News
‘Camp Sunshine’ Puts a 16-Bit Twist on the Slasher Genre
It took a long time for developers to realize how perfect a pairing the slasher film genre is with video games, but to their credit, it’s taken much less time for them to act on it. Supermassive’s sublime supernatural thriller Until Dawn set a high bar back in 2014, and if we’re lucky, we’ll see that bar get raised by a trio of asymmetrical multiplayer games that are coming this year. Dead by Daylight didn’t disappoint when it released last week — our review is incoming — and it will soon be followed by Friday the 13th: The Game and Last Year this fall.
I’d never want to complain about our finally getting slasher-themed video games, but there’s something else that ties them together, and that’s the startling lack of variety in how each game plays. On the bright side, that does leave endless opportunities for future stab ’em ups to explore, starting with retro-inspired Camp Sunshine.
Developed by the three-man team at Fossil Games, Camp Sunshine is a 16-bit horror RPG about a boy named Jez whose time at summer camp turns deadly when he’s forced to fight for his life after a maniac in a mascot costume goes on a murder spree. You could also say the young boy’s plight comes in the dead of night with a genuine fright from a gruesome sight that’s not quite right, forcing Jez into a game of fight or flight where he might survive to greet morning’s light.
It was made possible after a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo where its developer raised nearly $1,200 in April. In the aftermath of the sudden cancellation of Allison Road, it’s games like Camp Sunshine and the many other crowdfunding success stories that should remind us of how necessary Indiegogo, Kickstarter, Fig, etc. are as a resource for many game developers. They’re flawed, but without them, games like this would often go unrealized.
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’
You must be logged in to post a comment.