Editorials
Hellbent Games’ ‘VHS’ Should Be On Your Radar for 2022
Asymmetrical-multiplayer survival horror (which is a mouthful that I’ll be referring to as AMSH from here on) could very well be entering its biggest year yet in 2022. Between the ongoing reign of Dead By Daylight (which will be implementing its Ringu chapter in the near future), Saber Interactive’s upcoming Evil Dead: The Game, and Gun Interactive’s recently announced Texas Chain Saw Massacre game, the roster of AMSH is looking very formidable. One game currently in its closed-beta is already causing quite a stir on social media, and upon checking it out recently, I realized that it’s for good reason: Hellbent Games’ VHS (no relation).
As the title suggests, VHS is heavily inspired by the bygone era of the 80s-90s movies whose tapes are likely collecting dust right now in your parents’ basement or attic. The 4 vs. 1 paradigm pits 4 teenagers (aptly a crew of Breakfast Club-esque archetypes like gothic Jess or jock Brett) against 1 killer that you’d expect from an 80s creature feature or slasher. From the synthy, new-wave-inspired soundtrack, to the inclusion of dance moves from Michael Jackson’s Thriller as an emote, VHS effectively rides the recent and ongoing wave of 80s nostalgia.
What sets VHS apart from other popular AMSH games is the fact that the primary objective is for both teams to eliminate each other, rather than 1 killer hunting down 4 survivors while they try to escape. While the killer uses their special abilities to pick off each teenager one-by-one, the teens’ objective is to craft special weapons throughout the map used to hunt down the killer. Each teen has a bar of health that’s worn down before they’re killed, whereas the killer has 4 weaknesses known as Stigmas: Burn, Shock, Curse, and Purify. By crafting weapons like flamethrowers, ray-guns, crucifixes, and swords, the teens can work together to strike down each Stigma to win the match.
The role of fighting back as a survivor rather than checking off objectives to escape is a refreshing change of pace for AMSH—especially since the path to winning is so non-linear. If you’d rather craft Molotov cocktails than flamethrowers to take care of the killer’s Burn stigma, or you’d rather focus on a different Stigma while your teammates handle the others, the choice is yours. On the other hand, if you prefer playing as the killer, the abilities of each killer currently available are vastly different. You can choose rush-down focused gameplay as The Werewolf, or more insidious stealthy gameplay as The Doll Master.
Similar to games like Dead By Daylight, playing as a teen is via third-person perspective, whereas playing as a monster is first-person. Stealth is an important factor in VHS as well, with the ability to hide in lockers and closets and vault over objects during chases. After two basic hits, teens will be knocked down and need to be healed by a fellow teammate in order to get back up. Crafting weapons in the most time-consuming objective during each match, taking the place of things like generators that need to be repaired, leaving teens vulnerable in the meantime.
For whichever role you prefer to play as, VHS strongly encourages you to customize your character in extensive ways. Even in its beta, the amount of ways that you can customize your character’s style, from hair color down to socks, is impressive. In addition to aesthetics, a robust perk system with perks unique to each character allows you to further craft your playstyle to fit your needs. A progression system based on leveling up is also an important feature, similar to Dead By Daylight, in obtaining new perks and in-game currency.
But while there are many similarities and inspiration from other AMSH games, VHS capitalizes on quite a bit of quality-of-life improvements that other games could take note of. For example, when knocked down as a teen, instead of being stuck in place waiting to be picked up or rescued, you’re able to project a Specter that can continue to explore the map while you wait to be healed. Teens can also communicate with each other via voice chat, pinging items or objectives that can be seen across the map, and a tracker next to each player’s HUD that indicates where each fellow survivor is at all times and what they’re working on to strategize accordingly. For example, if you see that one of your teammates is being attacked in the Chem Lab, you’ll know where to avoid.
Interestingly, in a recent update for Dead By Daylight, Behaviour Interactive announced that they’re experimenting with an extremely similar status feature that indicates what each Survivor is up to next to their player HUDs. One has to think that the positive reception to the feature in VHS may have influenced the decision to experiment with it in Dead By Daylight. This instance may be indicative of what we can expect to see more of as the AMSH space becomes more saturated—I, for one, am excited to see what kind of innovation is promoted as a result.
