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Looking Back on the ‘Destroy All Humans!’ Video Game Franchise

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During the height of the Cold War, Soviet spies weren’t the only foreign invaders America was worried about. After widely publicized incidents like the Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting and even the alleged Roswell crash, the already-paranoid country would be swept up in an extraterrestrial mania that would go on to shape a large part of North-American culture, with a huge impact on ’50s science-fiction in particular.

While there are countless movies and books about humans living in fear of little green men, it was only in the next millennia that a certain Matt Harding (yes, the same one from the viral Dancing Matt videos) thought about how cool it might be to experience the other side of a classic alien invasion story. Intrigued by the idea of a tongue-in-cheek open-world game where players would be narratively justified in killing everyone, the clever developers over at Pandemic Studios would soon birth one of the most ridiculously fun gaming franchises of all time.

The original Destroy All Humans! was released on home consoles back in 2005, becoming a hit with players and critics that were looking for a bit of humor alongside their open-world destruction. Often referred to as “Grand Theft Alien”, the game put players in the shoes of Cryptosporidium-137, a cloned member of the Furon race sent to Earth circa 1959 in order to recover a previous iteration of himself that had been captured by the US government. Along the way, “Crypto” engages in an atomic-age romp through middle America, fighting off police, army and even the secretive Majestic agency (inspired by the Illuminati-like Majestic 12, a group that conspiracy theorists claim to be some form of shadow government).

While demolishing buildings with death-rays and probing human nether regions is fun enough, the game wears its influences on its sleeve, making it doubly entertaining for horror/sci-fi fanatics. There are endless references to classic monster movies and cold-war media, with the Furons themselves being based on traditional grey alien descriptions. Crypto’s obnoxious co-hort Orthopox-13 is even voiced by none other than Richard Steven Horvitz, of Invader Zim fame, and don’t get me started on that familiar Mothership design.

The cheekily-named levels are also inspired by classic flicks like Teenagers From Outer Space and Attack of the 50-Foot Woman, with one mission even taking place at a Drive-In Theater as it plays Plan 9 From Outer Space (which is actually how I was introduced to Ed Wood’s masterpiece). In fact, you can even unlock the entirety of Teenagers From Outer Space for your viewing pleasure once you beat the game, which I always thought was a nice bonus.

Might as well watch the whole thing!

With a bonafide success on their hands, Pandemic Studios would produce a sequel the following year that improved on the original in nearly every way imaginable. While Destroy All Humans! 2 plays a lot like its predecessor, the addition of new powers, weapons, and a globe-trotting adventure that borrows heavily from James Bond and Kaiju films makes it one of the most entertaining experiences of the sixth console generation. Taking place in the Swinging Sixties, the satire here is on a whole other level. All it takes is a simple mind-scan to find copious amounts of jabs at ’60s culture while you’re out body-snatching your way through the US, England, Japan, and, eventually, even the Moon.

Levels were a lot bigger and more detailed as well, though it’s a shame that we lost the full-length unlockable B-Movies. The title also incorporated the Furon’s cloning technology into gameplay, as we were also offered a Split-Screen Cooperative mode that made this one of my most cherished gaming experiences on the PlayStation 2. I have many fond memories of getting together with friends to abduct unwitting humans while tractor-beaming tanks into the middle of the sea.

While this sequel was considered the high point of the series by most fans (myself included), it was way too big of a hit to not make another one. So, after a couple of years, with Pandemic Studios being bought out by EA, Locomotive Games would bring Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed over to the Wii in early 2008. Despite mixed reviews, it was actually a pretty entertaining game, with the story taking place in 1975 and focusing on Soylent Green styled fast-food conspiracy theories. Unfortunately, it didn’t add much to the formula other than clunky motion controls and the titular giant Willy robot. While many critics complained about the stale humor and setting, the fact is that the novelty of a foul-mouthed alien invader shoving probes up people’s butts was wearing thin, and it didn’t help that the original voice-actors weren’t available to reprise their iconic roles.

