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Which Horror TV Series Needs a Game Adaptation?
Lately, I’ve found that when I make plans to burrow into my couch to watch something spooky, as I often do, I almost always end up with one of the myriad scary shows we have to choose from now. Like the ethereal spider demon that spins webs made from orphans’ tears, our favorite genre has slowly crept into every dark corner of broadcast television, led by hits like “The Strain”, “American Horror Story” and “The Walking Dead”.
More shows are ignoring what’s popular now so they can seek out what will be hot tomorrow, an they’re doing that by finding new ways to disturb viewers within the loosening confines of network TV, the boundaries of which have become increasingly hazy of late. With less restrictions, this perfect storm of critical acclaim and mainstream appeal is the only reason we were ever gifted with something as beautiful as “Hannibal” (#SaveHannibal).
There’s still hope that “Hannibal” will be picked up, it only needs to find a network that’s mad for Mikkelsen (#MadForMikkelsen) and his flawless portrayal of the eponymous serial killer. If it is rescued, it’ll join “The X-Files” in 2016 and “Twin Peaks” in 2017 in an expanding list of fan favorites that are being exhumed from the graveyard of dead TV.
What really blows my mind about this macabre renaissance we’re seeing in our living rooms is that it’s not entirely made up of clones. The genre’s biggest success stories should’ve left us with a host of copycats with varying degrees of shamelessness, but that never really happened. “iZombie” shares the undead theme, only without all that post-apocalyptic drama, and “Penny Dreadful”, which started out as an answer to “AHS”, didn’t waste any time developing its own sexy, scary identity.
The “worst” hasn’t been that bad either. “Sleepy Hollow” is better than it has any right to be, and “Scream” still hasn’t sunk as low as the worst of the franchise despite being on MTV. Even “The Following” was generous enough to wait until its second season before it completely unraveled.
There are plenty of options is my point, and some of them may have the special sauce that makes for a good video game — just not Scream. You might say no to all of the above, and that’s fine, even if I seriously doubt you wouldn’t play a game about European imported parasitic vampires and their war for New York City. That has universal appeal.
Is there a horror TV series you would like to see turned into a video game?
Sam Neill, the New Zealand actor best known for his role in 1993’s Jurassic Park, has passed away this week at 78 years old. In a statement shared on Neill’s Instagram page this morning, the actor’s family said that his passing was “sudden and unexpected.”
Neill had been diagnosed with a rare blood cancer in 2022, but stated the following year that he was in remission. The family notes that he “remained cancer free” at the time of his passing.
The family statement reads, “It is with immense sadness that the whānau of Sam Neill share the news of his passing on Monday 13th July, in Sydney Australia. Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterised his whole life. The loss was sudden and unexpected but blessed by the fact that Sam remained cancer free.
“They would like to express their deepest gratitude to the staff at St Vincent’s Private Hospital for their incredible care. More details will be shared later, but for now, on behalf of the family, we ask that you respect their privacy as they navigate this immeasurable loss.”
In addition to his iconic role as Dr. Alan Grant in the original Jurassic Park and the sequels Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Neill left an indelible mark on the horror genre with memorable roles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession, The Omen: The Final Conflict, John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, and sci-fi horror favorite Event Horizon.
Sam Neill’s vast resume in film and television began in the early 1970s and also includes the films Sleeping Dogs, Enigma, The Good Wife, A Cry in the Dark, Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Hostage, The Jungle Book, Snow White: A Tale of Terror, The Horse Whisperer, Bicentennial Man, Daybreakers, Escape Plan, and Thor: Ragnarok.
Sam Neill is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Steven Spielberg said in a statement to Variety, “I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him.”
Spielberg adds, “Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.”
Sam Neill in ‘Event Horizon’
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