Editorials
[#SilentHill at 20] How ‘Silent Hill’ Made Map-Reading Fun
The way that video-games enable players to navigate fictional worlds – via mini-maps, waypoint markers, or directional arrows – is an undeniably dry topic, as reflected by the lack of mainstream interest in the subject. Not many people are willing to talk about such tedious minutiae, when they could instead be marveling at more attention-grabbing features, like shiny new graphics or dynamic weather effects. Yet make no mistake, this sorely overlooked area is every bit as important as those details, if not more.
Why then, are good examples of gaming cartography so rarely acknowledged? Well, as with clunky user-interfaces or obnoxious loading times, orientation is the kind of thing that pundits only pay attention to when it’s done badly (e.g. the infamous Library mission in Halo: Combat Evolved). Which is somewhat understandable. After all, getting lost is certainly a momentum-killing slog and if you’re unable to decipher where the Hell you’re supposed to be going, then any sense of fun is, of course, going to dissipate.
Bearing that in mind, if poorly communicated geography can hinder an otherwise enjoyable experience, then it’s worth considering if the inverse is possible too. In other words, can a developer’s mastery of direction be so tight that it’s actually one of their greatest assets?
In case this article’s title didn’t make it clear, the answer to that question is a resounding ‘’yes!’’ Solid navigation mechanics are obviously underappreciated in the realm of gaming. Not only are they fundamentally necessary for minimizing player frustration, but they can even be a source of entertainment in their own right. Though that might sound like a bit of a stretch, well-conceived maps can honestly transform the arduous task of wayfinding into an utterly compelling joy.
For evidence of this, look no further than the original Silent Hill releases, which are true exemplars in the field. Each of them thrusts you into overwhelming, Metroidvania-style environments, that demand plenty of backtracking and puzzle-solving to complete. Indeed, tackling any given level here requires you to follow numerous diverging paths, memorize obscure interconnections and collect dozens-upon-dozens of keys. As a result, it can be rather daunting to enter a new location and see all the stuff you’ve yet to accomplish.
In the hands of less capable developers, aimlessly wandering these labyrinthine corridors and dizzying street layouts would probably be an onerous chore. Luckily, Team Silent have an ace hidden up their sleeve. You see, each of these elaborate levels has its own dedicated map, which tends to be the first item you come across. Granted, there’s nothing too special about that in isolation, but what’s so unique here is that you can use these indispensable tools to record your discoveries and visualize where you’ve already been.
Essentially, once you’re in possession of a map, then your character will automatically start to note things down, scribbling over the document itself. For example, inaccessible areas will be crossed out, dead ends will be marked with bold lines, shortcuts will be highlighted, and points of interest will be crudely sketched in red ink. By offering this practical and coherent overview, the developers simplify their formidable-looking environments into something much more manageable.
For my money, it’s the ultimate way of handling geography, as it’s the perfect middle-ground between being too ambiguous and too hand-holding. To expand upon this point, the system is not as outwardly patronizing as giving your audience a massive arrow to follow, nor is it as restrictive as funneling them down a linear pathway. This means that you can provide them with the immersive experience of solving these convoluted and oppressive mazes themselves. But at the same time, it’s not like you’re leaving them completely in the dark, as they’re still getting considerable support.
To get a feel for the system in action, let’s take a look at the opening sequence of Silent Hill 2. Here, you are dropped right into the center of the titular ghost town, with no explicit steer or assistance. All you have is a vague destination and your trusty map. You inevitably run around the place like a headless chicken, chaotically bouncing from obstruction to obstruction. It’s a thoroughly distressing ordeal and you’ll be entirely dependent on the map to get through it. This is presumably what the team we’re going for, as the document is constantly being updated to reflect you’re discoveries, like blocked roads, doors that need specific items to unlock and other landmarks.
From all this signposting, you’ll notice that you are being boxed-in and implicitly shepherded towards a disused apartment block (the game’s first real level and your de facto objective). It’s a clever and resourceful way of using the map to guide players, whilst also letting them believe that they figured it out on their own. Meanwhile, by tracking your progress and marking everywhere that you’ve been, the map also gives you confidence that you haven’t missed anything out. It’s an extra bit of help but, again, one that goes a long way.
On that note, another (possibly unintentional) benefit of Silent Hill’s approach is that it’s innately rewarding from a player-perspective, bestowing even your most insignificant actions with a sense of purpose. For instance, simply checking to confirm that a door is locked will actually be useful here, as it will log this information on the map. Whatever way you slice it, that’s some kind of progress and it means that, wherever you go and whatever you do, you’ll always arming yourself with more knowledge about your surroundings.
Watching the initially blank document get covered in these jottings is thus very satisfying, like you’re ticking off holiday destinations on one of those scratch maps. It’s basically spurring you onwards, reassuring you that you’re not going in circles or wasting your time. That’s quite motivating for a series that built its reputation on an atmosphere of eldritch dread and crushing hopelessness.
All in all, the maps in Silent Hill are more than a mere formality. They’re an integral part of the gameplay, acting as both an invaluable survival tool and a much-needed source of encouragement for the player.
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
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