Editorials
[The Terrors of itch.io] Discover the Junji Ito-Inspired Visual Novel ‘Grotesque Beauty’
The Terrors of itch.io is a new monthly series for Bloody Disgusting dedicated to highlighting some of the most noteworthy – popular or under the radar – horror games to grace the ever-expanding site of itch.io, one of the internet’s leading sources for small and independent games. Horror has consistently thrived under the video game art form, allowing for creators to tap into their morbid creativity and itch.io provides video game horror at its rawest form without filter. See the likes of Paratopic, September 1999, and the works of Puppet Combo as great examples of this in recent times.
A common trait to be found in many games on itch.io is a sense of homeliness, meaning that the usual amount of pandering and studio-based decisions are much harder to come by. Itch.io is home to some of the most passionate, talented, and occasionally hopeless, creators throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks, which makes for a lot of rough and unpolished titles to wade through. You could use this to describe Steam or other gaming sites, but it feels most appropriate with itch.io and its focus on shoestring budget gaming.
As a result, it’s both a huge relief and heartwarming to see a hidden gem pop out from the sea of DIY horror games on the site and Grotesque Beauty, from Digital Bento aka freelance artist Ben Ho, is the first that I’d like to talk about in this new series. Released in late 2019, Grotesque Beauty has made its way onto both itch.io and Steam, advertising itself as a multi-branched visual novel with elements of Junji Ito-inspired horror and around 30 different endings to choose from.
Visual novels sometimes get a bad reputation thanks to a perceived lack of experimentation with the style. Doki Doki Literature Club and The Letter aside, horror visual novels don’t dominate the horror game market the way that first-person chillers tend to do, which opens up the opportunity for creators to test out their writing skills and potentially gruesome ideas in a sub-genre that’s a bit more open to creative storytelling. Nothing against other areas of horror games, but with a visual novel, there’s almost a laser-like focus on the storytelling itself over atmosphere and gore.
Grotesque Beauty, as its name suggests, contains plenty for gore aficionados to latch onto with its unnerving story that quickly turns grim with each new path you take. But above all else, Ben Ho’s short, but sweet tale is one that relies on a healthy mixture of story and atmosphere, focusing on two main characters: Anita, our vessel for this story, has a troubled past, and has been experiencing nightmares more frequently than normal lately, and Rachel, her best friend who offers Anita to stay over at her place one night to calm her nerves from the nightmares.
The story’s set-up is clear, effective, and easy to follow as the night begins to plunge into insanity at a brisk, yet perfectly measured pace. Though it’s a fairly short game on the first playthrough, the revelation of the game having 30 different endings allows for longevity and an incentive to explore the game’s surprisingly detailed word and characters. Longevity also allows for the game’s horrific secrets to be unearthed in an appropriately grotesque manner.
Without spoiling too much of what this game has to offer (I myself have not yet played through all of the endings), Grotesque Beauty rides the line between rational and surreal, introducing situations that stretch human logic past its limits, similar to a Junji Ito tale, though still unique enough to be its own thing. From the threat of another force possibly being present in Rachel’s house to an odd living room decoration that may be more than meets the eye, nothing is truly right in this game, refusing to give the player a moment of ease.
Even calmer moments between Anita and Rachel are often rooted in something darker and unsaid, hinting at something fractured at the core, which develops over the course of the night as the horrors become clearer. Best of all, it’s not overly long a la Doki Doki, so the story can be replayed over and over without the feeling of having to slog through something again. Each new playthrough opens the possibilities for how differently the night can go, making it something that could go over particularly well for Let’s Plays on YouTube.
Grotesque Beauty has been out for a little bit now and it’s had some minor traction from what I’ve seen, but for what it’s going for and the creative ways the storytelling evolves, I think Ben Ho has struck something valuable here for horror. Though it can be classified as a small game of sorts, its scope reaches far and wide beyond its budget and length and it can serve as a rewarding experience for players eager to try out this choose-your-own-adventure title.
As of this writing, the game is still for sale on itch.io and Steam, but it’s a small price to pay for a worthwhile experience and that’s a theme I hope to tackle with each new game for each month. Because a low bank account shouldn’t have to prevent us from enjoying the world of video games, right?
Grotesque Beauty is out now on PC via itch.io and Steam.
Editorials
Silly, Self-Aware ‘Amityville Christmas Vacation’ Is a Welcome Change of Pace [The Amityville IP]
Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”
After a number of bloated runtimes and technically inept entries, it’s something of a relief to watch Amityville Christmas Vacation (2022). The 55-minute film doesn’t even try to hit feature length, which is a wise decision for a film with a slight, but enjoyable premise.
