Editorials
‘Hotline Miami’ – Celebrating a Decade of the Masterful Murder Simulator
The early 2010s were an extremely chaotic time for the gaming industry. While AAA titles were finding themselves under scrutiny due to shady business practices and formulaic releases, the indie scene was absolutely flourishing with the rise of digital distribution. Surprisingly popular titles like Limbo and Minecraft proved that gamers were hungry for new and innovative experiences even if their production budgets weren’t comparable to the GDP of a small country.
This explosion of indie success stories led to more developers taking risks and publishing their own little experiments, resulting in even more creative titles. In some ways, this wave of unorthodox game design culminated in 2012, a year that gifted us with classics like Fez and Journey, as well as one of my all-time favorite pieces of interactive media.
I vividly remember melting inside my room during a then-unprecedented South American heatwave when I first stumbled upon Dennaton Games’ Hotline Miami. At the time, I was just recovering from my first run-in with depression and wasn’t actually all that excited about trying out a new game. Of course, it didn’t take long to realize that there was something special about this ultra-violent throwback, and I ended up playing the entire thing in a single sitting, starting a yearly tradition.
Even a decade later, no indie game has come close to leaving a lasting impression on me as Hotline Miami did. Hell, even Dennaton’s underrated sequel couldn’t quite live up to the original, and that’s why I’d like to explore the brilliance behind this masterful murder simulator and why it remains a landmark in gaming and interactive storytelling. So rev up your pixelated DeLoreans and grab your favorite animal mask, because we’re going for a ride.
“Do you like hurting other people?”
The story behind Hotline Miami actually begins way back in 2004, when Jonatan Soderstrom began working on a simple action game inspired by hyper-violent media like Mark Millar’s Kick-Ass and Rockstar’s original Grand Theft Auto. While the aptly named Super Carnage was technically never finished, its single level of top-down mayhem was a hit among Game Maker aficionados, though the game was infamous for being nearly impossible to beat. In fact, issues with the title’s bloodthirsty AI led Jonatan to abandon the project for over half a decade.
In late 2011, Jonatan teamed up with Dennis Wedin in order to try their luck at becoming professional game developers. Recognizing the potential in Super Carnage, Dennis suggested that the duo flesh out the title’s simple yet addicting formula and come up with a fresh story and setting.
Inspirations were plenty, with the team borrowing elements from all sorts of media when crafting the lo-fi world of what would become Hotline Miami. Neo-Noir thrillers like Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive provided the template for the nameless protagonist (the iconic Scorpion jacket even made it into the game as an Easter egg), while edgy super-hero stories like Kick-Ass once again inspired context for the game’s morally ambiguous vigilantism. The game’s infamous animal masks were also inspired by a combination of both super-hero and slasher villain tropes.
Ultimately, it was Billy Corben’s hit 2006 documentary Cocaine Cowboys that provided the story with a time and a place, with the name also serving as the game’s working title during early stages of development. Having decided on a nostalgic dive into the violent underbelly of 1980s Miami, the developers soon realized that their fun little experiment would somehow have to justify players committing brutal mass murder. In a stroke of genius, the duo decided to incorporate this ethical dilemma into the narrative itself.
During the course of the game, a nameless protagonist would receive cryptic phone calls and then show up at mafia hangouts to kill everyone inside. Rinse and repeat. One could even argue that Hotline Miami was attempting to program players like victims of the MK Ultra conspiracy theories that inform part of the game’s rich backstory. However, the title would also interrupt these bursts of violence with surreal moments of introspection, creating a kind of ritual as players engage in massive bloodbaths and then attempt to return to a “normal” life.
Knock-knock.
This addicting cycle is a perfect example of the unique narrative opportunities offered by video games. This beautiful marriage of story and gameplay allowed players to reflect on the impact of the protagonist’s actions in a way that could never happen in another medium. Much like a Hideo Kojima production, the game also cleverly breaks the fourth wall as it goes on to question both the player’s enjoyment of these pixelated deaths as well as the gaming industry’s long-lasting love affair with virtual violence.
These meta elements are actually justified by the protagonist’s rapidly deteriorating mental state, as it’s eventually revealed that the iconic “Jacket” (as he was nicknamed by fans) has been in a coma during most of the game, only remembering a distorted version of events. Even after he wakes up, it’s clear that Jacket’s point of view is questionable at best, and the game’s bizarre double climax doesn’t actually bother to clear things up.
