Editorials
Namco’s Horror Classic “Splatterhouse” Turns 28!
On the anniversary of Namco’s beat ‘em up horror classic, we hack and slash our way through what makes ‘Splatterhouse’ so special
“This will be your grave! Ha ha ha”
When horror in gaming is brought up, we understandably turn to the survival horror genre and its many titles for conversation topics. It’s not without good reason, as titles like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and even Dead Rising helped popularize the genre in the gaming medium in the first place. In spite of that, survival horror is hardly the only execution of the genre, and sometimes just lovingly sending up horror and all things creepy can be a more effective product than something that nihilistically has you thinking about ammo and health conversation. Namco’s Splatterhouse is a notable title for premiering in the arcade of all places in 1998, before eventually seeing ports to the PC-Engine, FM TOWNS and TurboGrafx-16 (the TurboGrafx version came with warning: “The horrifying theme of this game may be inappropriate for young children… and cowards”). Namco’s eerie sidescrolling beat ‘em up would connect with such an audience that it would spawn a franchise of games and even a flashy 3D remake in 2010.
Splatterhouse tells the story of burgeoning parapsychology student Rick Taylor and his girlfriend Jennifer Willis, who go to the home of insane parapsychologist, Dr. West (who is intentionally supposed to not only be a Re-Animator reference, but might actually be the same character). Jennifer gets kidnapped and Rick is taken over by the game’s infamous “Terror Mask,” accordingly. This is actually a little more story than you tend to get in a 2D beat ‘em up of all things, but it acts as a serviceable premise that throws you into a haunted house of sorts. Each level reflects a new sort of horror staple with an archetypal boss waiting for you at the end, as you murderize your way to your princess.
Impressively, Splatterhouse comes courtesy of Shigeru Yokoyama who has no prior experience directing video games. He came from Galaga, of all places. In fact, the directors for the following Splatterhouse titles, Taiji Nagayama and the mysterious 100 Taro, are all newcomer directors, which is why it’s surprising that the Splatterhouse series has such a consistent track record. The original game is also the first console title to receive a parental advisory warning due to its violent nature and questionable content (such as an inverted cross being prominent during a boss fight in a chapel).
Coming as a huge fan of 2D beat ‘em ups, Splatterhouse is a delight, even if you’re not a horror fan (but obviously you are, otherwise why are you here?). It’s like if Streets of Rage or Final Fight were around during a time where it could have released some holiday themed DLC, with this being the result. Simultaneously, while video game adaptations from this era of big horror titles like Friday the 13th and Halloween are ambitious, messy failures, Splatterhouse beautifully functions as your surrogate solution. Yokoyama has stated that Friday the 13th and Evil Dead II are major influences on the title, and with all the other horror touchstones getting highlighted, it’s easier to just pretend this is some Poltergeist or Re-Animator video game.
Your basic beat ‘em up controls are in play here (along with a myriad of weapons that you can pick up and use at its disposable) and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that, but it’s the game’s bosses where the gameplay especially shines. The game’s real creativity seems to be funneled here, as the bosses force you to incorporate strategy and different tactics rather than the usual “murder, rinse, repeat” that you’re doing in the levels. Some of the gems in Splatterhouse’s rogue’s gallery include a guy with two chainsaws installed as hands, a poltergeist boss that’s really just a room, and a monster that Jennifer turns into that’s actually frightening and upsetting—it even feels like a pre-cursor to some of the gruesome transformation sequences that would happen in Resident Evil. The game’s final boss, the Ultimate Evil, is also just super gross, especially for this era of gaming.
Beyond bosses, there’s also an exceptional soundtrack that amplifies all of the horror that’s going on, not to mention an impressive cinematic intro that kicks off the game in the original Arcade version of the title. The game even takes unexpected narrative twists like horror films are prone to do, such as the decision to actually kill Jessica at the end of the game, rather than rewarding you and Rick with some sort of happy ending. This of course nicely sets the scene for the game’s inevitable sequel, Splatterhouse 2.
Curiously, before Splatterhouse 2 hits the scene, an interesting side-story sees release for the Famicom Computer System. Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti might have only seen release in Japan and seems like it could be a non-canonical entry in the series at that, but it’s actually one of the more satisfying, creative titles in the Splatterhouse library. It’s actually a shame that this quirky title is often left out of the conversation and overlooked (some sort of localization or release via unlockable content seems long overdue at this point).
Wanpaku Graffiti employs a cutesy, super-deformed art style to the Splatterhouse universe in a move that actually works. The game sees Jennifer getting kidnapped from a giant evil pumpkin, with this almost feeling like a parody of the original game, rather than some sequel or side story. In your quest to find Jennifer, you encounter references to The Fly, Alien, The Exorcist, Jaws, Poltergeist, and there’s even an extended Friday the 13th riff in a level set at “Camp Diamond Lake.” In spite of Wanpaku Graffiti never leaving Japan, it’s got a surprisingly American frame of reference and sensibility. The first boss is even a vampire who greets you in a dance reminiscent of Michael Jackson’s Thriller music video.
