Editorials
How ‘Shaolin Monks’ Revived the ‘Mortal Kombat’ Franchise
Back in 2005 – when Mortal Kombat had admittedly fallen on harder times – Shaolin Monks surfaced as a surprisingly good spin-off for the ultra-violent fighting game series. With NetherRealm’s 2011 reboot of the franchise being such a huge success, followed by Mortal Kombat X, Shaolin Monks is still looked back on fondly today, though it is remembered by relatively few.
What set it apart was a shift away from the traditional 2D-style of its fighting game forebears – an action brawler that would pit you against multiple opponents, these combat encounters sandwiched between platforming sections and even the occasional puzzle. Namco did something very similar with Tekken 3’s “Tekken Force” back in 1998, creating an experimental game mode that echoed arcade favorites such as Golden Axe and Streets Of Rage.
It sounds like a novel concept though one that worked surprisingly well in Shaolin Monks. However, let’s not forget that Midway had attempted something very similar before and failed. Twice. Both Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero and Mortal Kombat: Special Forces were blasted by critics for their lazy attempts at transplanting 2D fighting game mechanics into a bareboned action platformer.
Midway finally got it right the third time. Shaolin Monks featured proper multi-directional combat, giving characters the kind of actions and movability you might expect to see in your typical brawler of the PS2/Xbox/GameCube era. Choosing either Liu Kang or Kung Lao, the game had you playing through an alternate series timeline, picking up immediately after the original Mortal Kombat tournament. It did a great job of weaving together familiar elements from those past games, repurposing notable characters and stages while digging deeper into MK’s bizarre yet extensive lore.
The fact that you could play through Shaolin Monks with a friend was another major point-scorer, the combat itself being swift and brutal. Liu Kang and Kung Lao (as well as the unlockable Sub-Zero and Scorpion) used the same moves you’d expect from a mainline Mortal Kombat game – complete with fatalities – cleverly adapted for this fun 3D spin-off. Shaolin Monks avoided the pitfalls Midway had fallen down previously but is perhaps one of the least known installments in this franchise, despite being one of the best.
Ultimately, it came at a strange time for Mortal Kombat. After the rapid decline of arcades and its clumsy transition into 3D with Mortal Kombat 4, the series still had no shortage of fans despite the trilogy of games that followed (Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon) not exactly being looked back on with adoration. The overarching storylines grew dull and convoluted, the new fighters less memorable. Of course, MK wasn’t the only fighting game franchise struggling to stay relevant during the early to mid-00s – it was a comparatively dark era for the genre, especially when you look at some of the top tier titles it’s been producing as of late. It was a dark time for Midway too: once a mainstay of the arcade age, the company failed to find a foothold in the ever-changing industry landscape.
With Mortal Kombat 11’s big reveal just around the corner, fans are theorizing what change this new installment will bring. Aside from astounding visuals and presumably even more bloody carnage, there’s speculation that the sequel will usher in more ways to customize your fighters similar to Injustice 2.
Naturally, we’re praying for a Shaolin Monks inspired mode to find its way into the mix. From kart racing and chess to a plethora of mini-games, it would be great to see Mortal Kombat inherit some of that past zaniness. We won’t hold our breath though – as always, NetherRealm will be gunning for the most fluid, polished fighting game experience on the market and if that means dropping any bonus diversions then so be it.
From child-eating witches to village-burning dragons, fairy tales have always had a foot in the horror genre. That’s why it makes sense that, for every The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia, there are also darker and more adult-oriented stories about magical worlds inhabited by ravenous monsters and cruel villains.
Funnily enough, these sinister tales were precisely the ones that I gravitated towards back when I was a kid, and I was reminded of this while watching Netflix’s recently released I Am Frankelda, Mexico’s first ever feature-length stop-motion animation and one hell of an entertaining parable about the intersection between fiction and reality.
