Eraserhead

After having nominated and referenced this over the years, it is finally time to rewatch my favorite horror movie since seeing it 8 years ago as an 18 year old boy, and it still holds up about what I think, feel and experience about it.

Eraserhead is most of all an experience, it is without a doubt one of the most unique horrors out there, and it completely feels like an authentic nightmare, or atleast several of them. It is full of symbolism and interpretations, and David Lynch has stated that the correct one has not been theorized or discussed about yet.

Henry Spencer is a middle aged man who gets a message from the beautiful lady across the hall that his girlfriend has invited him over for dinner. Upon arriving, Henry is unsure and rather feels awkward with her parents and their behavior.

The shocking revelation comes forward that Mary and Henry have had sexual intercourse before marriage, and subsequently a baby has been born at the hospital. But not just any baby, it rather looks more like an alien fetus.

He gets tasked with taking care of the baby, while his relationship seems damaged. From there on out, but actually from the very beginning, all things considered cannot be labeled as factual or logical. As if the overall tone did not give that away already.

The sound design of Eraserhead is stunningly effective, as it goes in harmony with the black and white colors, the sprawling industrialization setting and of course the dreams, hallucinations or nightmares Henry experiences.

The third segment of the movie is where things really start getting creepy, out of this world and effective. The scene after the Lady in the Radiator does her Heaven song is my favorite one because it shows what happens to Henry, becoming an eraserhead in several ways, and it switches into an accompanying scene that leaves much for imagination.

The object with tails seen throughout Eraserhead is largely implied to be spermatozoons, heavily supporting the theory that the movie has strong sexual themes playing. They travel through many different ways, and it reflects Henry's personality most of all, which seems pacifistic.

I strongly encourage everyone to watch this movie on their own, preferably in the dark with headphones and the volume up, without friends or distractions so that you can make up your own mind and opinion about it.

Eraserhead is a dark journey with cryptic messages, industrialized scenery, ambient music, awkward characters, nightmares and ultimately one of the best immersive film experiences I have ever had. David Lynch will always be respected by me for creating this surrealistic horror.

Rating: 9.0

And with that said, I wish you all Happy Halloween! Until next year!

Demonology

Modern religions all seem to have demonology in common, or rather they acknowledge the existence of demons, not necessarily the study or theology of them. It is quite a sophisticated and deep topic because not only are there many kinds of demons, they can be interpreted in different ways too.

LaVeyan Satanism teaches that demons are used as symbols which possess virtuous characteristics, while Christianity or Judaism believe and practice the profession of exorcism in order to evict demons out of possessed bodies.

Often portrayed and used as a convenient way of showing evil influence in mediums such as movies, video games and books, in fact, demonology has been around for ages. Many categorizations exist, so let me talk about some of the more interesting demons which have been documented by men.

For instance, Abaddon is sometimes referred to as king of the abyss who commands an army of locusts and symbolizes destruction or a location of that. It is also associated with fire and graves and could be considered as a leader or duke.

Another commander is Eligos, who can predict the future, knows about warfare, holds an army of sixty legions and he can instruct leaders to inspire their soldiers in order to earn their respect. He usually appears as a horseman.

Satan is the most well known out of them all for being the Devil and is basically the personification of evil and the main enemy of God and his angels. Like demonology in general, Satan also has many interpretations available.

Folklore, magic and witchcraft are all major key terms when speaking of demons as well. Mythology also seems to deal or borrow these entities, and some of these stories or origins can be quite creative. I wonder how the topic will endure through the 21st century.

Tim Burton

 

The visual distinctive dark style of the many movies of Tim Burton is inspiring, engrossing and memorable to experience. Often directing dramatic horrors with a little bit of black comedy here and there, he continues to be noticable from other directors.

Beetlejuice is a great example of how twisted the world of Burton can be, as that picture delved into themes of visual madness, nightmares, a blend between natural and supernatural, cheesy but effective humor and those bizarre settings, man!

Batman and Batman Returns have great looking Gotham Cities oozing with atmosphere and the feeling that crime can be found on every street. Combined with the darker, more serious tone of the movies, they remain classic next to Nolan's trilogy.

Edward Scissorhands is a magical but tragic tale about the misunderstood titular character of blending into normal society. With a pleasant romantic development inbetween, this is another story with powerful imagery.

But perhaps one of the most unique films directed by Tim Burton remains The Nightmare Before Christmas, a stop motion musical fantasy flick which is majorily themed with Halloween. The sheer amount of immersion to be found here is remarkable.

Sleepy Hollow is perhaps the last qualified "darkish" style of Burton before directing in my opinion lesser titles such as Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd and Dark Shadows. There is no question about it that Burton's movies can be easily recognized, aside from the usual casting of Johnny Depp.

Doctor Sleep

 

The long awaited sequel to the novel of The Shining written by Stephen King, which is also my first book read by him, Doctor Sleep is an interesting continuation of what occurred previously and what will happen in modern times.

Dan Torrance, one of the survivors of the Overlook Hotel incident involving his alcoholic father and evil ghosts, still inhabits the special gift of the shining, which is amongst other abilities the privilege of being able to read minds and communicate mentally with others.

In present time, he now works at a hospice, where the elderly and dying patients are taken care of. As Dan gets to experience plenty of personal farewells, while often telling his patients to close their eyes and accept death, his colleagues nickname him Doctor Sleep.

Over the year, he notices that the ability of having the shining remains rare to experience. Making new friends along the way, Billy seems to be the only one who vaguely inhabits the shining, although on a lesser tone than Dan.

That is until Abra Stone starts communicating with him at the incredible age of only two months. It becomes clear that Abra is a very special girl having the strongest kind of shining seen yet, including telepathy, telekinesis, mind reading and prophesying future events. She reminded me of Carrie, another novel by King.

While Dan and Abra become friends and partners, the past hasn't gone away from Dan, and early on in the story he experiences the lady from Room 237 once again. The most terrifying memory is of how he abandoned a young woman and her child, which haunts him with guilt.

But the true danger comes in the antagonistic group of True Knot, an independent wandering tribe of abnormal humans who feast on the "steam" of their dead victims, and who are being led by Rose the Hat, who seems to know sorcery or occultism.

As Abra becomes the latest target of True Knot, Dan and his friends will have to protect the young girl from imminent danger, but Dan will also have to deal with the awakening of the evil influence of the Overlook hotel once again before there can be tranquillity.

Doctor Sleep is for the most part an engaging and suspenseful novel to read into, but my main criticism is with True Knot, which has way too many members with dull personalities or any available backgrounds, and the whole deal with absorbing steam felt odd, because I pictured them as cannibals first.

