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[Editorial] Why The Battle Royale Genre Should Embrace Horror More Often

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Imagine yourself trapped in an abandoned building, low on ammo and gravely injured. As you cower in the bathroom, loud footsteps echo throughout the structure as your attacker draws closer every second. Suddenly the door is broken down and you come face to face with… a guy in a Nutcracker outfit.

While this may sound funny, the concept of being stalked and hunted is nothing new to the Battle Royale genre. This explosively popular mode has taken the gaming scene by storm. From Call of Duty to Dying Light to mega-giant Fortnite, all of these titles have players viciously battling one another for survival. It’s a perfect recipe for crafting hilarious and triumphant moments. Yet, there is a darker side to this genre that has always lingered just below its colorful surface.

Which makes us wonder, how has there been no great Battle Royale horror game?

For the unfamiliar, the Battle Royale mode revolves around a large number of players (typically 100) dropped onto a large map. Users have to then scavenge for medical supplies, weapons, and armor while simultaneously trying to stay alive. Since everyone has one life, every choice made will determine their survival. The last person left standing -regardless of how they got to number one – is the winner.

At its core, this mode offers an extremely intense and demanding experience. As amusing as certain weapons or scenarios can be, there is always a lingering sense of dread hanging over. There are 99 other players out there, all of which want to hunt and brutally kill you. This turns the mundane act of looting a building or exploring a new area nerve-wracking.

Is someone waiting for me in the closet? What if they are watching me through the windows? Battle Royale games never give players a real sense of security, which is something many horror titles attempt to do. Horror has used the feeling of vulnerability to great effect since most developers never want the player to feel stronger than the creature hunting them. Being hunted by a gang of bloodthirsty killers – be it in the swamps of Lousiana or an abandoned island – is a terrifying experience.

Even Fortnite boasts some horror elements despite its colorful and playful attitude. Setting aside some of the unsettling in-game skins, (Seriously, these Tomato people are nightmarish) Fortnite’s building mechanic can become an exercise in futility. Being pinned down in a small wooden box that you are frantically trying to fix apes horror survival games like The Forest. No matter how many times or how fast you repair the wall eventually that opposing force will break it down.

It’s remarkable how many horror elements have worked their way into the Battle Royale genre. However, there is currently no prominent or polished title that completely embraces the terror this mode is capable of. This isn’t to say that there aren’t games attempting to mesh horror and Battle Royale, but none are even close to polished titles such as Fortnite or PlayerUnknown’s Battleground on a good day.

A game like Crytek’s addictive PvPvE (Player vs Player vs Environment) Hunt Showdown is too different while Vostok Games’ Fear the Wolves needs to find its footing. VecFour Digital’s Hide or Die shows a lot of promise, but like Hunt Showdown this isn’t exactly a Battle Royale game. A possible close contender would be the Russian Steampunk game Egress, but not enough is known about that one. Most multiplayer horror titles revolve around one player taking control of a monster while everyone else is a helpless survivor. This is certainly an engaging experience, but Battle Royale is something else entirely.

Having 100 people drop into an abandoned amusement park or a creepy, old forest is perfect for this mode. The great thing about a horror Battle Royale game is the general mechanics can go largely unchanged. What would separate this type of Battle Royale game is the atmosphere, sound design, and art direction. An island filled with classic horror locations would certainly stand out amongst the crowded field of BR titles.

This could be taken a step further by focusing more on melee combat since dealing death from a distance can be a disconnecting experience. Dying Light: Bad Blood is a solid example of this, even if this zombie Battle Royale game revolves around mobility rather than horror. Having a foe rush you with an axe is far more exhilarating than participating in another drawn-out firefight.

Ultimately, time will tell if the horror genre manages to capitalize on the Battle Royale fervor. The potential is there and given the huge success of recent horror games, it’s clear that people still long to be scared out of their minds. Whether it’s being stalked by a squad of players in PUBG, hiding in a bush from an attacker in Fortnite, or running low on health in Call of Duty, this mode knows how to instill fear.

Horror and Battle Royale were made for another.

Editorials

‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel

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leprechaun returns

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.

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Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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.

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Pictured: Taylor Spreitler, Pepi Sonuga, and Sai Bennett as Lila, Katie and Rose in Leprechaun Returns.

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.

Leprechaun Returns movie

Pictured: Linden Porco as The Leprechaun in Leprechaun Returns.

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