Editorials
6 VERY Disturbing Moments In Video Games!
Video games have introduced us to some extremely memorable scenes over the years. We’ve seen a creature with a giant metal tetrahedron helmet take time away from stalking us so he could rape a mannequin, then it was our turn to be violated by a crazed psychic woman. When video games aren’t treating us like pieces of meat, they’re exploring other paths to cause us even deeper psychological damage. Here are six games that managed just that.
Silent Hill 4 – Eileen’s Big Head
The Silent Hill series has been the source of a majority of the deep rooted psychological damage video games have caused me over the years, thanks to Team Silent’s miraculous ability to come up with some awful, nightmarish things. The Room may have initiated the gradual downfall of the series, but when it wasn’t busy being a mediocre survival horror game it was doing what the Silent Hill series does best: fucking with your mind.
Eileen is Henry’s neighbor. She loves long walks on the beach, creepy rabbit plush toys, and blocking hallways with her face and staring at you with big, googly eyes as freaky sex sounds play in the background.
Quake 4 – Partial Stroggification
I barely remember Quake 4. It was one of the first games I bought for my Xbox 360, alongside Dead Rising and Condemned, back when developers were still trying to figure out that new “achievements” thing. Play a thousand multiplayer matches for a 10g achievement? Why not?
It’s not a particularly memorable game, outside of the scene where you’re put through a brutal process to become a Strogg soldier. You’re tied down and forced to endure a torturous transformation process as limbs are sawed off and replaced with metal ones, needles are jabbed into various parts of your body, then you’re set free before you can be fully assimilated. Perhaps the worst part of it is the whole time you get to witness the next phase of your Stroggification as the unfortunate soul in front of you has it happen to them.
Condemned – The Mannequins
Condemned has an odd infatuation with mannequins, which have made frightening appearances in both games. Even before Condemned came along and turned them into things of nightmares, there’s always been something about mannequins that’s inherently unsettling. They’re soulless, plastic versions of ourselves that stare lifelessly at us, waiting for dark magic or demonic possession to bring them to life. They’re also terrifying proof that your character, Ethan Thomas, has an alarmingly weak grasp on his sanity.
Both Criminal Origins and its sequel have used them to provide some brilliant jump scares — like the people who dress like mannequins (that sounds weird) only to come to life so they can curb stomp your unsuspecting ass as you scream in terror — or Bloodshot’s more psychological use of them. I can tell you one thing, I’ve never looked at a mannequin the same way since.
BioShock – Break That Sweet Puppy’s Neck
As a whole, BioShock is a twisted masterpiece brimming with supremely disturbing scenes and ideas. It’s an example of science and human curiosity gone unchecked. The result is an underwater city filled with things that will make you wonder just how dark humanity can get. One example of this is an audio log you come across where a man, Yi Suchong, kindly asks a boy to kill his puppy. The idea of violence against animals, especially dogs, really gets under my skin, but hearing it happen makes it so much worse.
Silent Hill 3 – The Store Room
Yeah, I know, I already gave Silent Hill a mention. The problem is there are so many disturbing scenes to choose from that I could easily dedicate a few lists solely to this series. This scene in particular was mentioned a few times by some of you in my “Horrifying Moments” lists (links above), so I had no choice but to include it here.
Basically, you walk into a room with a giant mirror taking up one of the walls. In the reflection, the room is bleeding. Then the room clears up and your reflection begins to bleed. After that, the room you’re in starts bleeding and your reflection stops following you. Then you die, screaming and confused.
Dead Space 2 – Come To Mama
To me, Dead Space 2 is still one of the scariest games I’ve ever played. Sure, it was more action oriented than the original and probably relied a little too heavily on monster closets and jump scares, but it also had a masterful way of building up tension that really got to me the first time I played it. From the frantic, un-armed chase at the beginning of the game to returning to the USG Ishimura, the game had quite a few unforgettable moments. One of my favorites was exploring Titan Elementary, and specifically, the first time you see what the new Crawler enemy can do.
What’d I miss? Let me know how much you agree or disagree with my selections in the comments below, and feel free to provide your own!
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
Editorials
‘Bloodstone: Subspecies II’ Revisited: A Bigger, Bolder Follow-Up to Full Moon’s Vampire Cult Classic
Horror sequels are a peculiar thing. In most cases, follow-ups to scary movies tend to retread the same formula with different victims and more over-the-top scares. This is because audiences tend to be more interested in the antagonists of these pictures than anything else, with even main characters becoming disposable when the time comes to produce a sequel.
That’s why some of the most memorable horror sequels are the ones that actually manage to hold onto interesting survivors from previous films while also pushing the story forward instead of having the same thing happen again to a different group of people. From Scream 2 to Dream Warriors (and arguably even The Exorcist III: Legion), there are quite a few of these innovative sequels to go around.
However, if there’s one franchise that deserves more attention when discussing bigger and better continuations that make the most of episodic filmmaking, it has to be Ted Nicolaou’s Subspecies.
The Full Moon classic spawned an indie horror icon, but bizarre sequel Bloodstone: Subspecies II is even more beloved than its predecessor.