The antagonistic group also changed the mood and tone of the novel in my opinion, from a suspenseful horror mystery, to a more obvious action oriented good versus evil tale. I enjoy King's diversive writing, and I liked seeing modern references and his habit of referencing locations in Maine.

Rating: **(out of 4)

System Shock

Highly ambitious for it's time, System Shock is a futuristic cyberpunk first person shooter which led to the creation of the way more popular other "Shocks", and Deus Ex was also influenced by this. The main reason many gamers nowadays dismiss the original is because of the outdated controls.

Introducing log files, audio files and visual imagery in order to tell a story, unlike other FPS's of the early 90's, System Shock was immersive for it's time, with complex features such as large maze maps to navigate and explore, environmental puzzles such as connecting electric cables, item management and surprisingly, you progress like you would in Super Metroid.

Meaning that you needed not only access cards or keys to unlock doors, but other means as well such as through environmental objects. System Shock is also themed with horror elements, such as cyborgs being present, and Shodan, the well known villain, is also introduced.

Exploring through the complex levels is the main reason for enjoying this neglected FPS, and not the combat really. Having played through atleast 2 levels of System Shock, I can easily see how very important this project is for the entire shooter genre. Innovative and ahead of it's time, if you can't stand the outdated controls, try to implement the Mouse Mod, which is available now.

Rating: Undetermined

I completely missed out on this famous horror FPS game, and now I have tried it out considerably. But unfortunately, I ultimately disliked this. It's a very unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer Half-Life(1998) or Deus Ex(2000) when speaking of FPS's of around the same era.

The main problem isn't even getting lost and backtracking a lot in order to progress through the complex decks and other maps, which is good. Less hand holding is a good sign of challenging games.

My main problem is that it all felt floaty and unresponsive. Hitting enemies in here felt like a chore, and even on easy mode was I getting my ass kicked usually because of the turrets or robotic enemies. It's cool that audio logs return, but I was annoyed that subtitles were unavailabe despite the text being at the top left. And I had quite a few problematic moments where I was unable to progress further because I did not know the security codes.

Although the interface is an improvement, it's still not really suitable inside a first person shooter where auto respawning and sudden enemies can mess you up good, especially if you ignore security. Perhaps the real reason I disliked System Shock 2 is because it felt outdated, and why's that? Because I did not play it in the late 90's or early 2000's.

The same cannot be said for Deus Ex, which I only started playing and beaten it in 2010. Also, since beating the BioShock Trilogy, the quality is of a lower caliber for me here, and I could not feel motivated to keep wandering around these area's in space, of which the horror was although honorable, not effective to me.

It's really sad that this is how I feel about one of the supposed all time classic FPS's, but so be it. I cannot like everything in life, and the same goes for video games. Don't take my opinion with agreement, try out System Shock 2 for yourself at first.

Many great ideas from the original are transferred over in improvement in the sequel, but the execution was not enough for me to be truly satisfied by it. I acknowledge it's reputation and influence, but I disregard the gameplay.

Rating: 7.0

The Rest of Clock Tower

Text-heavy sequel towards the original with slow and clunky mechanics. I felt demotivated playing through these handicaps, and thus decided to watch a speedrun of it instead. I know it's improper to judge it like this, because I won't do so completely.

For me, Clock Tower on the PSX is unplayable for me. I did like how they used the same controls as before for this 3D rendering. And I suppose Scissorman is a highlight here too. It doesn't help that the title is confusing as well for this and the next title in line.

Rating: 5.0

This is technically the 3rd entry in the Clock Tower series, but seeing as the futuristic sequel ignores this I won't elaborate further on this matter. Actually, this was more playable for me despite getting lower scores in general.

It almost goes straight towards the gameplay at the beginning. You play as a girl with a split personality, you start inside what seems to be an empty house at first, and there are a total of 3 chapters.

Like the SNES original(I can't say for sure with the former reviewed entry), The Struggle Within has several different endings depending on your actions, trap events and chasing enemies, which this time are crazy little girls with knives, poltergeists and zombies. Although it's playable and more smooth, it's still not as fluent or scary as the original, but it's a modest attempt.

Rating: 5.5

The only sequel worth playing in my opinion, Clock Tower 3 takes another new direction regarding lore, mechanics and scares. Interestingly co-developed by Capcom and Sunsoft, The voice acting and lip synchronization can be cringy, but running away from your nightmares is fun.

As always, your defense is limited towards either hiding or using your environment, but now you are equipped with holy water so that you can ward off the subordinates of a higher evil. Clock Tower 3 spans several timelines to play, and it features boss battles, but these ones are very simplistic in nature with limited controls.

Jump scares can be effective at times, because enemies might run into your back suddenly, or keep running through doors in order to kill you. As a side objective you can also rescure lost and aggresive ghosts by giving them back their sentimental items.

It's nothing special when you look at it's production values, the story or lasting appeal, but at least the mechanics were something different and fun while it lasted. Scissorman(and woman!) looks completely different and is no longer scary.

Rating: 6.5

SCP Containment Breach

 

Based upon the SCP Foundation and her numerous casefiles about the supernatural and often aggressive naturals, Containment Breach is an experimental indie horror that is technically still in development in order to be polished, expanded and improved upon.

Basically, you are a random guinea pig in a large experimental research facility where you are intended to be used for testing against the SCP's in various ways. Pretty soon there is a breach happening, and the creatures are unleashed.

The most common enemy you will face is SCP-173, otherwise known as The Sculpture, which is a bizarre being made of random materials such as concrete that has the power to teleport in front or at the back of you should you decide to look away from it, or when you character blinks.

There is a blinking meter in here aside from a sprinting meter designed to deal with some of the SCP's in the game, but as far as I know, only The Sculpture is useful for it. During my playthrough, other creatures I encountered were SCP-106 The Old Man and SCP-049 Plague Doctor, alongside others I could not identify.

Because of the thousands of SCP cases at the foundation, there is a lot of content that could be implemented in further versions of the game. That means that there is a great deal of ambition within this whole fictional community.

I understand that creating all these SCP files can be a fun thing to do, but seeming as there are almost 3000 cases already, I think that the community is insane and has gone way beyond any conventional number of horror related media, unless I underestimate their creativity and imaginary amount of quantity now.

In any case, SCP Containment Breach felt like an unfinished, buggy and random adventure to me. It's cool that the overall map is randomly created, and reading up on some of thoses cases back at the Foundation can potentially be interesting, but for the time being, it all remains relatively obscure and as far as the main game itself goes not content enough.

There is a lot of work still to be done in my opinion, despite the feeling of disorientation being present, which is both a good and bad thing in this case. As far as how scary it is goes, frankly, there's a lot of jump scares in the form of teleporting creatures, and other than disorientation and some disturbing sounds, there's not much else. Yet.

