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An Exclusive Look at the Brutal Arsenal of Splatterhouse
So there’s this game coming out, you may have heard of it; it’s called Splatterhouse and I hear there’s a bucket or two of gore in it. If you’re looking to satiate your bottomless appetite for all things red and squishy, I suggest you check out this exclusive video showing off an in-depth look at the game’s incredibly wicked arsenal of badass weaponry.
I think it’s safe to say if you’re perusing this site you share our fondness of frenetic, blood-soaked and limb-flailing action, all of which the highly anticipated Splatterhouse looks to have in abundance. It’s my opinion we can always use more ways to slay and dismember our foes so the idea of gracefully removing an enemy’s arm before using said appendage to cause copious amounts of head trauma sounds mighty tasty. Read on to get caught up on everything you need to know about this game before it’s release on November 23rd. Fan of screenshots? Wow, me too. Last month we were given TONS and TONS of screenshots from the upcoming game that show off its cel-shaded art style but now we know a little more about the heart and soul of the game, specifically its kickass combat.
In case you were unfamiliar with the game, it’s a fun blend of beat ’em up action and survival horror that has an old-school slasher flick feel and a strong emphasis on making things go splat. It’s essentially a remake of the original game from way back in 1988, you know, before Facebook and Twitter took over the world. It follows Rick whose girlfriend has been kidnapped Mario-style by the malicious Dr. West. Things seem to be going downhill until Rick finds himself a handy little mask that imbues him with rock-hard abs and the miraculous ability to literally tear his unsuspecting foes apart.
So yeah, basically, Splatterhouse looks to be the very incarnation of everything I’ve ever wanted in a video game.
Splatterhouse will soon be available on the PS3 and Xbox 360 when it releases in the US on 11/23 and 11/26 for those across the pond.
Let’s start with the good news. Lockbox looks far better than its misleading marketing materials suggest, a supernatural horror movie so darkly lit and color graded that you’ll have to squint your way through jump scares. It’s also anchored by reliable genre performers. That’s also about where the good news ends with this rote adaptation of Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop.”
The empathetic Carla Gugino gives her all as Ellen, a saint of a woman with boundless patience who takes on life’s hard luck with a kind smile. After giving up her career as a fashion designer to become caretaker for a dying mother, she’s then forced to reinvent herself once more when her caretaker role ends. That catches us up to the events of Lockbox, where Ellen is asked to take in a cousin she hasn’t seen in quite some time who’s dealing with severe PTSD.
Just as Ellen finally establishes a real connection with Winthrop (Lou Taylor Pucci), it’s interrupted by the arrival of peculiar neighbor Vahna (Katharine Isabelle), who spells clear trouble. When Vahna shows up dead, it sets in motion a supernatural battle of possession.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
Director Daniel Stamm (The Last Exorcism, Prey for the Devil) and screenwriter Justin Yoffe approach Lockbox in the broadest of brushstrokes, dooming it from the start with clunky storytelling and woefully underdeveloped themes of heady topics like PTSD. Winthrop is a character that comes loaded with emotional baggage and trauma that’s piled on throughout his tragic life, but much like its title, his interiority and history are treated like a tightly guarded secret meant to prolong the supernatural mystery.
The problem here, though, is that Lockbox is too sparse to sustain mystery at all, and it instead robs Winthrop of characterization. It winds up trapping the talented Pucci without anywhere to go, toggling between wounded animal and mentally disoriented.
From there, Lockbox bounds through plot developments without any sense of stakes or purpose, peppered by a smattering of haphazard paint-by-numbers jump scares. The only unwavering constant is Ellen’s resolute faith, and Stamm seems to leave it entirely to Gugino to guide confused audiences through this inconsequential story right up until its supernatural climax.
Image Credit: Aura entertainment
To give more credit, Lockbox at least injects an unconventional exorcism here; just don’t expect much in the way of explanation. When the film finally reveals the meaning behind its title, it dangles a fascinating carrot it has zero interest in delivering. More than a severe lack of fleshing out its characters beyond plot drivers or devices, this faith-based flick also seems terrified to offer any worldbuilding whatsoever.
Yoffe’s script stretches the short story beyond its means instead of fleshing it out, and Stamm fills out the gaps with cheap CGI scares and overwrought performances; Isabelle’s Vahna is beyond cartoonish in her villainy. It’s also pretty nonsensical, treating only Ellen’s faith with the utmost sincerity and largely squandering its typically reliable talent. So much so that the final imagery, pure sunkissed saccharine sentimentality, leaves you with the feeling that this horror movie might be better suited as an entry in Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Lockbox releases in select theaters on July 3, 2026.
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