Big Willy Unleashed was more of a spin-off rather than a true sequel, but in late 2008/early 2009 (depending on the console), Sandblast Games would attempt to bring the franchise into high-definition for a whole new generation with Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon. Boasting a late ’70s setting inspired by gritty grindhouse pictures and several gameplay tweaks (mostly involving a new melee combat system), the title had all the ingredients for a great game.

While Path of the Furon was mostly faithful to the franchise’s original formula, it wasn’t the next-gen experience that most gamers were hoping for. Sure, Sandblast managed to get the original voice-actors back, and some of the media satire was still on point, but the whole experience was marred by bugs, glitches and generally off-putting visuals. The game’s development was also reportedly a mess, with the North-American release of the PS3 version being canceled. Failing to make a profit, it seemed that this title spelled the end of the Destroy All Humans! series.

At least the Death-Ray is still fun!

For over 10 years, that was basically the truth. While there were always bubbling rumors of a new entry in the series, it was only in 2019 that THQ Nordic confirmed a fully-fledged remake of the first game by Black Forest Games, much to the excitement of long-time fans. Released about a month ago, the new and improved Destroy All Humans! keeps things as close to the original as possible, even using cleaned up restorations of the original audio. The focus here is more on visuals and minor quality-of-life improvements, though the team even went as far as restoring a lost mission that was cut from the original release.

With the game’s humor and memorable characters intact, I personally had a lot of fun with the title, though I understand why some critics think that the antiquated level design and adolescent jokes aren’t quite as entertaining in 2020 as they were 15 years ago. Luckily, the remake also brings back the unlockable B-Movies, which might inspire new players to check out that weird era of sci-fi movies. The new jetpack controls are also so well-designed that it might be hard to go back to the original game after getting used to them.

After such a faithful remake, fans have been left to wonder if Black Forest Games will also tackle Destroy All Humans! 2. While I think that what killed the original series was too many games in quick succession, which didn’t allow the franchise enough room to breathe, I’d love to see Black Forest’s take on globe-trotting co-op action. There haven’t been any official announcements so far, but the remake’s mostly-positive reception seems to suggest that a sequel would be a no-brainer. After that, we might even see a brand-new title allowing Crypto to terrorize some other decade.

In any case, these games introduced me to a whole new world of schlocky ’50s movies, so I’m glad that the franchise is making a comeback. Even if this year’s remake happens to be the last game in the series, I’m grateful that we’ve had so much fun over the years collecting brain stems and abducting innocent bystanders. For now, we can only hope that if Crypto does decide to terrorize a new decade, it won’t happen to be this one. We already have enough to deal with in 2020 without rampant anal probing.

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Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

Editorials

‘The Company of Wolves’ at 40: One of the Most Underrated Werewolf Movies Ever Made

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There’s a compelling idea in anthropology that many ancient werewolf legends are derived from our species’ need to rationalize the more animalistic side of humanity – which is why lycanthropy has historically been used to explain everything from medieval serial killers to cannibalism. While I personally think there’s a lot more to unpack when it comes to tales of wolfmen and women, this is still a great example of why so many of our most enduring fairy tales involve big bad wolves.

And in the world of film, I think there’s only one feature that really nails the folkloric origins of werewolf stories, namely Neil Jordan’s 1984 fairy-tale horror classic, The Company of Wolves. Even four decades later, there’s no other genre flick that comes close to capturing the dreamlike ambience behind this strange anthology, and that’s why I’d like to take this opportunity to look back on one of the most underrated werewolf flicks ever made.

The Company of Wolves was originally a short story contained in the 1979 anthology The Bloody Chamber, a collection of deconstructed fairy-tales intended for mature readers penned by English author Angela Carter. With the book quickly becoming a hit as readers became fascinated with its subversion of classic folk stories and (then) controversial feminist undertones, it was soon transformed into a duology of BBC radio-dramas which adapted both The Company of Wolves and Carter’s reimagining of Puss-in-Boots.

These radio-dramas soon attracted the attention of then up-and-coming Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan, who decided to meet with Carter to discuss expanding on her stories and bringing them to life on the big screen. The duo soon realized that a single short story wasn’t enough material for a feature-length film, so they decided to adapt all of Carter’s werewolf tales into a single anthology.