Rating: Undetermined

SCP-087-B

As it turns out, there is also a mini game available exclusively made for the special case of SCP-087, The Stairwell. The staircases are looping endlessly, until you become aware that there is a creature in this paradox that will scare you.

It is designed very simply, with the only intent of scaring you. As you are wandering aimlessly into a constant descent, sooner or later the creature will pop up, and there is nothing you can do about it, except for trying to escape.

No, I did not beat this, not sure if that's even possible, but I get it. Once you see the actual monster, it's not bad, but the actual scare comes from it randomly popping into existence, making this mini game feel very similar to Slenderman or even The Sculpture in the main game.

Rating: 6.0

10 More Favorite Horror Scenes

Last year I finished October writing down my 31 favorite horror scenes. Here are ten more I would like to share with you. Once again, I tried to be diversive and quality based when looking at the selection, and I think I turned out just fine.

Again, some favorite horror scenes of selected titles are still missing online. That's why other scenes of these movies will have to fit in for the time being. Perhaps I should upload them myself next time:

1.The Devils(1971) Biblical Seizure Desire

2.Evil Dead(2013) Dismemberment

3.Cannibal Holocaust(1980) Turtle Execution

4.À l'intérieur(2007) Collateral Damage

5.Alien(1979) Chestburster

6.The Burning(1981) Raft Massacre

7.Saw III(2006) Skull Surgery

8.The Collector(2009) Bear Trap

9. Final Destination(2000) Choking Issue

10.V/H/S/2(2013) Safe Haven

Castlevania 16-bit

Remake of the first Castlevania on the NES, this was the first time I experienced the series as a kid, renting it back in the 90's at a video store, which seem to be almost extinct nowadays. The fondest memory I have is of the first stage song, introducing it greatly.

As you go through the variety of levels, which each have very different settings and colors, you must face off against Dracula's minions such as Frankenstein's monster or the Mummy. Simon Belmont is the first hero and most recognizable of his bloodline, and he kicks ass.

His vampire killer whip is a powerful tool which lets you swing in 8 directions. It can be upgraded in order to become more powerful and longer, and it even lets you hang onto steel rings so that you can cross over large pits.

The difficulty is challenging but fair. Memorizing level and boss patterns will be vital to learn. Along the way, sub weapons such as the axe or the crucifix will substantially make your journey easier, as will be scattered pieces of meat, sometimes found even inside hidden wall fragments, a classic tradition.

In overall, Super Castlevania IV is the best classic 2D platformer of the series for me, it oozes with great atmosphere and immersive music, supreme control over your whip, the environments and enemies are diversive and it's highly replayable.

Rating: 8.3

The only new Castlevania to be released for the Genesis, Bloodlines is a familiar concept where you go through stages in order to reach Dracula at the end while inbetween facing of against all kinds of gothic and demonic monsters.

You can play as John Morris and Eric Lecarde here, the former is a typical whip user while the latter uses a spear. The story is okay for it's time, it's another resurrection attempt at reviving Dracula by Elizabeth Bathory.

The special effects as seen in the stages are fun, such as climbing up or jumping up the tower of Pisa, and the water scenario in Athens. The final stage took me quite a while to beat, it's simply a matter of remembering the patterns of the final 3 bosses and their forms.

Rating: 7.4

This was long considered the obscure holy grail of the classic style of Castlevania, but in recent years it got more accessible. Rondo of Blood is your typical sequel which got enhanced by it's platform system.

It features multiple paths to Dracula like Castlevania III, and it is also the game in which all of the future Metroidvania titles would borrow the enemy and even the boss sprites to death. It's interesting to see the many familiar sprites seeing their original enhanced introduction here. I'm mixed about the OST as it feels more like a "best of" compilation of the past games. In any case Rondo of Blood is any fan's time worth grabbing.

The faithful remake of the original version inside Dracula X Chronicles on the PSP is also fine, but I simply prefer the PC Engine version for being more fastpaced and prettier to look at. This version has a metallic soundtrack and is easier to play through. In essence, it's hard to ignore this celebration release, including both the original Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night as great extra bonuses.

Rating: 7.5

The Shining

 

The well known movie adaptation of Steven Spielberg's novel The Shining is a very good horrific time, but it's certainly not your average way of expectations, and at first, I didn't think much about it except for the memorable scenes which are directly in your face.

Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny move towards the reclusive and isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter period in order to take care of the mechanical equipment, furniture and miscellaneous tasks, while it is closed down.

The family is all alone, and they all enjoy the scenery and location, until strange occurances start happening. Danny sees visions from the future and the past, Jack becomes mad and frustrated for some reason and Wendy is the sorrowful witness towards this.

Stanley Kubrick's cinematography is an impressive achievement, such as when Danny rides down corridors and hallways with his tricycle, using a Steadicam. Or the dreamlike scenes where tons of blood flows towards the camera from inside elevators.

It becomes apparant that Danny and Dick, a worker of the Overlook Hotel, have the ability to shine as taken from the title, or to communicate with others in a sixth sense kind of way. Because of this, both characters sense incoming danger.

What the danger exactly implies is shrouded in various meanings. It could be vengeful ghosts, it could be cabin fever or it could simply mean human error in regards to emotions and circumstances. At one point however, it becomes clear that there is more than one explanation plausible.

The Shining features an effective buildup right from the very beginning, as we float through the sky, watching over a car approaching the Overlook Hotel. It builds all the way up nicely, until the payoff knocks out dedicated viewers into disturbing measures.

The old lady in the bathroom, an implied gay blowjob, the twin girls and other hideous moments make the movie a memorable horror entry, with a plot twist at the end that has started discussions for decades now, implying new realities in accordance towards the film's universe.

The Shining is a well made adaptation even though Stephen King the author himself disliked it. Admittedly, I have yet to read the novel itself, but I believe it has become clear enough that Kubrick's version is well respected on it's own.

Rating: 8.0

What really makes The Shining a classic is that there are many interpretations, patterns and symbolism available, something I did not experience the first time watching it. I understood that it wasn't an ordinary horror anyway, but yet, many clues were not found out by me.

Not until other people online pointed me towards these directions, which sometimes ranged from accurate and believable, towards conspiratory and downright obssessive. But perhaps one way or another, Stanley Kubrick truly was obssessed as well with leaving hidden messages behind in his movies, most notably 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.

Room 237 is a documentary about The Shining's film adaptation's deeper meanings. Commentators theorize about various aspects, creating an inquiry in nine parts about what shaped it's lasting appeal. Subliminal appeals are scattered throughout The Shining, literally hundreds of them are subtle references.

Commentators see similarities with sexuality, genocide of Native Americans, the Jewish Holocaust and the fake Apollo moon landings. It's a petrifying experience once you too start noticing there is much more to be seen here than just a horror story.

