Editorials
5 Annoying Things Horror Games Need to Stop Doing
For the Love of Altman, No More Invincible Enemies
Invincible enemies in video games, horror or otherwise, have always been a source of frustration for me. The reason for this is it wasn’t until about midway through the last console generation when I noticed it begin to infect the games I enjoy playing the most. When I look back at Resident Evil 3 and all the times that back of genetically engineered dicks busted through a wall like a twisted Kool-Aid Man, they’re all fond memories. I dare say they’re more fond than your memories are.
Unless it’s done in a way that feels inventive, the idea of being chased around an environment by a creature that barely feels it when I empty every precious bullet I have in a futile attempt to get some breathing room.
If your pathetic armaments have nary a noticeable effect on the thing that’s slowly creeping toward you, it’s because the developer has done so to make you feel weak. Unless there’s a good reason to design it that way, that unstoppable killing machine is more of a crutch than a tool for ratcheting up the suspense. Some video games have relied on that crutch for too long. If you need to make your monster indestructible in order for it to be scary, then you’re doing something wrong.
The ghosts in Silent Hill 4 would be a good example of this being used in a creative way. They were absolutely terrifying, and that fear only partly came from my knowing I couldn’t directly harm them. They were effective and made me way more cautious than I would’ve been had I known that every horror could be slain, so long as you’re willing to invest a little elbow grease.
Dead Space fans likely haven’t forgotten about the Hunter (also known as the Ubermorph in Dead Space 2 and the Regenerator in Dead Space 3) that’s managed to force an unwelcome appearance in every game. When you make it a habit of trapping the player in a room with one of these ugly bastards multiple times across three separate games, that makes it a crutch.
While I do think there’s a place for creatures like this, there are much better options out there. Resident Evil 4 struck gold with the Regenerators, which can be disposed of in two very different ways. The first is through the strategic use of bullets from a rifle with a infrared scope, and the second is really only an option if you’re surrounded by copious amounts of ammunition. Regenerators are pretty close to being invincible without actually being so. You can either rely on a king’s ransom worth of ammo, or you can conserve your precious resources and instead rely on a balance of strategy and skill. Had the design of the Hunter been approached in a similar way, I think it would have made for a much more interesting enemy.
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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