Editorials
Returning to the Pit: Celebrating the Hellish Delight of ‘Dante’s Inferno’ 10 Years Later
Near the end of my high school days, I was lent a book that would forever change me.
The book was a poem about a guy who walks through literal Hell. As a fan of all things dark, I was immediately sold. I went home that night and began reading. Even as a large work of poetry, I found myself absorbed; not only did I find the language to be stunning, but the world-building of Hell was fascinating. Among all the books, comics, and manga I read throughout high school, this poem was my favorite.
The poem was called Inferno, the first part of an epic titled The Divine Comedy, written by Dante Alighieri in 14th century Italy. Inferno has since become one of my all-time favorite reads. So as a huge fan of Inferno, it came as an incredible surprise when I found out it was being adapted into a video game.
Released back in 2010 by Visceral Games – the lovely folks who brought us Dead Space – Dante’s Inferno is a creative adaptation of the classic poem. Through its incredible design, gameplay, and narrative, Dante’s Inferno has come to be one of the most exhilarating action games of the 2010s.
For the sake of presenting a more action-driven story, Visceral went ahead and made a few changes to the source material. Whereas Dante is a poet and Beatrice is a symbol of Divine Love in the poem, the former is a soldier and the latter is his lover in the game.
The story begins with Dante during the Third Crusade (1189–1192). In the midst of combat, he is all of a sudden stabbed; he awakens on another plane having to confront the physical embodiment of death. After defeating death, Dante steals his scythe and returns home – only to find his father and love Beatrice dead. This is when Dante discovers the latter’s soul being dragged to Hell by Lucifer. From there, along with his guide Virgil (just like in the poem), Dante transverses through Hell to save his love (laying waste to every demon in his path).
We’ve had numerous works of media present Hell in a physical means. In regards to video games, we have everything from the heavy metal designs of Doom, to that of the gruesome Agony. With this in mind, Dante’s Inferno’s world and level design is one of the game’s greatest selling points.
Dante’s Inferno not only captures the concept of Hell portrayed in the poem, it masterfully brings the imagery to life. Dante’s Hell is made of nine circles: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. Depending on the sin one commits in life, they will be sent to the given circle that represents said sin.
The game breaks up each of these circles into different levels, presenting magnificent theatricality. Each circle embodies its sin; from Gluttony’s rivers of flowing excrement to the boiling golden lava found in Greed, Dante’s Inferno radiates with nightmarish visuals. But the imagery doesn’t stop there, for the game also utilizes enemies to represent the sin of a given circle. In Lust, for example, players will encounter beings that use genital-like weapons to attack. While there are common enemy types throughout the game, there’s a remarkable amount of variety throughout Dante’s Inferno.
As a soldier, Dante is a beast when it comes to combat. Movement and action is similar to that found in God of War, supplying consistent and brutal adrenaline. Along with his scythe, Dante has access to different spiritual attacks; his scythe embodies more demonic-like traits, while a cross he carries with him contains holy abilities. The cross primarily acts as a ranged weapon, allowing for some fantastic combos when used alongside the scythe. Dante can also perform various finishing moves – depending on the move he uses, he’ll collect souls that act as in-game currency. This currency is what allows Dante to expand his two skill trees, one catering to the scythe and the other to the cross.
Outside of combat, the game also offers various puzzle and platforming challenges. There are also interactable NPCs who Dante can judge. These NPCs are based off real-world historical figures; a message will pop up that displays what the person is in Hell for, and Dante can decide whether to absolve or punish them. Depending on the chosen action, Dante will receive souls to further his skillset.
However, at the core of this game lies a compelling tale. The original poem follows Dante’s emotional turmoil, while also including various political and historical reflections. Dante’s Inferno is more centered on Dante and how flawed of a person he is; as he progresses through Hell, his past cruelties are highlighted. For all that he has done wrong, saving Beatrice is how he can make things right. This emotional core makes for an excellent narrative and adds important emphasis to Dante’s journey.
Ten years later and I’m still amazed by this game. From its fantastic action and creative approach to the source material, Dante’s Inferno is a fascinating title. Inferno proved to be a visual treat to me when I first read it; never could I have ever expected how Visceral Games could take such a classic and elevate its imagery. Dante’s Inferno is not only an amazing action game, but it’s also an excellent journey into one of the most nightmarish representations of Hell ever depicted in art.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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