Editorials
Survival Horror Is Alive and in No Need of a Savior
We’ve all heard it, likely more than once. Horror games are dead and buried, waiting for the cyclical nature of the video games industry to reanimate it so the genre can claw itself from the grave for a glorious return. The problem is, horror games aren’t dead. In fact, this genre is not only alive, it’s producing some of the most exciting and innovative games we’ve ever seen.
Now, I do realize that much of this “horror is dead” opinion is aimed at AAA horror, which has been lacking in terms of quantity lately.
When you look at the state of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Dead Space — three horror franchises that have defined this genre for years — it’s easy to get the impression that things are bad. The reality of it is sometimes publishers lose their way.
Capcom and EA wrongfully assumed we wanted more action, when it was actually the opposite, and with the gargantuan surge of interest in indie horror games like The Forest, Routine, and Among the Sleep, among a few dozen others, the industry’s major publishers are beginning to get the message.
That message is “Horror can make you lots of $$$.”
Granted, it’s not a great message, but it is one that these publishers are more likely to listen to than they have been the outcry of their communities. It’s a message that will inspire them to change their ways and produce the kinds of quality horror games that please both their fans and their shareholders.
This can be seen in a number of upcoming releases, including Dying Light, which aims to give us the Dead Island experience fans have been clamoring for since the first game’s fantastic debut trailer. There’s also The Order: 1886, which has some very strong genre influences, Doom 4 — set to be revealed next month — and the teen slasher-inspired Until Dawn, which Sony promises hasn’t been cancelled. We also can’t forget about the promised next entries in the Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and Fatal Frame series.
All of the above is worth getting excited for, but it’s Alien: Isolation and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami’s The Evil Within that have the most to prove right now. If those games are successful, it could mark the beginning of a ridiculously exciting era for AAA horror. Things are already pretty great, but there’s always room for improvement.
Thankfully, we don’t have too long of a wait (Isolation on Oct 7, The Evil Within on Oct 21) to see what kind of impact, if any, that these two games will have on the genre.
Speaking of which, in case you haven’t heard, there are a lot of those to look forward to right now. Indie horror is where it’s at, currently, and my list of anticipated indies grows every day.
Besides the quality of the releases we’re seeing — a few of which have sped past ‘impressive’ in favor of something closer to ‘mind-blowing’ — some of these games are tackling themes that are dark and personal, themes that can make you uncomfortable, but not in the sick, gross-out way.
Remember when Silent Hill did that? When that series was known not just for its disturbing imagery, but for its mature storytelling? Suicide, incest, rape, infanticide — Silent Hill used to be a beacon of hope for anyone looking for a horror game for adults that didn’t involve buckets of gore or cheap jump scares.
My favorite example of this is Matt Gilgenbach’s Neverending Nightmares, a psychological horror game that was inspired by Matt’s life-long struggle with mental illness, including depression and OCD. Even Among the Sleep touched on a deeply personal topic that will very likely resonate with certain people, including myself, though I’ll refrain from shedding too much light on it, as that will almost definitely ruin the ending. And we can’t forget about Fran Bow, which may be the first game in some time to offer a less stereotypical approach to institutionalized mental illness.
We’re seeing a bit of this in bigger budget horror games too, such as Telltale’s The Walking Dead. If you haven’t played it yet, that series is an emotional roller coaster ride.
All I’m saying is horror is here, it’s stronger than ever, and it’ll only get better as we go deeper into this new and exciting generation of consoles. The next time someone tells you horror is on its way out, I invite you to give them a gentleman’s slap across their ignorant face before you bid them farewell, because who needs that kind of negativity in their life?
No one, that’s who.
(Oh, and since I’ll almost definitely get chewed out for not mentioning one of any number of equally anticipated horror games we have on the way, here are a few more that prove horror is kicking hordes of zombie ass right now (and so no one attempts to kick mine): Dead Island 2, Frogware’s Call of Cthulhu reboot, Left 4 Dead 3 — it’ll happen, just be patient — SOMA, Monstrum, Killing Floor 2, HUNT: Horrors of the Gilded Age, Bloodborne, H1Z1, White Night, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, and so many more)
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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