There’s some inspired level design in play here too, with a sewer level that is particularly gorgeous. Its boss is a hilarious parody of Alien involved an enlarged, radioactive sewer rat, so what’s not to love here? Trick or treating level is also pretty inspired and looks exactly like what a game you’re playing on Halloween should look like. It also needs to be mentioned that the lighting effects and visuals for when you beat the Brundlefly boss are some of the craziest and most seizure-y that I’ve seen on the system.
One of my favorite touches about Wanpaku Graffiti is that the game surprisingly ends with a sound stage illuminating behind you and a director shouting “cut” (“That was some damn fine acting. This’ll be a great movie!”), only to reveal that this is all some movie that’s being filmed, not unlike in a Viewtiful Joe game. It’s almost as if this is the hokey Splatterhouse movie that is being adapted from the original game, giving this sillier tone a little context. That being said, what an ending this is, and I could see it being as contentious as Link’s Awakening and Super Mario Bros. 2 if more people were familiar with this title.
Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti introduces a parodical, hearty sense of humor that is absent from everywhere else in the series. There’s some foresight for the horror genre being shown here for their take on Splatterhouse, and in spite of this game being relatively underknown and generally (unfortunately) ignored in the Splatterhouse canon, there’s a lot to learn from this game. Can you imagine if Capcom released some satire of Resident Evil, where bosses and characters were intentionally meant to lampoon the franchise? I know we’ve seen clever jabs at franchises in works like Dead Rising, but I’m talking full-on satire. If horror films can do it, why not games, too?
Now Splatterhouse 2, the true sequel to Splatterhouse, sees Rick turning to the fray, trying to revive Jennifer, and ultimately succeeding in his task. Splatterhouse 2 is one of those prime examples of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” with this sequel playing nearly identically to its predecessor. Everything just looks a lot more polished and advanced this time around. Some gamers ended up taking exception to the small steps taken forward with Splatterhouse 2 and instead attacked it for its lack of innovation, but this is also a game where you get to chainsaw a baby to pieces, so you pick your battles. Admittedly, the gore quotient is upped greatly in the sequel (a luxury allowed by the game being developed for the Genesis, allowing them access to Sega’s more “mature” gamers), but this sort of material also has less of an impact now, due to it being a sequel. The game does manage to turn the Terror Mask into more of an actual character this time around, which isn’t a bad idea at all. The Mask talks and eggs Rick on throughout his journey, as if some sort of bloodthirsty version of Navi from Ocarina of Time.
Bosses once more are given special attention, with there being plenty of “giant face” battles, a boss that’s an unborn fetus (complete with umbilical cord that descends it onto the screen), a giant diamond, and a huge kraken that you get to fight from a boat. All of that being said, the final boss is kind of lame in the end… Beautifully, Splatterhouse 2 also lost most of its script in the localization process from Splatterhouse Part 2 in Japan. As a result, many of the changes in the game, like why there’s a new West mansion, have no answer. This certainly adds an extra b-movie quality to it all, too. The music is seriously incredible this time around, too. It’s so, so good, with each level delivering catchy, synth-y bliss that meshes with horror like viscera does with a machete.
As if learning from the few complaints regarding Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3 added some new elements to the series’ gameplay, refining the controls even further and expanding the title in fun ways. Splatterhouse 3 sees a nice twist in the narrative that involves Rick and Jennifer getting married, having a child named David, and getting their own house which in turn becomes haunted and the resident “Splatterhouse” this time around. This time Rick has to save his wife and son. Much like its predecessor, Splatterhouse 3 was a pretty big coup for the Genesis, with the game not seeing release on any other system. The new title differs from previous games in the series by introducing a time trial aspect which in turn alters various aspects of the game (like Jennifer dying in the second level, for instance) based on if you complete levels in time (kind of like Streets of Rage III’s set-up).
There’s also the addition of Eldritch orbs which let you power-up into new forms of “Badassery” when collected. Allowing this extra violence and ability to hulk out (pieces of flesh extend from your chest and become a weapon…so yeah) makes perfect sense for this sort of franchise, too. Your moveset also becomes more complex too, with you gaining the ability to pick up and throw your enemies, rather than simply punching or kicking. On top of all of that, the title also ditches the sidescrolling angle to get into non-linear exploration that encourages backtracking to collect items and find your exit. You’re even shown a map beforehand to help orient your gameplay, whereas such a thing would be completely unnecessary in the previous games. Even the bosses have a bit of a different energy this time around with one being a kid’s come-to-life stuffed teddy bear, a progressively hatching and evolving insect embryo, some Shadow Man that’s basically Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, and then ultimately a giant version of the infamous Terror Mask itself!
