Editorials
‘Rule of Rose’ Remains One of This Century’s Most Misunderstood Horror Games
To speak of Rule of Rose in the gaming community almost always sees the word ‘controversy’ belched up alongside it. The psychological horror title has turned 15, and to this day, it’s still deeply scarred by its infamy.
Developer Punchline had wanted to create a survival horror game quite distinct from the two heavyweights of the day, Silent Hill and Resident Evil, and this led to it exploring something that ultimately ended up with its descent into infamy.
The story centers on Jennifer, a 19-year-old with a deeply traumatic past. In 1930’s England she finds herself on a dilapidated airship, and at the mercy of a group of sadistic young girls who call themselves the Red Crayon Aristocrats. Forced to find offerings for them every month, Jennifer and her canine companion, Brown, struggle to survive the cruel regime of the young girls as she discovers more about her own tragic past.
Things take an even more sinister turn as Jennifer ends up being chosen as the next offering, and the secrets of the Red Crayon Aristocrats are unearthed. Unsurprisingly, there’s no Hollywood ending here. It’s a psychologically punishing tale of trauma, abuse, and lack of consequence, rather than something merely cooked up for sheer shock value.
The game’s depiction of a group of children without guilt or sin is troubling in itself. Throwing in the idea of just how terrifying that would be if they held power over adults was, and still is, a bold choice for a horror game. Even if the critical reception wasn’t especially warm towards Rule of Rose at the time, it did get numerous plaudits for daring to tackle such sensitive subject matters.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing quite as predictable as sections of the media, ignorant of a medium’s progress, latching onto something, misunderstanding it, and stirring up a controversy that isn’t really there.
The story caused concern at Sony, who had asked for the PlayStation 2-bound title to be toned down, which Punchline refused. The game was mentioned in an article about morality and violence in video games, and through British press, that information eventually got spun into Rule of Rose supposedly featuring children being buried alive, involved in sadomasochism, and rape. It would, of course, be completely understandable to question such content, but the truth was, the game featured no such content, and had already passed certification before the moral outrage began.
That didn’t stop a media bandwagon from calling for the game’s removal, and for tighter ratings systems for video games in general. Unsurprisingly, the calls for banning the game almost exclusively came from people who had never so much as looked into it themselves, let alone picked up a controller to play it. The wave of bad publicity had overruled reason and truth because, not for the first time, a lack of understanding caused needless controversy.
As a result, Rule of Rose was prevented from selling in certain European countries, despite the ban being built on nothing more than lies. Thus, Rule of Rose’s cursed legend grew as a video game nasty instead of the flawed, but insightful, psychological horror it was.
Pearl-clutching politicians and hand-wringing news media arguably put Rule of Rose on a pedestal far higher than it would ever have got if it was just another horror game, and for all its cult value, it wasn’t the best game in the world; but it certainly deserved better than being a scapegoat. It tackled certain aspects of morality with fair success considering many games today still struggle with presenting complex morality. It was also a refreshing change of pace from what else was on offer at the time, and the soundtrack is highly under-appreciated for its role in conveying the game’s uncomfortable menace. It’s an unpolished gem with something different to say.
Like some of the horror comics and films that caused largely unreasonable outrage in years gone by, Rule of Rose isn’t an irredeemable nasty piece of work, nor is it necessarily a classic of the genre. But it is important for more than just its controversies.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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