Alongside Rob Ager's observations with Collative Learning, a favorite of mine to listen to, Room 237 is a pretty interesting documentary about anyone wanting to learn more about The Shining and the way of Stanley Kubrick's directing. My favorite observations are that some rooms and objects are paradoxes filmed in order to confuse the analytical audience on a deeper level.

Rating: 7.0

Chzo Mythos

A tetralogy of indie adventure games made with the AGS engine by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, known for his Zero Punctuation webseries, which I personally dislike, the Chzo Mythos is an interconnected storyline about murders, sacrifices, the supernatural and an ancient evil of pain.

5 Days a Stranger is a content enough of a point and click adventure game. For an independent and amateuristic project, it's decent, but short and limited. You play as Trilby, who at first is a thief with a gentleman syndrome, but over the course of the other games develops more seriously.

As the mystery of DeFoe's manor is only revealed from the surface level, it ends quickly and abrupt. It's only the first entry of the Chzo Mythos however.

 Rating: 6.3

7 Days a Skeptic is an improvement over the first one in regards to interface and story. It blasts of into the far future of the timeline, where another murderous mystery must be solved in order for evil to be cleansed. The level of gore has also gone up considerably, as has the feeling of tension.

It ends with a last shoveled in plot twist, or perhaps I should say it's rather more of a cliffhanger, as the main character's real identity is questioned.

Rating: 6.7

Trilby's Notes, as both a direct sequel and a prequel predating centuries, it ups the psychological horror further by introducing an alternate hellish dimension to the mix. I disliked the new controls where you had to manually move Trilby around and input commands by use of the keyboard, but on the other hand, the designer tried something different.

Many flashbacks let you briefly play with essentially victims all affected by the Tall Man, the demonic entity plagueing everyone. The lore of the franchise is explained further, and it's yet another decent adventure game. Using narration to explain or read Trilby's Notes towards the gamers is also a new feature.

Rating: 6.5

6 Days a Sacrifice, the finale brings all titles full circle, as several remaining questions are answered, and our latest protagonist will have to face off ultimately against Chzo, the closest towards a God of Pain. Trilby, in some manifestation or another, alongside a red balded man will guide you towards the end of the storyline. 6 Days a Sacrifice is a fitting ending to the Chzo Mythos.

Rating: 6.6

Ben got the basics of the adventure genre right, especially point and click related, and added an interesting enough of a story alongside some disturbing scenes such as pictured below. There is even another prequel before the Chzo Mythos, which is called Trilby: The Art of Theft, but that can be considered more of a side story.

I have yet to try out the 1213 series, which I might do in the future.

Creature Feature

 

Creature Features, or Monster Movies, are a sub-genre where a large monster or creature is usually the star and centerpiece of the storyline happening. One of the earliest known monster movies is The Lost World from 1925, where stop motion footage was used to capture the fantasy.

Other early important or pioneering creature features include Mighty Joe Young(1949) and The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms(1953), which would become the standard template for inspiration to come in future titles.

Most famously are without a doubt King Kong and Godzilla. The former is a very original monster movie with groundbreaking and astounding special effects back in 1933, and the magic of the film's premise is easy to feel.

Godzilla is one of if not Japan's first response to King Kong and 20,000 Fathoms in the sense that both creatures are gigantic and Godzilla also has a nuclear warfare origin story, being partially created from radioactivity.

While King Kong's sequels would be tame, Godzilla's sequels would be numerous and frankly milked out over the decades to come, but nevertheless, the franchises remain popular to experience, with a recent Godzilla flick being released by an American studio this year.

Other notable giant monsters or daikaiju eiga's are Mothra, a legendary giant moth who guards planet Earth and Gamera, my personal favorite, which is a giant turtle with cool tricks up his sleeve such as being able to fly spinning his wheel around or spitting fire!

The creature feature genre has been critiziced for having too much similar plot progressions, redundant premises and most of the time featuring men in silly suits or unbelievable CGI effects. But one must keep in mind that it takes suspension of disbelief to enjoy these.

Personally, my favorites are with the original creature features starting the franchises.

Resident Evil Prototypes

 

The critical acclaimed Resident Evil 2 and 4 have always been successful in many ways, such as forwarding the series, granting huge sales and boosting the popularity. Did you know that before they were released, that there were various prototype versions shown?

Resident Evil 1.5 is the previous version of 2, before Capcom decided that they were not satisfied with it, and then took a bold move of creating the project entirely new again from scratch. Post release, 2 became pretty much universally loved by the time it released in 1998.

1.5 however took away some features that never were seen again in the final version. Things such as two absent enemies in the form of a human/spider hybrid and aggressive baboons, or an entirely different female main character called Elza Walker, and a wide range of weapons was also available.

Footage of the prototype can be found on the internet, and recently, I even was able to download some kind of version of 1.5, although it seems that there were more versions of it. As I wanted to play through, or test through using both protagonists, I quickly became stuck in both of their storylines, but it was interesting nonetheless to be able to experience only a tiny portion of them.

A similar scenario happened with the various versions of prototypes for what would become the most revolutionary project yet; Resident Evil 4. The Stylish, Castle, Hallucination and Zombie versions of 3.5 would surface over the course of the years until 2005.

But it was the Hallucination version being the most memorable because of the vast different tone it was having, such as supernatural events taking place in the form of possessed dolls, Leon being infected by a virus constantly, and the infamous Hook Man enemy.

Many resources and materials would be scrapped for the final version, but on the other hand, many other features seen in the versions would be transferred over, such as the over the shoulder perspective, the struggle mechanic and Leon's health indicator.

In some ways, it's dissapointing to see these prototypes never becoming entirely transferred to the final builds. In other ways, it's also interesting enough in this way to be able in the first place to read up about these early builds.

For dedicated Resident Evil fans, it only adds more substance to the overall identity of the beloved horror franchise. They could basically be called "what if" scenarios of the game designers themselves from a past perspective.

As we take a quick look at the future, Resident Evil Revelations 2 is coming up, and Resident Evil 7 seems inevitable despite what has been said negatively about the latest previous sequels. Perhaps Capcom will once again show more prototype versions in the future alongside these new upcoming releases?

Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive

As a side note, it's been years since I saw both mentioned movies with horror elements, and additionally, I saw them inbetween a period lasting at least a full year. So perhaps excuse these rather outdated reviews in terms of the style of writing, but it's simply not time for me yet to rewatch both of them.

"The fourth movie I have seen from David Lynch, which is a better movie than Blue Velvet for me, is pretty confusing to figure out the whole meaning for all of it. Sometimes with movies like these, I just tell myself that the director just made a big mess full of shit and piss and then attempted to make a movie out of it.

This was most of all created purely for debate and closer examination at, for example, the symbolism, the characters, or the story itself. Interpretations and patterns are traditionally used by Lynch in order to create discussion.