With a completed script and a $2.3 million budget, Jordan decided to tackle the project like a hybrid between a theatrical period drama and a schlocky monster movie. Effects-heavy creature features were a hot commodity back in the ’80s, with films like The Howling and An American Werewolf in London proving that there was an audience for horrific lycanthrope transformations, so the director soon recruited a team that could turn this odd collection of feminist folk stories into something commercially viable.

Not exactly a great pick for family movie night.

Shooting would eventually take place almost entirely within the England-based Shepperton Studios, with notable production designer Anton Furst (who would later be known for his work on Tim Burton’s Batman films) helping to bring Jordan’s vision of a darkly romantic fairy-tale world to life. Appropriately enough, production would also involve a real pack of trained wolves (as well as a collection of dyed dogs), though extensive puppetry and animatronics were also used to flesh out the more gruesome parts of the flick.

After a grueling nine-week shoot where budgetary constraints led to corners being cut on props and costumes, The Company of Wolves was finally released in September of 1984 – just in time for spooky season. In the finished film, we follow the strange dreams of a sulky teenage girl named Rosaleen (first-time actress Sarah Patterson) as the film unravels an Arabian-Nights-inspired tapestry of both familiar and not-so-familiar stories about big bad wolves.

From sexually charged cautionary tales to parables about female empowerment, this surreal collection of deranged bedtime stories is much more than the creature feature that the marketing initially suggested. Like a more horror-oriented version of Jim Henson’s Labyrinth, The Company of Wolves exudes that same kind of hormonal teenage energy that transports us back to a time when the world was both scary and exciting in equal measure.

That’s not to say that this is an entirely pleasant experience, however, and I’m not just talking about the film’s horror elements. A big portion of the flick’s overtly sexual moments involve the then 13-year-old Patterson coming to grips with her blossoming womanhood and the dangers of predatory men (usually marked with a humorous unibrow), something that naturally makes for some intentionally uncomfortable viewing – especially in the year of our lord 2024.

Obviously, I don’t think it’s my place to dissect (or even judge) the effectiveness of the film’s commentaries on being a young woman, but even as a man I can still appreciate the thought and care that went into crafting this Jungian cocktail of serious themes in a genre-movie package that almost certainly went on to inspire future werewolf movies like Ginger Snaps.

Not the worst wedding I’ve been to.

That being said, what really keeps me coming back to the film is the absurd amount of memorable imagery. From a wedding party being taken over by canines to lonely treks through snowy groves, this is exactly the gloomy world I imagined as a child when reading Grimms’ Fairy Tales – and the dreamy atmosphere is only enhanced by the movie’s overall theatricality.

This also extends to the effects, as it’s easy to forgive decapitated dummy heads and ripped rubber skin when everything is happening in a magical hyper-reality, with a great example of this is being the scene where Grandma’s head unexpectedly explodes like a porcelain doll when it’s knocked off by a wolfman. That’s not to say that the effects are bad, as several of these transformations are downright grisly and likely influenced future lycanthrope effects like those in Underworld and even Trick ‘r Treat (even if the wolf-dogs here often look more cute than scary).

Of course, these aren’t the only things that The Company of Wolves has going for it, as the main trio of Patterson, Micha Bergese and the late, great Angela Lansbury exceptionally bring these exaggerated caricatures to life and the orchestral score is an absolute delight. I also really get a kick out of that bizarre ending implying that the dangers of adult life have literally come crashing into Rosaleen’s bedroom.

The Company of Wolves may not be a perfect film, suffering from some wonky pacing and the classic anthology problem where some stories are clearly much more enjoyable than others, but I’d argue that the flick’s iconic visuals and powerful thematic throughline more than make up for any minor flaws. And while we’ve seen bigger and better werewolf films since then, when it comes to adult-oriented fairy-tales, this is one psycho-sexual journey that is still worth revisiting 40 years down the line.

The Company of Wolves

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