Despite the intentionally obtuse narrative (which was clearly influenced by the work of David Lynch), the story is still somehow emotionally satisfying. This is mostly due to moments of subtle character development scattered in between levels. This makes sense, as many of the more human elements of the game had real-world influences. The “girlfriend” subplot was inspired by Wedin’s own personal experiences with relationships and depression, and even the fan-favorite character of Beard was based on Swedish artist El Huervo.
Of course, there’s no discussing Hotline Miami without bringing up its game-changing soundtrack, so I have to address how the title almost single-handedly spawned a new generation of Synthwave music. The Dennaton team originally assembled the game’s now-iconic soundscape after scouring Bandcamp for unknown electronic musicians. They eventually assembled a rag-tag team of extremely talented artists that would maintain mainstream popularity long after contributing to the game’s success.
Featuring absolute bangers by artists like M|O|O|N, Perturbator and Scattle, Hotline Miami’s soundtrack ended up becoming just as influential as the game itself, even among non-gamers. Even so, the emblematic sounds of HM are essential in setting up this high-octane experience, with the music encouraging players to “free the beast” and then forcing them to reckon with what they’ve done once the level is finally clear.
Or is it?
This musicality ends up affecting gameplay, with players finding their rhythm as they kill and die over and over again. The sequel actually takes this concept to the next level, featuring even more intense music and challenging level design, but getting into that would require a whole other article. That being said, it should be noted that often-maligned Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is a worthy follow-up to a classic game, even if its status as a non-conformist anti-sequel keeps it from reaching the same popularity.
I could discuss Hotline Miami’s several balancing issues and that irritating final boss level, but these minor annoyances are meaningless when you consider the big picture. An orgy of sights, sounds and satisfying gameplay, the game’s biggest strength is its ability to change your thought process while playing it, and that’s why I think it’s one of the defining moments of interactive art during the 2010s.
Encouraging players to meticulously plan brutal homicides and then forcing them to consider the horror of what they’ve done without ruining any of the fun, it should come as no surprise that this legendary title is still worth revisiting 10 years later. From launching Devolver Digital into rock-star status among game publishers to inspiring countless videos, songs and even other games, Hotline Miami is a shining example of the power of indie gaming.
While I admit that it’s technically not a horror game, Hotline Miami is definitely bloody and often disgusting, so I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that this retro gem is still a must-play for horror fans 10 years later.
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.”
A bizarre recurring issue with the Amityville “franchise” is that the films tend to be needlessly complicated. Back in the day, the first sequels moved away from the original film’s religious-themed haunted house storyline in favor of streamlined, easily digestible concepts such as “haunted lamp” or “haunted mirror.”
As the budgets plummeted and indie filmmakers capitalized on the brand’s notoriety, it seems the wrong lessons were learned. Runtimes have ballooned past the 90-minute mark and the narratives are often saggy and unfocused.
Both issues are clearly on display in Amityville Karen (2022), a film that starts off rough, but promising, and ends with a confused whimper.
The promise is embodied by the tinge of self-awareness in Julie Anne Prescott (The Amityville Harvest)’s screenplay, namely the nods to John Waters’ classic 1994 satire, Serial Mom. In that film, Beverly Sutphin (an iconic Kathleen Turner) is a bored, white suburban woman who punished individuals who didn’t adhere to her rigid definition of social norms. What is “Karen” but a contemporary equivalent?
In director/actor Shawn C. Phillips’ film, Karen (Lauren Francesca) is perpetually outraged. In her introductory scenes, she makes derogatory comments about immigrants, calls a female neighbor a whore, and nearly runs over a family blocking her driveway. She’s a broad, albeit familiar persona; in many ways, she’s less of a character than a caricature (the living embodiment of the name/meme).
These early scenes also establish a fairly straightforward plot. Karen is a code enforcement officer with plans to shut down a local winery she has deemed disgusting. They’re preparing for a big wine tasting event, which Karen plans to ruin, but when she steals a bottle of cursed Amityville wine, it activates her murderous rage and goes on a killing spree.
Simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, Amityville Karen spins out of control almost immediately. At nearly every opportunity, Prescott’s screenplay eschews narrative cohesion and simplicity in favour of overly complicated developments and extraneous characters.
Take, for example, the wine tasting event. The film spends an entire day at the winery: first during the day as a band plays, then at a beer tasting (???) that night. Neither of these events are the much touted wine-tasting, however; that is actually a private party happening later at server Troy (James Duval)’s house.
Weirdly though, following Troy’s death, the party’s location is inexplicably moved to Karen’s house for the climax of the film, but the whole event plays like an afterthought and features a litany of characters we have never met before.