It's funny when one person on the internet dares to challenge a whole fan board of movies like Lost Highway and simply saying that the movie is, quite originally, the worst movie ever. Without even specifically argueing about such a loud statement.

Most of the time I laugh at the theory then that directors like David Lynch might be laughing secretly in their own bed at the fact that everyone is highly debating over his movie which has no reason or meaning of its existence.

But you know what, even after all of the debates and theories, and the conclusion after these from the fans then is that the movie makes no sense, it can still be a great movie. So, whenever Lost Highway makes sense or not, it was still interesting to sit through.

I am quite used to David Lynch's slow scene moments and mysterious dream sequences since I saw Eraserhead, so those won't stop me atleast from giving Lost Highway a negative score. It takes a different approach to appreciate his rather abstract projects.

This time, in this small review, I will not go into the story or characters of Lost Highway, but I will simply tell you that Lost Highway is one big confusing movie, although not as confusing as Eraserhead, and is quite an interesting movie to sit through, alone if possible, or only with friends who have the desired patience(and silence during the movie until the end of it) to watch all of it happening.

In short, Lost Highway is a movie to talk about."

Rating: 7.0

"Oh fuck, looks like I am back inside David Lynch's universe again. Hahahaha, this is so funny, so intriguing, when I stumble upon an adventurous innocent trip in Hollywood which suddenly twists with reality and fantasy, shocks us for the random yet strange cycle of events and ends like nothing ever happened but at the same time something extraordinary just happened.

Something unusual, something unique. Mulholland Drive, which by the way has all the right to have it's own meaning of life, is another movie which I could call a reason for loving cinema. How I love David Lynch. He gave me Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet and Lost Highway already, and now I have seen one of his most intriguing pictures yet.

As always is the case when a difficult movie like this has to be understood, I rely on the internet with it's discussions and reviews about those movies as an assisting tool. I also have to decide whether to agree with my interpretration of the movie or not when using these materials.

Sometimes I agree with the internet, sometimes not. As for Mulholland Drive, let's just say that I was interested throughout the whole movie, and that I am satisfied with it already without even understanding the strange events.

It might have been a dream, a nightmare, a movie played by actors(Oh the irony!), a whole pile of shit or an exploitation of the Hollywood life, whatever the case, this was definitely another unusual movie, not for everyone.

I do think that I could recommend this movie though, for the movie starts out calmly, then it suddenly "mindfucks" the audience, and ends with silencio...I would really like to know what the person next to me would have to say about Mulholland Drive if he or she saw it together with me. Enough talking, get to the next movie already Flok!"

Rating: 8.0

Cursed Mountain

Cursed Mountain is a rather unknown and obscure horror title on the Nintendo Wii. The developer has closed down unfortunately, but that doesn't mean it's last project is a disaster. It's more of a mixed bag.

It has sluggish and sometimes non responsive controls, very simple and repetitive gameplay, it's not scary and it has a story told awkwardly. The pacing is rather slow most of the time,and it's rather a reclusive and isolated experience in general.

The Wii peripherals showed in action as an example are somewhat funny to witness, the characters were bland and Eric walked too slow. If he only did so during the climb and snow parts then I would be content with it.

What the game did exceptionally right though is offering an insight into Buddhism and Hinduism, and some of the surroundings; the mountains in particular, were impressive and immersive to behold. With the cold setting, the freezing wind and ghostly encounters, it creates an unsettling image at certain parts.

They are part of the atmosphere which is done right, with effective sound effects accompanying the player. Last but not least, climbing to the summit of Chomo Lonzo was as far as mountain climbing as a simulator goes, stunning.

Regrettably, Cursed Mountain will never be optimized, or considered a classic horror game. However, for it's unusual setting, and it's effective ambience, consider playing through this at least once if you can handle the pace.

It's also interesting to note that "Cursed Mountain was a collaborative development effort by 16 companies consisting of 236 people in 17 unique locations in 14 different countries".

Rating: 6.7

The Walking Dead: The Game

 

Divided by chapters, Telltale Games has created an interactive game series that adapts towards the important choices you make through the tales. The Walking Dead, based off the comics, is a surprise hit from the developers that even got awarded GOTY here and there.

You play as Lee, a convicted felon, but on the way towards what seems to be a prison, your ride ends unexpected. From there on out, you will have to control Lee in order to survive the deadly walkers, recruit with others and make tough decisions as events come and go.

Chapter 1 was just a warm up, as things really got thicker with Chapter 2, as its presentation, decisions and emotions deepened. Graphically, it looked like a mix between cell shaded and a comical touch.

Gameplay wise, you can walk around, make decisions up to 4 choices and there are quick time events, either by the key buttons or the mouse. So the mechanics are simple, however the story more than makes up for that as The Walking Dead is just told with interest.

Diverged also from the adapted TV series, I don’t know how much of it is connected to the comics, but I figure since you are able to make choices by your own, things ought to be different there as well.

The cast is both likable and despicable at times, as gray zones are common to see where everyone’s morale stands. There are also charts shown at the end of each chapter, depicting what other players’s choices were during the important scenes.

Chapter 3 was fine until a bug occurred at the train location, as I met the bum, twice, and the second time, Duck was missing but Katjaa was still holding up thin air with her hands. But I was able to continue after that, as everything returned normal.

More of these spoofs most of the time happened when I re-triggered scenes when some people should not had responded in Chapter 3 and 4, resulting into a series that was NOT tested well for quality assurance.

A floating monkey wrench at the train station, Vernon talking to me after he left with Christa and I re-examined the video recorder…that’s just not well designed man.

The rest of the adventure was playable, but the highlight remained Chapter 2 for me. The Walking Dead from Telltale Games is a horror point and click adventure with an engaging story, difficult choices, dramatic scenarios and a change for morale.

Rating: 7.6

Telltale Games continues to bring out modern point and click adventure games with plenty of quality. The last thing I heard about them, they announced new games for the respective series of Game of Thrones and Borderlands!

But for now, let's look at Season Two. Unfortunately, I somehow deleted my save file from Season 1, so the most important choices were randomized at the start of this playthrough. You control Clementine as the main character this time, a little girl who has gone through a lot already, but will more or less go through the same dangers again, sometimes worse than before.

Difficult multiple choices are once again available alongside quick time events, and the progression of the story is interesting, as well as the high tension drama. This time, the highlights were Chapter 4 and 5 for me, but for most folks that turns out to be Chapter 2 again.

Rating: 7.5

I'm looking forward to the inevitable Season 3 coming up. Maybe I should try out the other recent Telltale games as well such as Back to the Future and The Wolf Among Us, not to mention the upcoming Game of Thrones adaptation especially sounds interesting and challenging for Telltale Games to handle.

