Longform
‘Manhunt’ 20 Years Later – How Does Rockstar’s Disturbing Video Game Hold Up?
Rockstar Games are no strangers to controversy, with the developers having become the subject of infamous scandals ranging from Grand Theft Auto’s Hot Coffee mod to the banning of Bully in several countries. However, despite decades of shocking conservative parents by taking gaming to the next level, I think no one would disagree that the project which best represents the company’s dedication to the extreme is 2003’s video game Manhunt, a gritty snuff simulator that takes stealth games into a decidedly terrifying direction.
Borrowing from horrific urban legends and schlocky exploitation flicks in equal measure, the title became a disturbing cult hit that’s still cited today as one of the most gruesome games ever made. And two decades after its release, I think that it’s time to look back on the origins of this strange little experiment in order to find out why there’s never been another horror game quite as infamous as this one.
Despite often being regarded as a small-scale successor to the 3D GTA titles, Manhunt was actually developed concurrently with those larger games. In fact, it was something of a pet project by Rockstar North, with the team wanting to craft a never-before-seen urban horror experience that wouldn’t rely on supernatural monsters or aliens to disturb players. While the Running Man meets 8mm premise of the title led to backlash within the studio itself, with several developers complaining that the project was headed too deep into “Adults Only” territory, the game would ultimately release without a hitch the very same year that it was first announced.
In the game, players take control of James Earl Cash, a death row inmate who finds himself coerced by a mysterious figure known as “The Director” into participating in a large-scale snuff film. Naturally, this results in an interactive grindhouse flick where players are forced to violently murder a wacky collection of psychos and criminals as they attempt to sneak through a dark and gritty gauntlet prepared by the Director’s organization.
With influences ranging from The Warriors (which is fitting since Rockstar would later adapt Walter Hill’s iconic movie into one of the best licensed games of all time) to Michael Mann films (with the game even benefitting from the sultry sounds of Brian Cox, who played Hannibal Lecktor in Mann’s Red Dragon adaptation, Manhunter), Manhunt was Rockstar’s first foray into serious adult-oriented entertainment – lacking many of the satirical elements that first put them on the map.
This more serious approach to storytelling and atmosphere likely played a part in the controversy surrounding the game’s release, with the title even being banned in a handful of countries due to its explicit nature and a supposed “glorification of cruelty.” In fact, it was only this year that New Zealand finally decided to release the game after a thorough re-examination, though it still remains unavailable in places like Germany and Australia.
However, looking back on Manhunt after decades of virtual blood and guts (especially of the high-definition variety), most players will likely come to the conclusion that the original game isn’t as violent and mean-spirited as its reputation makes it out to be. The lack of visual fidelity and some clever camera angles and editing usually mask the game’s crueler executions, and it’s never implied that Cash actually enjoys all this killing, as the protagonist is simply playing along in order to guarantee his freedom.
It’s really the context that makes Manhunt disturbing, with the implication that this secretive group has been hustling homicidal movies with impunity while transforming human beings into impromptu slasher villains making this the murder emulator that parents originally imagined Grand Theft Auto to be. Sure, it can be fun to role-play as a knock-off Michael Myers and stealthily massacre all your opponents, but the game usually makes it quite clear that you’re the one being hunted here.
These thrills are also intensified by the game’s oppressive environments, which all feel appropriately grimy despite the low-poly aesthetic. This is partially due to a genuinely unnerving score by Craig Conner, which could very well serve as the in-game soundtrack to the Director’s snuff masterpiece, featuring distorted tunes that wouldn’t feel out of place in a shot-on-video gore-fest.
Manhunt would later spawn a stand-alone sequel in 2007, with the developers upping the ante on every single aspect of the game and including even more vicious kills (though the Fight-Club-inspired plot was nowhere near as interesting as the snuff conspiracy of the first title). Unfortunately, that would be the last time that Rockstar would dip their toes into serious horror, with their more experimental games becoming a distant memory once the studio realized that they could simply milk the GTA franchise ad nauseum well into the future.
And while I’d argue that Manhunt’s legacy can still be felt in indie titles like Christmas Massacre and Hotline Miami, there’s never been a proper successor to the series – and I don’t think there ever will be. After all, a slow-paced single-player murder-fest would be too niche of a project to be banked by a major developer and would also probably restart the entire violent videogames debate in mainstream media. While I’d love to be proven wrong, it sounds like fans should get used to replaying these sixth-generation titles instead of expecting a modern return to their stealth horror thrills.
Even after 20 years of ever-evolving horror games, Manhunt continues to stand alone as an interactive video nasty that has to be played to be believed. It may not be the digital bogeyman that the media once made it out to be (and it has its fair share of rough edges during the shoot-out levels), but it’s still one hell of a disturbing experience that deserves revisiting in 2023.
At the very least, you’ll never look at a plastic bag the same way again.
Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
‘Infested’ Review – One of the Best Spiders Attack Horror Movies in Years
Dev Patel’s ‘Monkey Man’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home!
Five Underseen Vampire Horror Movies to Stream This Week
‘Stream’ – Horror Movie from the Team Behind ‘Terrifier’ Sets August Theatrical Release
Limited Edition ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’ Monster High Doll Releasing This Week!
You must be logged in to post a comment.