July 18, 2009

Episode 12: Horror Software, Inc.


There's an army of zombies coming right at you, on your left you see a pack of werewolves, on your right a bunch of politicians, and you only have three bullets in the revolver. What do you do, man, what do you do?

The options:
  1. You fight and die like a hero!
  2. You run!
  3. You take out your Republican party membership card and nobody dares to touch you!


On June 3rd, we had a show about scary video games with particular emphasis on the survival horror subgenre, which has made quite a splash since the appearance of the Alone in the Dark series. Most of the video games discussed (modern classics such as Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Dead Space, but also oldies like Doom and Redneck Rampage) are nightmare-inducing in ways that only the best horror films are, and one might even dare say that the games are actually better at throwing people in fits of terror because their monsters never attack famous actors - they attack YOU! Oh, the sweetness of running amok through the endless tunnels of hell, with a terrible monster right behind your back...


Well, this self-defense reflex that permeats horror games is also what is consistently lacking from the respective film adaptations. Some films make it through despite this obvious impediment - the Resident Evil film series is heaps of fun and the Silent Hill adaptation is extremely effective when it takes scenes straight from the games. Most video game adaptations, however, are outright disasters and most of the blame falls at the feet of one Uwe Boll, the man that seems to love being hated. Oh well, what can you do, life was never meant to be perfect.


The music for this episode hits hard with industrial landscapes and beats from artists such as Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails, Throbbing Gristle and Rob Zombie. The ridicilous sounds of that internet meme from a few years back also pop up to remind you that All your base are belong to us! and that horror sometimes is linked purely to stupidity :)

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