In spite of Splatterhouse 3 performing well both critically and in sales, neither Namco not Sega seemed that interested in pushing things further. The mind reels at what some version of Splatterhouse for the Sega CD or Saturn could have looked like. While 2D beat ‘em ups were progressively on the way out, that still didn’t stop a 3D remake of the game being attempted in 2010. Operating much like some God of War clone, Splatterhouse (2010) added fancy “splatter combos”, decapitations, and many “modern” touches. Whether these elements are necessary or not, in their own way they do sort of mirror the intense violence of the original games. 2010’s Splatterhouse is a loud, admirable flop that effectively put the final nail in the franchise’s coffin (for now at least). With audiences more recently embracing retro touches, and with horror never being more alive, perhaps it’s worthwhile to explore the Splatterhouse franchise once more. Some visionary giving their own take on the source material (like what Hideo Kojima did with Castlevania) could yield super interesting results. Until then, we’ll always have the boreworms.
Soon after the New Hollywood generation took over the entertainment industry, they started having children. And more than any filmmakers that came before—they were terrified. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976), Eraserhead (1977), The Brood (1979), The Shining (1980), Possession (1981), and many others all deal, at least in part, with the fears of becoming or being a parent. What if my child turns out to be a monster? is corrupted by some evil force? or turns out to be the fucking Antichrist? What if I screw them up somehow, or can’t help them, or even go insane and try to kill them? Horror has always been at its best when exploring relatable fears through extreme circumstances. A prime example of this is Larry Cohen’s 1974 monster-baby movie It’s Alive, which explores the not only the rollercoaster of emotions that any parent experiences when confronted with the difficulties of raising a child, but long-standing questions of who or what is at fault when something goes horribly wrong.
Cohen begins making his underlying points early in the film as Frank Davis (John P. Ryan) discusses the state of the world with a group of expectant fathers in a hospital waiting room. They discuss the “overabundance of lead” in foods and the environment, smog, and pesticides that only serve to produce roaches that are “bigger, stronger, and harder to kill.” Frank comments that this is “quite a world to bring a kid into.” This has long been a discussion point among people when trying to decide whether to have kids or not. I’ve had many conversations with friends who have said they feel it’s irresponsible to bring children into such a violent, broken, and dangerous world, and I certainly don’t begrudge them this. My wife and I did decide to have children but that doesn’t mean that it’s been easy.
Immediately following this scene comes It’s Alive’s most famous sequence in which Frank’s wife Lenore (Sharon Farrell) is the only person left alive in her delivery room, the doctors clawed and bitten to death by her mutant baby, which has escaped. “What does my baby look like!? What’s wrong with my baby!?” she screams as nurses wheel her frantically into a recovery room. The evening that had begun with such joy and excitement at the birth of their second child turned into a nightmare. This is tough for me to write, but on some level, I can relate to this whiplash of emotion. When my second child was born, they came about five weeks early. I’ll use the pronouns “they/them” for privacy reasons when referring to my kids. Our oldest was still very young and went to stay with my parents and we sped off to the hospital where my wife was taken into an operating room for an emergency c-section. I was able to carry our newborn into the NICU (natal intensive care unit) where I was assured that this was routine for all premature births. The nurses assured me there was nothing to worry about and the baby looked big and healthy. I headed to where my wife was taken to recover to grab a few winks assuming that everything was fine. Well, when I awoke, I headed back over to the NICU to find that my child was not where I left them. The nurse found me and told me that the baby’s lungs were underdeveloped, and they had to put them in a special room connected to oxygen tubes and wires to monitor their vitals.
It’s difficult to express the fear that overwhelmed me in those moments. Everything turned out okay, but it took a while and I’m convinced to this day that their anxiety struggles spring from these first weeks of life. As our children grew, we learned that two of the three were on the spectrum and that anxiety, depression, ADHD, and OCD were also playing a part in their lives. Parents, at least speaking for myself, can’t help but blame themselves for the struggles their children face. The “if only” questions creep in and easily overcome the voices that assure us that it really has nothing to do with us. In the film, Lenore says, “maybe it’s all the pills I’ve been taking that brought this on.” Frank muses aloud about how he used to think that Frankenstein was the monster, but when he got older realized he was the one that made the monster. The aptly named Frank is wondering if his baby’s mutation is his fault, if he created the monster that is terrorizing Los Angeles. I have made plenty of “if only” statements about myself over the years. “If only I hadn’t had to work so much, if only I had been around more when they were little.” Mothers may ask themselves, “did I have a drink, too much coffee, or a cigarette before I knew I was pregnant? Was I too stressed out during the pregnancy?” In other words, most parents can’t help but wonder if it’s all their fault.
