Editorials
6 MORE Games And The Studios That Should Make Them!
A couple months back I listed a few horror games and the studios I’d like to see make them. A Silent Hill by DmC developer Ninja Theory? Yes, please. Resident Evil made by the studio behind Uncharted and The Last of Us? Don’t tell me that doesn’t get your nether regions aflutter with the possibilities.
Well, now I have even more horror games and the developers I’d like to see pick them up. Check out my picks after the break, and feel free to agree/disagree/offer your own pairings in the comments.
People Can Fly – The Suffering 3
People Can Fly brought us the marvelously over-the-top action shooter Bulletstorm, and lately they’ve been collaborating with Epic on the Gears of War franchise. To me, this makes them the perfect developer to breathe new life into the long dead The Suffering series. The bombastic action People Can Fly is known for would translate well to the equally explosive action horror franchise.
I also really want another Suffering game.
Visceral Games – inSANE
Visceral has made a name for themselves in this genre by crafting one of the best new horror franchises of this generation: Dead Space. Their games are well known for having copious amounts of gore, violence, and a lot of crazy. The dementia moments were first introduced in Dead Space 2 as Isaac Clarke started losing his mind after spending way too much time near the Marker, and they grew progressively worse for him and his companion John Carver in the third entry.
We don’t know much about Guillermo Del Toro’s first foray into video games other than it’s an action horror game that’s heavily inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. If any studio is capable of excelling in both areas, it’s the team behind Dead Space and Dante’s Inferno.
Telltale Games – World War Z
Yeah, I know I already gave Telltale Alone in the Dark, but then I got to thinking… what if they made a World War Z game? Paramount has teased us with the possibility, and should the game ever see the light of day, I feel putting it in the very capable hands of Telltale Games — which brought us the amazing episodic series based on The Walking Dead last year — would be very a smart decision. In fact, we can just ignore the upcoming movie altogether and instead focus on the book, which has already been neatly divided into self-contained stories that would make it perfect as an episodic release similar to TWD.
Monolith – Manhunt
From 2005-2009, Monolith was doing a damn fine job in making themselves a real name in the horror genre. Between F.E.A.R. and Condemned, they quickly became one of my favorite studios. Since then they’ve made some solid titles — Gotham City Impostors was fun — but they’ve shied away from our favorite genre. F.E.A.R. and Condemned each deserve new sequels, but what I’d really like to see is how Monolith’s eye for the visceral would translate to one of gaming’s most brutal and sadly short-lived franchises: Manhunt.
Plus, Rockstar’s far too busy right now making games that sell well to return to it, so that means the reigns need to be handed over to someone else. I nominate Monolith.
Crystal Dynamics – Eternal Darkness
If you haven’t played the latest Tomb Raider, you really should. Crystal Dynamics proved themselves adept at telling an emotionally charged, action-packed, and often horrifying story with the latest reboot. If anyone can reinvigorate Eternal Darkness, which has sat untouched for far too long, it’s them. This game holds a sacred place in many gamers’ hearts, so if/when a developer finally does begin work on a sequel, it needs to be one that’s mastered action, horror, and storytelling. Crystal Dynamics fits the bill.
Platinum Games – Nightmare Creatures
This is a weird choice, right? Pairing Platinum Games, the studio behind wacky Japanese action games like Bayonetta and Vanquish, on a now practically ancient horror series like Nightmare Creatures? Who does that?
Apparently, I do.
Nightmare Creatures might not be the best horror IP out there — there are certainly other games more deserving of sequels — but I just really wanted to put this out there. Platinum is very good at delivering action and spectacle in their games. They’re capable of creating big, beautiful worlds filled with elegantly designed creatures, and they really know how to make a good action game (Anarchy Reigns not withstanding).
We came so close to getting a third entry, dubbed Angel of Darkness, but that fell into development limbo soon after its announcement over a decade ago. It was set in 19th century Prague and followed a young woman who could merge with her Raven companion to fight monsters. Replace the bird with magic hair and you have something that sounds a little like Bayonetta! (I said sort of)
What do you think? Did I miss a game? Are you not happy with a certain pairing? Let me know in the comments!
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
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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