Editorials
Classic PlayStation Title ‘MediEvil’ Turns 20 Today
We’re still in the early days of the glorious month of Halloween, and many of us are slowly building up to the big day by looking back at horror favorites in all mediums. So it’s a timely moment to remember that twenty years ago, the dishonorable undead hero Sir Daniel Fortesque joined the PlayStation family and provided us with a spookily charming (and vastly underrated) video game hero in MediEvil.
MediEvil is the first in a hack n’ slash adventure series by the now sadly defunct SCEE Cambridge Studio who made other scary digital cuts such as Primal, Ghosthunter, and RIGS: Mechanized Combat League (Yes it counts because It’s scary how quickly I felt sick playing it. MediEvil was initially set to be a fairly straight-laced game before the game’s look created a need to lean on goofy, spooky humor. It was heavily inspired by Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas too, which is entirely obvious on first viewing, and likely a big part of why it gets remembered so fondly by those who did play it.
The plot is typically Burton-esque. Sir Dan is painted as the hero that struck down the evil wizard Zarok before succumbing to his own mortal wounds in a great battle many years ago. The truth is that Sir Dan was struck through the eye with the first arrow fired and not wanting his campion’s reputation tarnished, the King covers it up and spins the story to make Sir Dan a Legend.
Of course, one day, Zorak returns, reviving his undead army in another attempt at taking over the kingdom, but that also brings back the skeletal remains of Sir Daniel Fortesque. Redemption beckons for our hero and a chance to ascend to the fabled Hall of Heroes he wasn’t previously allowed into.
Sir Dan takes on Zorak’s evil horde with sword and shield generally, but he also uses his arm as a melee and ranged weapon (by ripping it off and throwing it at them), and the fighting is the right side of messy and awkward, very much in keeping with the style and backstory. Sir Dan can also collect other weapons such as crossbows and clubs by searching through the levels or collecting a Chalice of Souls to hand over to champions from the Hall of Heroes. If you manage to get the Chalices from all the levels, it unlocks the game’s true ending (a happy one for Sir Dan).
Naturally, as a polygonal 90’s title, MediEvil hasn’t aged particularly well, even though it still manages to hold its endearing kookiness. Sadly, even though the accidental undead hero got a few more adventures as the years went by, he’s not been seen since PS3 fighter PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
Then came a fitting reawakening after a lengthy slumber. Late last year at PlayStation Experience, a remake was confirmed to be in the works, and with Paris Games Week looming on the horizon (just before Halloween in fact!), we surely must see Sir Dan Fortesque in 4K glory before All Hallows Eve.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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