Hannibal the Cannibal

The first of the 3 movies about Dr.Hannibal Lecter chronologically speaking for the story. It is also the second movie of seeing Edward Norton in action after Fight Club which was a nice suprise for me. So, Red Dragon shows a misused serial killer (because of his grandma) and a retired detective doing just one last case because he got told that he has the amazing ability to think like a killer.

Oh and also of course, the infamous appearance of Dr.Hannibal Lecter is found in the movie, who manipulates the other two characters in a clever way. It also seems this is another movie where the theme Multiple personality disorder is flying around as well.

It's an interesting thing though that this disorder can be used in many original ways. One last thing to note is that the relation between the serial killer and the blind woman was interesting to view, not quite an ordinary love story as far as I know. In anyway for me though, Red Dragon is a good start for probaply an intelligent crime story.

Rating: 7.0

Well this is it, the most famous thriller movie out of them all. Dr.Hannibal Lecter's best story so far for me, and it also has this woman as the main character called Clarice Starling with another funny southern, Cowboyish country language, just like in Forrest Gump.

The Silence of the Lambs also has another interesting serial killer, Buffalo Bill, equally interesting as Francis Dolarhyde from Red Dragon, but has entirely other reasons for his killings. And what makes Thriller movies usually interesting to view besides the cast of characters presented?

That's right, either investigating and solving the crime(s) or finding out about the truth, or in some cases, it's an open ending or the viewer never gets to know to why's of horrible things found in Thriller movies, like the murders which took place in Memories of Murder(2003).

The Silence of the Lambs is both a solve to a serie of crimes(Buffalo Bill is eliminated) and an open ending (Dr.Hannibal Lecter escapes), which means the story is not over yet, as truthfully seen in Hannibal, the third novel/movie about Dr.Hannibal Lecter, which I have yet to see. In the end, The Silence of the Lambs was a fun ride with a deep story and interesting killers.

Rating: 7.5

Dr.Hannibal Lecter is even more interesting to follow this time as we dive into his personal hiding life this time, away from the cops. Clarice Starling has trouble this time  because even though she shot 5 armed humans including a mother holding her baby, she got dismissed by her own FBI team.

But there's more than meets the eye here though, because Paul Krendler, who works in the U.S. Department of Justice, has secretly tried to get as much of information out of Clarice so that Mason Verger, his boss and a past patient of Dr.Hannibal Lecter himself, could get his revenge, because Lecter drugged him in the past to horribly self damage himself.

There's also an inspector around the movie, Pazzi, who tries to capture Lecter as well for a reward. It was easy to guess though that this person would die. Further on Mason get betrayed by his own doctor and dies by the hand of man eating boars, which are owned to some of his henchmen, who previously got eaten up by them as well, before they started to eat on Verger.

And in the climax, we see an interesting dinner scene, and after that Lecter's unusual relationship with Clarice get more personal every second, and in the end it is Lecter who loses one of his hands. And after an Asian boy eats a of part Paul Krendler's brain, I stand here thinking that I liked Hannibal more than Red Dragon atleast. It actually also got close to being as good as The Silence of the Lambs. Yes, it was a fine movie.

Rating: 6.5 

Prequel for the Hannibal Lecter character, as we are shown his childhood and adolescence and so on here. Disliked the direction it was going, and I could not familiarize Lecter's personality here. Of course, that takes time when looking back at the previous movies, but still, it stands.

Rating: 5.0

Terrific earliest movie adaptation from the popular serial killer books by Thomas Harris, I’m having a hard time as to which I like more, this or Red Dragon(2002). A retired FBI cop is persuaded by his former boss to hunt down a notorious killer nicknamed as the Tooth Fairy, while he consults the help from another brilliant serial killer named Hannibal Lecktor. The focus on the cop himself was great to follow in his footsteps, and the soundtrack is although very 80’s, effective. Unsolving the motivation behind Francis Dollarhyde is the driving plot and it’s filled with mysteries. The ending is different here.

Rating: 7.0

Detailing the early years of Hannibal the Cannibal Lecter. No more played by Anthony Hopkins, Mads Mikkelsen takes the cape over effectively, and alongside him, whether he is a partner or not, Wil Graham is a teacher turned criminal profiler for his unique ability to replay crime scenes according from his perspective, instinct, sixth sense, and so on.

He also suffers from some kind of nightmares and/or hallucinations, and he has the strange tendency to emphasize with the criminals. Hannibal features morbid depictions of body mutilations, decapitations and more pathological feasts, making it a disturbing journey.

Admittedly, it took me a while before I truly started appreciating the story, writing and characters except for Hannibal's personality being memorable the moment he was introduced. As a mixture of appearing as a gentleman, being both sophisticated, intelligent and psychopathic, he is a friend as well as a foe for the rest of the cast, including Laurence Fishburne. Also, Hannibal's dishes served for his guests became more impressive to the point of excellence and very high quality.

Rating: 7.5

Alone in the Dark

 

A pioneer of horror video games, Alone in the Dark is one of if not the first 3D based horror story where you are stuck inside a mansion full of creepy monsters and also have some puzzles to solve. As a genre defining title, it inspired future series such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill in the sense of it's mechanics, camera usage, graphics, puzzles and more.

Unfortunately, the game has not aged well, as the controls for instance aren't optimal for such an experimenting game. It's also a pretty heavy trial and error based game, so that it's advised to save often or pretty much whenever you enter some new area, or especially when you are alone in the dark!

Rating: 5.9

In this sequel, the controls are more responsive, but the entire theme has been changed towards more of an action oriented one, where you will not face monsters first and foremost, but this time gangsters and other kinds of criminals instead.

There are still supernatural elements playing, but the tone has changed severely. Alone in the Dark 2 still features puzzles, and a lot more guns this time, but technically it's a better game. And yet the theme it now has playing is perplexing, making it more ridiculous in nature.

Rating: 5.5

The final MSDOS part now has a Wild West based setting, with more action oriented gunfire and supernatural elements await you. One thing that has been featured in every part but which I failed to mention to before is that the voice acting is horrendously bad and wooden.

Alone in the Dark 3 continues using puzzles, trial and errors and sometimes cryptic segments in order to keep gamers busy. Of course, because I did not grew up with these 3, the impact has been lessened for me. Still, It's hard to deny the wacky tone all three seem to have in common.

Rating: 5.5

This is easily the best sequel and game in the series, because it has a good atmosphere playing, the controls are responsive, the inventory system is solid, the puzzles are fun and combat is working. The New Nightmare is the title where finally everything makes sense regarding gameplay and presentation, and I am glad to have finally played and beaten it.

Rating: 7.2

Not sure if this is a remake or a reboot, but it's also called AitD Inferno. In here, unlike anything before, the journey is more of a cinematic ride, where a disastrous and apocalyptic theme are playing while you battle and survive your way through all kinds of obstacles.

