Editorials
‘Condemned 2: Bloodshot’ – How the Sequel Both Misunderstands and Improves Upon the First Game
Bigger isn’t always better when it comes to the horror genre. Sure, a larger and more elaborate follow-up to a horror property can sometimes result in a masterpiece, like in the case of Aliens or Evil Dead II, but added complexity can often sabotage an over-ambitious sequel. This also applies to videogames, with developers sometimes trying too hard when attempting to expand on a solid foundation. This curious desire to fix what isn’t broken is why I think Monolith Studios’ 2008 hit Condemned 2: Bloodshot is such an interesting sequel, as it simultaneously misunderstands and improves on its iconic predecessor, making it still worth discussing after all this time.
A follow-up to 2005’s Condemned: Criminal Origins, which chronicled the trials of FBI agent Ethan Thomas as he attempts to apprehend a rogue serial killer that only murders other serial killers, Condemned 2 was meant to bring the urban thrills of the original game to a wider audience. Like Silent Hill: Homecoming and Resident Evil 5 before it, Bloodshot was another victim of the late 2000s trend of over-emphasizing the action elements of a horror franchise in order to make it more appealing to non-horror fans. While this more generalist approach miraculously worked, as Monolith’s sequel was ultimately better received than the first game, its inflated budget and more mainstream appeal turned it into a completely different beast.
Leaving artistic sensibilities and personal preference aside, there’s no denying that Condemned 2: Bloodshot is an objectively superior title when it comes to gameplay and overall production value. Nearly every aspect of the original game was improved this time around, from smoother traversal to more lifelike animation. Even the returning cast now look and sound more like traditional Hollywood actors rather than the grungy law enforcement personnel of the first game. However, all this extra polish came at a cost, as the game’s slick visuals and enhanced controls ended up overshadowing some of Criminal Origins’ exceptional horror elements while also eliminating many of its janky charms.
In the 2008 title, Ethan is now a homeless alcoholic with a penchant for fist-fights, justifying the game’s new bare-handed combo system. While Criminal Origins always made you feel like you were just barely surviving combat encounters, it appears that our main character has spent some time polishing his boxing skills on the mean streets of Metro city, making combat more fun than terrifying this time around. Gunplay is slightly more important now as well, with the game featuring fully-fledged FPS sequences to break up the melee showdowns. Beyond the combat, the investigation aspects have also been redesigned, with the title now allowing for more player input as you attempt to unravel a bizarre web of serial-killing conspiracy with hi-tech gadgets and some good old-fashioned detective work.
She’s going to jump out and attack me, isn’t she?
And speaking of conspiracies, Bloodshot truly embraces the unbridled lunacy of the previous game’s final moments, doubling down on the preternatural elements that were only hinted at in that story. Featuring ancient secret societies and absurd sci-fi technology, the sequel focuses on the return of Serial Killer X and a mysterious cult that has been driving the citizens of Metro City to homicidal madness. From sonic mind-control to super-powered Messiahs and more serial killing vagrants than you can shake a rusty pipe at, the plot takes players for another terrifying ride through the dingy back alleys of a city on the edge.
Of course, even more than the first game, the story isn’t exactly the star of the show here, though I enjoy how the narrative elements are now more in sync with the actual gameplay. I particularly appreciate how Ethan’s struggles with alcoholism affect his shooting abilities (with symptoms of withdrawal making it hard to aim), and his nightmarish hallucinations also make for some appropriately creepy moments. That being said, it’s the gloomy depiction of Metro City itself that makes Bloodshot worth revisiting.
The level design here is just as terrific as it was the first time around, though the sequel often throws players for a loop with added gimmicks and memorable encounters – like a certain unkillable boss and an entire level built around booby-trapped baby dolls. One of my personal favorite moments is the museum chapter, where madmen have stolen medieval armor and weapons and are running amok throughout the building, just waiting to cleave you in half with ancient axes and swords.
The original game may have focused more on making Metro City feel like a real breathing place, but this ambitious follow-up is more concerned with crafting an urban hyper-reality, depicting a city plagued by apocalyptic riots and supernaturally cruel killers in a nightmarish hellscape that still stands out from other horror media despite its game-y excesses. Bloodshot’s ludicrous story may be more akin to an action-heavy episode of The X-Files rather than a True-Crime-inspired David Fincher film, but it’s an equally valid horror experience even if it’s not as grounded as its predecessor.
Cults, Serial Killers and Bears, oh my!
Moments like the deadly magic show and the infamous bear attack may be a far cry from the down-to-earth scares of Criminal Origins, which I personally think is the scarier title, but I still find this kind of pulpy creativity to be admirable – and I’m clearly not the only one. In fact, the sequel sold better and was slightly better reviewed than its predecessor, though the increased budget meant that it wasn’t big enough of a hit to warrant another sequel (or the long-rumored cinematic spin-off, which was rumored to somehow involve extraterrestrials).
That being said, Monolith co-founder Jace Hall has claimed that he’s simply waiting for the right indie studio to come along and revive the franchise, though I think enough time has passed that developing a traditional sequel simply wouldn’t make much sense at this point. Unfortunately for fans, Condemned 2: Bloodshot is also one of the few games in Monolith’s massive catalogue that never saw a PC release, meaning that you’ll have to track down a copy on either PS3 or Xbox 360 if you feel like diving into this schlocky urban nightmare.
Condemned 2: Bloodshot may not be a masterpiece, but I respect Monolith for experimenting with new ideas while still trying to appeal to a larger audience. In fact, I think it’s a shame that we still haven’t seen anything like these games in the years since, as I’d love to take another trip down the rain-slicked streets of a derelict metropolis and beat up some grubby serial killers. As it stands, I guess we’ll just have to be content with the existing duology. I mean, there’s a entire level where you get chased by a rabid bear in the middle of a serial killer investigation. The scares aren’t exactly subtle, but what more could you want from a horror game?
Boo!
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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