men movie in favor of his true desire, an R-Rated horror film. The one he received was Philip Eisner's script for Event Horizon. The story was initially compared to a "haunted house story in space." Many marked the similarities to Ridley Scott's Alien while others noted elements borrowed from films like The Shining. The script took a lot of things from a lot of different sources, proudly proclaiming itself a hodgepodge of existing horror concepts. However, above all of those influences, Eisner noted one particular media property as a piece of source material.
How is Event Horizon Related to Warhammer?
What is Warhammer about? The franchise is unique in its massive mountains of lore, much of which is utterly ignored by its core fanbase. The story follows countless soldiers in dozens of armies in an endless galactic conflict. Event Horizon doesn't touch on any of those ideas. There are no soldiers and no battles. The film takes place in 2040, a scant 38,000 years before the franchise's plot properly begins. Event Horizon would be a distant prequel, but it doesn't capture any of the endless war that makes up the main events. Instead, the film depicts a group of scientists and engineers discovering a ship that has literally been through Hell. Eisner has been very clear that his inspiration for the film's core concept comes from the Warp.
In Warhammer, traveling faster-than-light posed an enormous problem for the Imperium of Man. Their solution is reckless and frequently suicidal, but it gets them where they need to go. The Immaterium, most frequently referred to as the Warp, is a nightmarish alternate dimension that churns with a never-ending surge of psychic energy. It's an openly hostile plane of all-powerful eldritch abominations and their demonic servants. Its influence on the material realm comes through magic, psychic powers, and the occasional abomination. Traveling through the warp without the proper protections will result in being driven to madness and eventually slaughtered by the hostile forces within. Event Horizon depicts an early success in the field of faster-than-light travel in the form of the gravity drive. That drive catapulted the titular ship into the Warp and its crew paid the price. In canon, this could be humanity's first encounter with the Immaterium. If that's the case, it went about as well as could be expected.
Event Horizon isn't officially licensed by Games Workshop, but fans have largely adopted it as a piece of their favorite franchise. Though some efforts are still in motion to get a Warhammer cinematic universe off the ground, Event Horizon is an interesting first step for the franchise. Newcomers might have a hard time grasping the various armies and countless characters, but they'll understand a ship and its crew being catapulted through Hell. Event Horizon is a cult classic, but it wasn't the most successful project upon its initial release. The film can be a lesson to filmmakers. Even if a project doesn't take off, it may find its fanbase in the strangest of places.