At one point in the film, Frank goes to the elementary school where his baby has been sighted and is escorted through the halls by police. He overhears someone comment about “screwed up genes,” which brings about age-old questions of nature vs. nurture. Despite the voices around him from doctors and detectives that say, “we know this isn’t your fault,” Frank can’t help but think it is, and that the people who try to tell him it isn’t really think it’s his fault too. There is no doubt that there is a hereditary element to the kinds of mental illness struggles that my children and I deal with. But, and it’s a bit but, good parenting goes a long way in helping children deal with these struggles. Kids need to know they’re not alone, a good parent can provide that, perhaps especially parents that can relate to the same kinds of struggles. The question of nature vs. nurture will likely never be entirely answered but I think there’s more than a good chance that “both/and” is the case. Around the midpoint of the film, Frank agrees to disown the child and sign it over for medical experimentation if caught or killed. Lenore and the older son Chris (Daniel Holzman) seek to nurture and teach the baby, feeling that it is not a monster, but a member of the family.
It’s Alive takes these ideas to an even greater degree in the fact that the Davis Baby really is a monster, a mutant with claws and fangs that murders and eats people. The late ’60s and early ’70s also saw the rise in mass murderers and serial killers which heightened the nature vs. nurture debate. Obviously, these people were not literal monsters but human beings that came from human parents, but something had gone horribly wrong. Often the upbringing of these killers clearly led in part to their antisocial behavior, but this isn’t always the case. It’s Alive asks “what if a ‘monster’ comes from a good home?” In this case is it society, environmental factors, or is it the lead, smog, and pesticides? It is almost impossible to know, but the ending of the film underscores an uncomfortable truth—even monsters have parents.
As the film enters its third act, Frank joins the hunt for his child through the Los Angeles sewers and into the L.A. River. He is armed with a rifle and ready to kill on sight, having divorced himself from any relationship to the child. Then Frank finds his baby crying in the sewers and his fatherly instincts take over. With tears in his eyes, he speaks words of comfort and wraps his son in his coat. He holds him close, pats and rocks him, and whispers that everything is going to be okay. People often wonder how the parents of those who perform heinous acts can sit in court, shed tears, and defend them. I think it’s a complex issue. I’m sure that these parents know that their child has done something evil, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still their baby. Your child is a piece of yourself formed into a whole new human being. Disowning them would be like cutting off a limb, no matter what they may have done. It doesn’t erase an evil act, far from it, but I can understand the pain of a parent in that situation. I think It’s Alive does an exceptional job placing its audience in that situation.
Despite the serious issues and ideas being examined in the film, It’s Alive is far from a dour affair. At heart, it is still a monster movie and filled with a sense of fun and a great deal of pitch-black humor. In one of its more memorable moments, a milkman is sucked into the rear compartment of his truck as red blood mingles with the white milk from smashed bottles leaking out the back of the truck and streaming down the street. Just after Frank agrees to join the hunt for his baby, the film cuts to the back of an ice cream truck with the words “STOP CHILDREN” emblazoned on it. It’s a movie filled with great kills, a mutant baby—created by make-up effects master Rick Baker early in his career, and plenty of action—and all in a PG rated movie! I’m telling you, the ’70s were wild. It just also happens to have some thoughtful ideas behind it as well.
Which was Larry Cohen’s specialty. Cohen made all kinds of movies, but his most enduring have been his horror films and all of them tackle the social issues and fears of the time they were made. God Told Me To (1976), Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), and The Stuff (1985) are all great examples of his socially aware, low-budget, exploitation filmmaking with a brain and It’s Alive certainly fits right in with that group. Cohen would go on to write and direct two sequels, It Lives Again (aka It’s Alive 2) in 1978 and It’s Alive III: Island of the Alive in 1987 and is credited as a co-writer on the 2008 remake. All these films explore the ideas of parental responsibility in light of the various concerns of the times they were made including abortion rights and AIDS.
Fifty years after It’s Alive was initially released, it has only become more relevant in the ensuing years. Fears surrounding parenthood have been with us since the beginning of time but as the years pass the reasons for these fears only seem to become more and more profound. In today’s world the conversation of the fathers in the waiting room could be expanded to hormones and genetic modifications in food, terrorism, climate change, school and other mass shootings, and other threats that were unknown or at least less of a concern fifty years ago. Perhaps the fearmongering conspiracy theories about chemtrails and vaccines would be mentioned as well, though in a more satirical fashion, as fears some expectant parents encounter while endlessly doomscrolling Facebook or Twitter. Speaking for myself, despite the struggles, the fears, and the sadness that sometimes comes with having children, it’s been worth it. The joys ultimately outweigh all of that, but I understand the terror too. Becoming a parent is no easy choice, nor should it be. But as I look back, I can say that I’m glad we made the choice we did.
I wonder if Frank and Lenore can say the same thing.
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