In honor of this special kind of horror-adjacent fairy tale, today I’d like to share this list recommending six Dark Fantasy films that horror fans might enjoy.
For the purposes of this list, we’ll be defining Dark Fantasy as fantastical stories that don’t shy away from the more macabre elements that fuel classic fairy tales. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own grim favorites if you think we missed a particularly thrilling one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
6. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
I’m fascinated by bizarre attempts at blockbuster filmmaking – especially when the resulting movies are somehow still fun despite their corporate-mandated origins. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is precisely one of these strangely compelling studio projects, as this surprisingly successful action-thriller boasts a lot of heart (and tongue-in-cheek humor) for a CGI-heavy creature feature.
Directed by Dead Snow’s Tommy Wirkola, Witch Hunters re-frames the classic fairy tale as an origin story for a duo of badass monster-slayers. Of course, it’s the flick’s anachronistic aesthetic and overall visual flair that make it stand out from other action-horror endeavors from around the same time.
5. The Wolf House (2018)
Made in the tradition of faux cursed films in the same vein as Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made, the eerie backstory to 2018’s Chilean animated flick The Wolf House (La Casa Lobo in the original Spanish) already makes it a nightmarish experience before the flick even really begins.
After all, the movie is presented to us as a faux propaganda film produced by the leader of a death cult (heavily inspired by the real life Colonia Dignidad), with this hybrid animated feature using complex movie magic to simulate a single uninterrupted shot as it tells the story of a lazy young girl who runs away from an isolated colony and encounters a creepy old house in the woods.
4. The Brothers Grimm (2005)
Out of all the Monty Python alumni, Terry Gilliam has had the most interesting career outside of the original comedy group. From fascinating canceled projects (such as his scrapped adaptation of Watchmen) to dystopian parodies that feel more relevant by the minute (1985’s Brazil), even his “lesser” films are still intriguing in their own way.
2005’s The Brothers Grimm is one such project, with this peculiar movie attempting to combine the comedian-turned-filmmaker’s unique visual style with a more blockbuster-oriented plot reimagining the titular brothers as con-artists rather than mere writers. The end result isn’t exactly a masterpiece, but it’s still a legitimately fun ride with plenty of memorable monsters and wonderful performances by both the late, great Heath Ledger and Matt Damon.
3. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic (2010)
2010’s Dante’s Inferno game may have a reputation as something of an unapologetic God of War clone, but I’d argue that the now-obscure game was aesthetically unique enough to deserve a bigger fanbase. However, while the title remains trapped on the seventh console generation, its highly underrated anime adaptation is a lot easier to get a hold of!
Animated by 6 different studios in order to make the 9 circles of hell feel unique from each other, this may not be a completely faithful adaptation of Dante Alighieri’s poem, but it’s still one heck of a great (not to mention gory) time that I’d highly recommend to fans of Netflix’s take on Castlevania.
2. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
My personal favorite entry in the Underworld franchise, Rise of the Lycans, is a highly ambitious prequel that actually works better if you haven’t had the story spoiled to you by the previous Underworld films.
While the rest of the series features plenty of urban fantasy elements as the movies combine machine guns and modern environments with gothic storytelling, Patrick Tatopoulos’ prequel fully embraces its fantastical origins and tells a classic tale about a doomed romance between a werewolf and a vampire amid a medieval uprising.
And the best part is that we get a lot more Michael Sheen as the fan-favorite Lucian.
1. Solomon Kane (2011)
One of my personal favorite movies on this list, MJ Basset’s criminally underseen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s other iconic warrior is thoroughly steeped in horror ambience and features plenty of memorable monsters. However, it’s also a classic origin story for a swashbuckling hero that wouldn’t feel out of place in a tabletop RPG.
While I’ve already written about how the film deftly combines both horror and fantasy elements without breaking the bank, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to recommend the bizarre movie where James Purefoy expertly plays a puritan John Wick.
It’s just too bad that we never got the other films in this intended trilogy.
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