The amusingly self-aware comedy is written and directed by Steve Rudzinski, who also stars as protagonist Wally Griswold. The premise is simple: a newspaper article celebrating the hero cop catches the attention of B’n’B owner Samantha (Marci Leigh), who lures Wally to Amityville under the false claim that he’s won a free Christmas stay.
Naturally it turns out that the house is haunted by a vengeful ghost named Jessica D’Angelo (Aleen Isley), but instead of murdering him like the other guests, Jessica winds up falling in love with him.
Several other recent Amityville films, including Amityville Cop and Amityville in Space, have leaned into comedy, albeit to varying degrees of success. Amityville Christmas Vacation is arguably the most successful because, despite its hit/miss joke ratio, at least the film acknowledges its inherent silliness and never takes itself seriously.
In this capacity, the film is more comedy than horror (the closest comparison is probably Amityville Vibrator, which blended hard-core erotica with references to other titles in the “series”). The jokes here are enjoyably varied: Wally glibly acknowledges his racism and excessive use of force in a way that reflects the real world culture shift around criticisms of police work; the last names of the lovers, as well the title of the film, are obvious homages to the National Lampoon’s holiday film; and the narrative embodies the usual festive tropes of Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies.
This self-awareness buys the film a certain amount of goodwill, which is vital considering Rudzinski’s clear budgetary limitations. Jessica’s ghost make-up is pretty basic, the action is practically non-existent, and the whole film essentially takes place in a single location. These elements are forgivable, though audiences whose funny bone isn’t tickled will find the basic narrative, low stakes, and amateur acting too glaring to overlook. It must be acknowledged that in spite of its brief runtime, there’s still an undeniable feeling of padding in certain dialogue exchanges and sequences.
Despite this, there’s plenty to like about Amityville Christmas Vacation.
Rudzinski is the clear stand-out here. Wally is a goof: he’s incredibly slow on the uptake and obsessed with his cat Whiskers. The early portions of the film lean on Wally’s inherent likeability and Rudzinski shares an easy charm with co-star Isley, although her performance is a bit more one-note (Jessica is mostly confused by the idiot who has wandered into her midst).
Falling somewhere in the middle are Ben Dietels as Rick (Ben Dietels), Wally’s pathetic co-worker who has invented a family to spend the holidays with, and Zelda (Autumn Ivy), the supernatural case worker that Jessica Zooms with for advice on how to negotiate her newfound situation.
The other actors are less successful, particularly Garrett Hunter as ghost hunter Creighton Spool (Scott Lewis), as well as Samantha, the home owner. Leigh, in particular, barely makes an impression and there’s absolutely no bite in her jealous threats in the last act.
Like most comedies, audience mileage will vary depending on their tolerance for low-brow jokes. If the idea of Wally chastising and giving himself a pep talk out loud in front of Jessica isn’t funny, Amityville Christmas Vacation likely isn’t for you. As it stands, the film’s success rate is approximately 50/50: for every amusing joke, there’s another one that misses the mark.
Despite this – or perhaps because of the film’s proximity to the recent glut of terrible entries – Amityville Christmas Vacation is a welcome breath of fresh air. It’s not a great film, but it is often amusing and silly. There’s something to be said for keeping things simple and executing them reasonably well.
That’s a lesson that other indie Amityville filmmakers could stand to learn.
The Amityville IP Awards go to…
- Recurring Gag: The film mines plenty of jokes from characters saying the quiet part (out) loud, including Samantha’s delivery of “They’re always the people I hate” when Wally asks how he won a contest he didn’t enter.
- Holiday Horror: There’s a brief reference that Jessica died in an “icicle accident,” which plays like a perfect blend between a horror film and a Hallmark film.
- Best Line: After Jessica jokes about Wally’s love of all things cats to Zelda, calling him the “cat’s meow,” the case worker’s deadpan delivery of “Yeah, that sounds like an inside joke” is delightful.
- Christmas Wish: In case you were wondering, yes, Santa Claus (Joshua Antoon) does show up for the film’s final joke, though it’s arguably not great.
- Chainsaw Award: This film won Fangoria’s ‘Best Amityville’ Chainsaw award in 2023, which makes sense given how unique it is compared to many other titles released in 2022. This also means that the film is probably the best entry we’ll discuss for some time, so…yay?
- ICYMI: This editorial series was recently included in a profile in the The New York Times, another sign that the Amityville “franchise” will never truly die.
Next time: we’re hitting the holidays in the wrong order with a look at November 2022’s Amityville Thanksgiving, which hails from the same creative team as Amityville Karen <gulp>
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