While an official release date hasn’t been announced, it’s a safe bet to assume that VHS will likely release sometime in 2022 based on how finished the game already feels in its beta. If you’re interested in trying out the beta, you can still sign up to receive a code on its official website—however, it may take a bit to receive it as the waitlist is apparently lengthy. If you choose to wait for the full release instead, you’ll be able to get your hands on it pretty easily: according to the developers, VHS will be free-to-play as well.
“Elevated Horror.” Of all the combinations in the English language, that one is the most insufferable.
It represents almost a decade of scary movies that, for the most part, took themselves too seriously. Horror responds to the moment, so its “why so serious” lean makes sense as we scuttle through the “worst of times” equation of Charles Dickens’ famous opening lines. But there’s still an opening and a need for a lighter approach; one that not only has fun with its audience but takes the piss out of a genre that is seemingly letting its newfound “respectability” go to its head.
Wes Craven believed devotees see horror films to let out their fears one primal scream at a time. At their core, these movies are roller coasters; they bring us as close to the edge as possible before pulling us back into a safety net of reality. The need for a bigger and badder coaster increases during times when the size of that net decreases.
There’s a thrill that comes from imagining being in a foot race with a madman, or outthinking the hordes of zombies on the other side of the door, plus the scavenger humans coming behind them. There’s even a rush that comes from imagining how one might deal with possession to see good triumph over evil in the end. It’s all about building tension and releasing it through catharsis. That cathartic release usually sounds like screams followed by laughter, which signals relief. Genre heavy hitters over the past 10 years offered very little of that respite when the credits rolled. Films like Hereditary, The Witch, Talk to Me, and even Smile (pick one) keep that tension going after the screen fades to black.
Hereditary
As the genre became obsessed with creating trauma metaphors, that lack of release made sense. Anyone with even a small sample size of traumatic experiences knows those emotions don’t magically resolve themselves in an allotted run time. But how much trauma can one take? Especially when there’s a mess going on outside that few of us can escape from. Movies offer that off-ramp, no matter how short.
Everything can’t be, nor should it be, “elevated.” Audiences need thoughtful explorations of life’s ills via monsters as much as they need murdering masked maniacs with kitchen knives. And no, it doesn’t have to go any deeper than that. Sometimes, a knife is just a knife, and it’s still worth our time and respect. As weird as it sounds, that simplicity is comforting not in spite of the trauma but because of it.
The worst of times should manifest more than just anguish. People need to laugh just as much as they need to think seriously about this moment in time. Even the Scream franchise forgot the meta rock upon which it built its church when the latest foray sacrificed the subtle comedy for serious drama. Scary Movie returned at the perfect moment. It provides the necessary laughs, but it’s not a cure-all.
This isn’t a call for Scary Movie imitators but a return to a mainstream landscape where Killer Klowns from Outer Space sat with The Serpent and the Rainbow, nestled neatly with the latest Nightmare on Elm Street, which took nothing away from The Vanishing.
They Live
Even They Live, John Carpenter’s horror sci-fi satire sandwich, kept its tongue firmly in cheek while discussing serious ideas still relevant in 2026. Yes, a film about aliens taking over the world through subliminal messaging only visible through coded sunglasses is, in fact, a tad silly. Carpenter understood that mainstream horror can’t become so self-important that it never looks itself in the mirror and laughs at that inherent silliness.
The thing is, horror historically excels at poking fun at itself. Most of the Scream franchise, The Cabin in the Woods, or The Blackening show adoration without kowtowing. They recognize tropes and trappings but invert them for an audience already in on the joke, but one that also finds solace in said conventions. This keeps the genre on its toes; once something gets parodied, it’s usually time to evolve. That breeds new ideas and fresh filmmakers, which not only strengthen the genre’s collective voice but also amplify it.
Get Out, as “elevated” as some critics want us to believe it is, is a cathartic, populist scary movie that spoke to an untapped audience rather than speaking down to them. Backrooms is one of the biggest horror hits in years, partially because it’s fine-tuned for modern-day teenagers instead of their parents. Movies like these tell everyone the genre is open for business; open for innovation and, yeah, open for new ways in which people can lovingly poke fun at with a wink and a nudge.
Horror needs dread as much as it needs laughter.
Catharsis is just as important as tension, and pulpy populism has the same merit as more high-brow material. Respectability shouldn’t come at the expense of an experience akin to walking through a haunted house. At a time when joy seems in short supply, horror should look to its past to map out its future, and make things just a tad brighter for audiences.
Backrooms
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