This is a recurring issue throughout Amityville Karen, which frequently introduces random characters for a scene or two. Karen is typically absent from these scenes, which makes them feel superfluous and unimportant. When the actress is on screen, the film has an anchor and a narrative drive. The scenes without her, on the other hand, feel bloated and directionless (blame editor Will Collazo Jr., who allows these moments to play out interminably).
Compounding the issue is that the majority of the actors are non-professionals and these scenes play like poorly performed improv. The result is long, dull stretches that features bad actors talking over each other, repeating the same dialogue, and generally doing nothing to advance the narrative or develop the characters.
While Karen is one-note and histrionic throughout the film, at least there’s a game willingness to Francesca’s performance. It feels appropriately campy, though as the film progresses, it becomes less and less clear if Amityville Karen is actually in on the joke.
Like Amityville Cop before it, there are legit moments of self-awareness (the Serial Mom references), but it’s never certain how much of this is intentional. Take, for example, Karen’s glaringly obvious wig: it unconvincingly fails to conceal Francesca’s dark hair in the back, but is that on purpose or is it a technical error?
Ultimately there’s very little to recommend about Amityville Karen. Despite the game performance by its lead and the gentle homages to Serial Mom’s prank call and white shoes after Labor Day jokes, the never-ending improv scenes by non-professional actors, the bloated screenplay, and the jittery direction by Phillips doom the production.
Clocking in at an insufferable 100 minutes, Amityville Karen ranks among the worst of the “franchise,” coming in just above Phillips’ other entry, Amityville Hex.
The Amityville IP Awards go to…
- Favorite Subplot: In the afternoon event, there’s a self-proclaimed “hot boy summer” band consisting of burly, bare-chested men who play instruments that don’t make sound (for real, there’s no audio of their music). There’s also a scheming manager who is skimming money off the top, but that’s not as funny.
- Least Favorite Subplot: For reasons that don’t make any sense, the winery is also hosting a beer tasting which means there are multiple scenes of bartender Alex (Phillips) hoping to bring in women, mistakenly conflating a pint of beer with a “flight,” and goading never before seen characters to chug. One of them describes the beer as such: “It looks like a vampire menstruating in a cup” (it’s a gold-colored IPA for the record, so…no).
- Amityville Connection: The rationale for Karen’s killing spree is attributed to Amityville wine, whose crop was planted on cursed land. This is explained by vino groupie Annie (Jennifer Nangle) to band groupie Bianca (Lilith Stabs). It’s a lot of nonsense, but it is kind of fun when Annie claims to “taste the damnation in every sip.”
- Neverending Story: The film ends with an exhaustive FIVE MINUTE montage of Phillips’ friends posing as reporters in front of terrible green screen discussing the “killer Karen” story. My kingdom for Amityville’s regular reporter Peter Sommers (John R. Walker) to return!
- Best Line 1: Winery owner Dallas (Derek K. Long), describing Karen: “She’s like a walking constipation with a hemorrhoid”
- Best Line 2: Karen, when a half-naked, bleeding woman emerges from her closet: “Is this a dream? This dream is offensive! Stop being naked!”
- Best Line 3: Troy, upset that Karen may cancel the wine tasting at his house: “I sanded that deck for days. You don’t just sand a deck for days and then let someone shit on it!”
- Worst Death: Karen kills a Pool Boy (Dustin Clingan) after pushing his head under water for literally 1 second, then screeches “This is for putting leaves on my plants!”
- Least Clear Death(s): The bodies of a phone salesman and a barista are seen in Karen’s closet and bathroom, though how she killed them are completely unclear
- Best Death: Troy is stabbed in the back of the neck with a bottle opener, which Karen proceeds to crank
- Wannabe Lynch: After drinking the wine, Karen is confronted in her home by Barnaby (Carl Solomon) who makes her sign a crude, hand drawn blood contract and informs her that her belly is “pregnant from the juices of his grapes.” Phillips films Barnaby like a cross between the unhoused man in Mulholland Drive and the Mystery Man in Lost Highway. It’s interesting, even if the character makes absolutely no sense.
- Single Image Summary: At one point, a random man emerges from the shower in a towel and excitedly poops himself. This sequence perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Amityville Karen.
- Pray for Joe: Many of these folks will be back in Amityville Shark House and Amityville Webcam, so we’re not out of the woods yet…
Next time: let’s hope Christmas comes early with 2022’s Amityville Christmas Vacation. It was the winner of Fangoria’s Best Amityville award, after all!
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