Editorials
The Conspiracy Is No Longer a Theory – Revisiting Midway’s ‘Area 51’
Dreamland. Groom Lake. Homey Airport. All aliases for the infamous military base popularly known as Area 51. While it was only officially acknowledged by the US government in 2013, Area 51 has fascinated conspiracy theorists everywhere since the 1950s with wild reports of UFOs, advanced technological marvels and horrific experiments being conducted in the seemingly peaceful Nevada desert. With all the recent memes regarding the “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us” Facebook event, I was soon reminded of that one time when videogames took us where no civilian has gone before through an underrated first-person-shooter.
This story begins back in 2005, when you’d be hard-pressed to find an FPS title that wasn’t somehow related to World-War II. Back then, I didn’t really mind, as I was sort of a history buff growing up and it always felt strangely compelling to go back in time to fight the Axis. However, one of the few things I loved more than history was conspiracy theories (though the two often go hand-in-hand), so imagine my surprise when I visited the local game store and came across a mysterious little case prominently featuring a stern-looking Grey Alien on the cover as it proudly announced that “the conspiracy is no longer a theory”. The game, of course, was Midway’s Area 51.
While it’s technically a remake of the homonymous arcade shooter from 1995, Midway’s take on the franchise had few connections to the original title, taking its cues from both real-life rumors surrounding the notorious base and its references in popular culture as they attempted to craft a unique experience. This led to the development of a blockbuster shooter that also doubles as a goldmine of conspiracy theory material for tin-foil hat enthusiasts everywhere.
The game’s star-studded cast was also noteworthy at the time, with the military specialist protagonist Ethan Cole being brought to life by none other than The X-Files‘ David Duchovny. While his deadpan delivery and gritty internal monologue added a much-needed dose of (arguably unintentional) humor and heart to the game, Duchovny would also be joined by veteran character actors like Ian Abercrombie and Powers Boothe as he ventured into a locked down Area 51, dealing with otherworldly horrors along the way.
I like to think that this game takes place in the same universe as “Destroy All Humans”.
Of course, I haven’t even mentioned the strangest cast member yet, as Cole eventually stumbles upon a survivor of the original 1947 Roswell crash played by Marilyn friggin’ Manson! Codenamed “Edgar”, this injured extraterrestrial sympathizes with your cause and guides the player through telepathic commands as you continue your journey through the hellish base. Add in enemy soldiers working for the Illuminati and viral infections that basically give you super-powers and you have one hell of a fun time on your hands, with the game alternating between traditional squad-based shooting and full-blown horror segments.
Area 51 doesn’t quite reinvent the gameplay wheel (and it does feature several frustrating sequences), but the squad-based moments are consistently intense, the weapons are satisfying to use and I particularly enjoy how you’re eventually infected by the very virus you’ve been sent to contain, temporarily transforming the player into a bloodthirsty monster with a disgusting (albeit useful) set of mutant powers.
Funnily enough, the game actually reminds me a lot of Half-Life: Opposing Force, that award-winning expansion pack where you play as one of the soldiers sent to cleanse the Black Mesa Facility (which was already a clever analog for Area 51) of all aliens and witnesses. I can’t honestly sit here and claim that Area 51 was as ground-breaking as Half-Life, but both games are hellbent on extracting as much tension as possible from a single interesting location, almost turning it into a character in and of itself in an attempt to create a memorable gaming experience. Half-Life may be the superior game, but you’ve got to hand it to Midway for crafting a fun experience for the Conspiracy Theory freaks out there.
Beyond fiendish pacts with alien races and deadly plots to establish a New World Order, the game is also chock-full of references to popular culture. Once you get the hang of using Cole’s scanning device on characters and environments, you’ll be rewarded with horrific little tidbits regarding the base’s past, not to mention occasional nods to classic sci-fi flicks and even other games. However, one of my favorite Easter-eggs lies in a secret chamber filled with sharks with frickin’ lasers on their heads in a silly homage to Austin Powers.
Equal parts goofy and creepy.
In fairness, there are many other standout moments here, like when you ascend onto the movie set where Stanley Kubrick allegedly faked the moon landing (hilariously accompanied by a rendition of Thus Spoke Zarathustra), or when you finally catch a glimpse of Grey Aliens performing gruesome medical procedures on unwilling human specimens. Area 51 might not break the mold with its gameplay formula, and it could be argued that the story doesn’t take full advantage of the cast and setting, but moments like these are proof that this is still an incredibly entertaining romp through one of America’s most fabled locations.
Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks so, as back in 2007 comic-book legend Grant Morrison (Happy!, Doom Patrol) was hired to adapt the game’s story into a screenplay. Sadly, the project ultimately fell through and it doesn’t seem like we’ll be seeing this game-turned-movie any time soon. It’s a huge shame, since I would have to loved to see them bring back Duchovny and Manson in a live-action production. That same year, however, the game was also followed up by a nearly unrelated “sequel” called Blacksite: Area 51, though that title failed to reach the heights of its predecessor and wasn’t well-regarded commercially or critically.
Unfortunately for gamers with an urge to unearth government secrets, Area 51 is now considered abandonware, as Midway Games closed its doors nearly a decade ago and the game never even made its way onto Steam (though it was released on Windows platforms alongside consoles). There are reports of a single dedicated fan remastering the game to work on modern computers, but at this point I doubt the game will ever see another official release. That being said, if you ever manage to track down a copy and are willing to overlook a handful of minor flaws, I believe you’ll find a memorable shooter that’s sure to entice conspiracy theorists of all ages. Plus, it’s great practice for folks who plan on storming the base in September, so why not revisit this forgotten gem?
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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