Building a Bigger Vampire Saga
While the film itself takes place almost immediately after the events of the first movie, Bloodstone only entered production a couple of years after the release of the original as both Charles Band and Nicolaou weighed the pros and cons of returning to Romania to continue the series. In an effort to maximize efficiency, the team decided to invest in a trilogy where parts II and III, now fully written by Nicolaou, would be filmed simultaneously over the course of a single grueling shoot.
Much like the first Subspecies, Bloodstone’s low budget meant that the filmmakers once again had to cut corners and re-use as many of their resources as possible. Thankfully, the process was much easier this time around as Nicolaou, with the help of Romanian cinematographer Vlad Paunescu and his wife Oana, became more acquainted with local customs and made new friends. Shooting abroad still came with its own unique set of challenges due to a lack of translators and the occasional safety concerns, but the crew managed to make things work by filming things guerrilla-style and setting up shop in abandoned caves and real medieval ruins.
The director’s newfound contacts, coupled with the relative success of the first movie, meant that he was basically given free rein over an assortment of shooting locations usually considered off-limits for indie horror. That’s why Bloodstone features insanely ambitious lighting and effects work even during scenes shot in the middle of a bustling Bucharest. The filmmakers went so far as to project Radu’s Nosferatu-like shadows over local monuments as if he were a Romanian boogeyman, an idea that was actually encouraged by local cinephiles.
In fact, many of the more elaborate scenes here had originally been planned for the first movie before being discarded due to the lack of available resources. It was only with the support of Romanian fans and filmmakers that Bloodstone was able to give Radu a chance to be even more menacing the second time around.
Michelle’s Transformation Takes Center Stage
However, when it came to the American part of the crew, not everyone was able or willing to return for another round of Romanian adventuring. That’s why Radu’s human-loving half-brother Stefan (Michael Watson) is unceremoniously killed off at the beginning of the film while the role of Michelle had to be recast. Denice Duff took over for Laura Mae Tate, with the character now being joined by her sister, Rebecca, played by Melanie Shatner (yes, that Shatner).
In the finished film, we follow Michelle as she awakens to her new life as a vampire and discovers that Radu has murdered her lover. Struggling with grief and her newfound bloodlust, Michelle contacts her sister overseas, with Rebecca soon travelling to Romania on an ill-advised rescue mission. Meanwhile, Radu (Anders Hove) reaches out to his undead Mummy (Pamela Gordon, underneath heavy layers of impressive makeup effects) and promises to deliver her the coveted Bloodstone artifact while also making Michelle his eternal consort.
Revisiting the movie, I was impressed with how introspective this story is when compared to the original. The sequel assumes that you’re already familiar with the previously established characters, so the story wastes no time in exploring the immediate aftermath of the previous film’s events. From Michelle’s reluctant transformation into a creature of the night to Radu’s obvious mommy issues, Nicolaou is way more interested in pushing these characters into new and uncharted territory rather than recycling existing plot points.
Practical Effects and Gothic Atmosphere Still Impress
Yet, much like the first film, it’s Romania itself that makes the movie worth watching. The ruins of Castle Vladislav are even more majestic now, and visiting the moody streets of Bucharest with its surprisingly punk-rock nightlife made for a nice change of pace when compared to the original film’s quiet village setting. Once again, the abundance of interesting locations makes the movie feel much more expensive than it really is, with the filmmakers surrounding our characters with a living, breathing environment that would be impossible to recreate in a studio.
The increased freedom also allowed Nicolaou to flex his filmmaking muscles and tackle more ambitious blocking/composition in the sequel. The low budget and tropey script mean that the visuals don’t always work, but it’s consistently clear that this neo-expressionist style could only come from a passionate team attempting to pay homage to the shadowy horror classics of yesteryear. If the retro atmosphere isn’t enough for you, there’s enough practical gore here to satisfy even the most demanding of horror hounds!
Radu himself is also far more interesting now that Hove is more comfortable working alongside an international crew, with the actor having gone on record explaining that, while he spent more time drinking vodka than working while shooting the first movie, the sequel was a much more creatively satisfying experience for everyone involved. The character’s relationship with his abusive Mummy is also a highlight of the expanded mythology, especially since the practical effects that bring her to life are just as freaky now as they were back in ’93.
My only real gripe with the horror elements of the picture comes from the glaring absence of the diminutive stop-motion minions from the first film, though I guess the surprisingly entertaining addition of Professor Popescu (Michael Denish) and his archeological antics mostly make up for that.
Bloodstone: Subspecies II is obviously the middle chapter of a trilogy, with the ending feeling a lot less definitive than its predecessor as several plot threads are left to dangle in the wind, but I appreciate how the flick explores new ground while remaining faithful to nearly all the ideas that made the original such a good time. While I don’t think it’s as big of an improvement over the first movie as some fans make it out to be, Bloodstone is definitely worth revisiting if you’re a fan of old-fashioned vampire yarns.
Tune in next time for the thrilling conclusion to this initial trilogy, Bloodlust: Subspecies III!
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