The clunky controls and the poor production values are bothersome, but then again, they ported this game to almost every platform back then. You are able to switch between a third and first person mode, and the mechanics come with combat, puzzle solving and some miscellaneous options.

The quality doesn't seem to be on par with other games being released back in 2008, and the voice over's didn't seem to be synchronizing either. Although the puzzles seemed to be easier and less cryptic, I still had moments where I got stuck, not being sure what to do next.

Somehow, Inferno features an Episodic mode, where it is possible to skip certain segments of chapters should you feel the need to skip these. In overall, AitD Inferno is once again not entirely functionable or entertaining, and unfortunately, that seems to be the case with almost all titles in the franchise.

The mediocre values regarding controls, production, progression and some other topics hinder a more positive outlook on them.

Rating: 5.5

Fright Nights

I have been to a theme park turned into a fright nest fest this evening with friends. Walibi World is a famous theme park over here with rollercoaster attractions such as the Goliath and Robin Hood, of which I rode the latter at night.

Fright Nights is simply a number of october nights where a Halloween theme is playing. Six scare zones are created, which inhabit the likes such as scarecrows, zombies, rednecks, dead spirits of the los muertos festival and of course famous horror icons.

A horror mascot named Eddie the Clown is used to be the face of these events. His main event however is standing at a podium doing his show, but his voice isn't effective, and he's more or less the only dissapointing thing we experienced.

The best attraction we did was the new haunted mansion of Jefferson Manor. Similar to what I experienced back at the Hollywood Studios in California, it also had horror actors playing their acts in order to scare you.

Psycho Shock was the second haunted mansion we did, which was basically more of the same and also a little bit short, except the former had a ghost theme playing and this one more or less a mental institution with a mad scientist.

Haunted mansions or houses are more or less awesome anyhow. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to play an actor all night, either inside a building or outside a zone. My Billy the Puppet portrayal of last year was only a taste of how entertaining it could be.

Perhaps...I can envision a futuristic opportunity.

Five Nights at Freddy's

Five Nights at Freddy's is a unique new take regarding horror video games in the sense that you have very limited control, yet it has such a sense of paranoia keeping you at the edge of your seat because you cannot entirely predict the movements of your stalkers.

The stalkers in question are living animatronics of the pizzeria you are working the night shift in. At night, these cute little guys want nothing more than to make their personal acquintances with you. Awww isn't that polite?

This is how it works; as the night janitor, you must guard the property using the various camera's installed along the hallways and rooms. By doing so, you will keep the animatronics in limited check, and hopefully they won't bother for a midnight snack(which you happen to be a part of).

However, you have a limited amount of an electrical power supply available in order to keep checking the camera's, but also to be able to lock the doors in your room and scout the nearby area's with the lights. The more you use your defensive mechanisms, the faster it depletes.

But what's even more scary is that you must also keep checking the door entrances to your left and right, because sometimes the stalkers move with such sneaky movements that they will follow the blind spots of the installed camera's and basically they can scare the shit out of you if you don't know where they are!

The brutal tension is a result of limited controls, the artstyle, the random aspects and the irony that the animatronics are supposed to be cute and friendly! It's such an effective indie game made by 1 guy only that it's quite impressive for what it achieves despite being a short game.

Five Nights at Freddy's is unique, quite unpredictable, effective, entertaining and definitely scary! With each night appearing, it gets increasingly more challenging and tense, and it's hilarious to see others play it too.

The fear of something approaching is the finest moment you will experience in here. Embrace your paranoia with Five Nights at Freddy's!

Rating: 7.7

Twin Peaks

This is a post I have been wanting to do for a long time, and now it's a great opportunity to do so, because the third season of my favorite TV-serie, Twin Peaks, has been announced this week for a 2016 release!

In order to answer major questions during season two's cliffhanger, but also mysterious events before that happened, David Lynch and Mark Frost will combine their expertise on the overall story once again, and will most likely deliver succesfully, even though the cast has gotten older after 25 friggin years.

But now, I would like to talk about the serie itself. Twin Peaks is an incredible look at an atmospheric town with so many secrets I honestly lost the count a long time ago. So many suspicious things happen, and the serie does not let you go once you are pretty much at the 2nd or 3rd episode.

Great main theme and main character as well by the way, talking about Dale Cooper here. Traditionally you will get to see one hell of an investigation done by the local police and the professional FBI Special Agent while the townpeople continue living their mysterious lives.

But once the Laura Palmer case is finally solved, things go way and way beyond. Sometimes the serie can also get extremely funny at any time. And once you have arrived at the grand finale, you will not know what to expect, because it is all a disturbing surreal moment.

Those voices reminded me not only of computer voices, but also of the masterpiece which is Killer7. In the end good loses against evil. Or does it? The dreamlike, disturbing scenes scattered throughout leave much for interpretation.

Now as for the movie itself, it's pretty hard to rate this movie. It is both unnecessary and necessary that David Lynch created this prequel just because of the weirdness surrounding Bob, the Red Room, The Man from Another Place etc. . One thing for sure though is that the serie is superior in every way.

See Fire Walk With Me as a bonus for Twin Peaks fans instead. In overall this whole franchise is masterfully created by 2 directors and in the case of David Lynch, it's an amazing achievement, second only to Eraserhead. And with having seen this, I have now seen all of David Lynch's major works, a first for any director's movies I have seen so far.

Rating: 9.0 for the TV-serie, 6.5 for the movie

Deadly Premonition

This clearly rips off the popular cult TV series Twin Peaks first and foremost, both having an idiosyncratic FBI Special Agent, an even more idiosyncratic town, a mysterious murder case, supernatural events and a mixture of comedy and tragedy.

Silent Hill and Resident Evil are minor inspirations, but most of all the former. Deadly Premonition, even with having the Director's Cut beaten, remains a clusterfuck of poor production values, sometimes feeling even more weak than early PS2 releases.

Despite some very tedious sections in the game such as constant loading screens, the fact how slow it goes when picking up items, tailing a car and driving around in general, it has a strange affection upon those who can withstand the broken story, the gibberish dialogue, the quirky characters and the VERY repetitive usage of about 5 songs at maximum.

This "so bad it's good" quality usually found at cinema is rarely seen in video games. Lip synchronizations are constantly off from the voice acting, animations are sometimes stuck or clip through walls, controls are clumsy and the game can randomly crash, thus showing us all the low budget and low design it received.

Deadly Premonition was for me only interesting to continue playing in order to see how the developer would tackle the direction of the plot, which in this case means the reveal of the Raincoat Killer and the motivation behind the individual.

