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‘U55’ Is One Part H.P. Lovecraft, Two Parts Subway Horror
If I were to come up with a list of places that have always made me even a little uncomfortable, subway systems would rank fairly high on it. There’s something about them that’s always instilled in me a sense of uneasiness, that I’m not really safe. The source of my discomfort could be the handful of horror movies — Mimic, Creep, Midnight Meat Train — or video games — Resident Evil 6, Left 4 Dead, Silent Hill 3, The Train — that have tried their best to make these places intimidating, but I feel like there’s more to it than that.
The indie horror game U55: End of the Line, which takes place in the subway tunnels beneath modern day Berlin, is a beautiful game, as you can see from the video below. It’s also inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft. In it, you’re trapped in a dark and labyrinthine subway system, armed only with your wits and a cell phone. Check it out.
The video ends rather abruptly, but the game itself looks gorgeous and more than a little unsettling. If you would like to see more of U55, you can support its Kickstarter campaign (only three days left!) or follow it on Steam Greenlight.
Have a question? Feel free to ever-so-gently toss Adam an email, or follow him on Twitter and Bloody Disgusting.
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
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