This turned out to be different from Twin Peaks at the least. It wasn't as funny to play as I was expecting, especially after reading the convincing review written at Destructoid, but one thing that is for sure is that Deadly Premonition stands out, for better or worse, and won't be easily forgotten.

I wouldn't call this game a controversy, but I would definitely call it polarizing. So, if you like Twin Peaks in the first place, try it out. If not, you should stil try it out and see how far you can go with the designed torture which got released in the 6th generation of video gaming. Forget about the gameplay and story, focus on what you can gain out from this title individually.

Rating: 6.5

Alan Wake

Innovative and engrossing psychological survival horror set in the fictional town of Bright Falls, where darkness is your most recurring enemy. Alan Wake is a writer taking a break, but must inevitably return to his profession and solve the mystery surrounding Cauldron Lake.

It's a third person adventure and shooter where an interesting theme of light versus darkness is playing. While progressing through, you must cover yourself into shining areas and use your flashlight, flare gun, flashbangs and environmental objects in order to dispel the Taken.

The Taken are most of all consumed human beings by the darkness, but it can also possess inanimate objects as poltergeists, and occassionally there are also consumed birds which are a nod toward Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

While referencing other horror media, there are collectibles to be found, of which the manuscripts provide extra background story. The story itself plays out exactly like Alan Wake's latest script called Departure, and the narration of the main character is also there to fleshen and make the story even more obvious.

This can be bothersome at times, but the game's true strength lies in the atmosphere of the many forest landscapes you will see. Despite a lack of diversity in the locations, this is what stood out the most, and the pacing is well designed too because there is motivation to keep going.

Other areas where the game could had been better are the facial animations and the conclusive ending, as I was expecting more from that revelation. The Night Springs bonus videos are a nice reference to The Twilight Zone however.

Alan Wake is well worth playing through, but it's not replayable for me. It toys with some nice idea's and settings, and the length is moderate. It's not that scary, but it fits the genre because it's about reality and fiction merging and emerging together in order to confuse audience and the protagonist.

Rating: 7.5

American Horror Story

What the fuck is going on with the pace and the transition of the scenes here!? It’s like a damn hasty rollercoast ride with way too many curves. I understood in the first episodes the things happening, but jeez, slow down! It’s the friggin beginning stage.

What happened to a buildup…A dysfunctional family moves from Boston to Los Angeles in an old Victorian house where all 3 family members had a nasty past. However, despite this being their chance of their lives starting over, their quarrels do not go away, plus the mansion is haunted with strange entities.

A lot of shit as said happens early on already, including a scary neighbor woman with elitism, her down-syndrome daughter with weird behavior, the old housekeeper with a fake eye and the ability to turn young in front of the husband, a boy patient of the husband who keeps entering the mansion unattended(the down-syndrome daughter as well by the way) and who happens to be a sociopath.

Oh and bullies, reenactment criminals and a far out 70% burned man who murdered his whole family because of inner voices and who happens to have terminal brain cancer. What do you mean mindfuck overload? Hahahaha Eternal Darkness Tour, what the fuck, that made me chuckle in the 3rd episode.

But the suspension is nowhere to be found for me here, given the speed of the editing, the musical score and the clusterfuck of it all. But it becomes apparent that many characters who are dead simply occupy the house alongside the living, explaining quite a bit for the TV series, but hardly everything.

But perhaps that is for the best, because this house is almost fully occupied by the time you reach the end of Season 1, and it’s not exactly following familiar horror rules despite throwing out so many clichés. American Horror Story is a ridiculous busy story about many events, many spirits and many deaths.

Upon watching Season 2 however, I was much more involved with American Horror Story, as the setting had changed towards a mental institution for insane people. I liked it much better than Season 1(or 3 for that matter), and I am cautionally interested in Season 4, in any case because it's setting is a freak show.

Rating: 7.5

Dead Space Trilogy

Impressive graphics with a setting reminding me of a number of games, like Doom 3. The isolation sense in space was well done, and there were some effective jump moments. Enemies were actually pretty good as well, except for the bosses.

It also is reminiscent of classic sci-fi horror movies including Alien, The Thing and Event Horizon, as all three seem to have a mixture of inspiration appearing in here. The graphics are immersive, the item management is something different, and it's satisfying to kill with your available arsenal and your almighty stomp kick.

But honestly, Dead Space's only weakness is that it has no soul. It's plot and characters are full of void. That needs to be fleshened out some more. The unusual controls were well done though. It's an above average third person shooter called Dead Empty Space, because the sense of isolation and despair is quite high.

Just as polished as the first one, in this sequel, the human spirit is more alive, and there is more action to be found. Upgrades in the graphics are especially of worthy whenever you fly outside the Titan base, or just when looking at the base itself across stained glass windows.

Too bad that there aren´t any real bosses like the other Dead Space games, plus a certain enemy was missing, a very swift one to be precise. They were only found near the end of the original game, but damn were they scary without Stasis Packs available, which lets you slow down enemies briefly.

I suppose they were replaced by the new ones in part 2, who like to hide and surprise. Multiplayer mode is also implemented, but I ain´t interested in that. Before I forget, Isaac himself now has a personality, plus he must traverse the Titan base and even some of the Ishimura space ship, while not only dealing with Necromorphs, but with dangerous hallucinations from the Marker itself as well.

This franchise continues to be stable regarding what it has to offer. This time, co-operation mode is implemented, but I concentrated on single player campaign. There are a few new additions, such as scavenger bots that search and harvest resources in order to be obtained at the various benches in the levels.

The weapon system has been changed, you can only carry 2 weapons at a time, but the guns can have customary secondary options available installing lower tools. Upper and lower tools can be upgraded with differentiating circuits, and you are able to build new weapons if you find their blueprints first.

It sounds all promising, but I only concentrated on 5 different weapons throughout the game out of like 30 available ones.

The Necromorphs have a few new species, such as a new variant of the very fast moving ones from the original Dead Space, and heads stuck on tentacles that can mutate dead bodies and control them. The story this time takes you to the Marker homeworld on a frozen planet, and it’s up to Isaac once again to stop a man of science this time.

Pretty much all three titles get a 8.2 from me.

Aside from the trilogy, there is also another spinoff game available. Dead Space Extraction is a rail shooter which acts as the prequel towards the first Dead Space. Together with a group of survivors, you will uncover the mystery surrounding the Markers for the first time.

It's a faithful rail shooter which is fun to play with a buddy, but it also manages to add plenty of plot and drama so that it becomes more than just shooting Necromorphs and other creeps, you might actually care about what's happening as well.

The final boss is a huge grotesque and mutated monster which you will have to battle in outer space. That took me a quite a while, but I remember the setting most of all being well designed. Extraction adds to the overall lore and offers different gameplay, just don't expect to replay it any time soon.

Rating: 7.5