Daylight (2014) - Horror Videogame Review (PS4)

I brought Daylight so that I could play it to review it for my blog. Having read a couple of extremely negative reviews I really wasn't expecting much yet I discovered one of the scariest games I have ever played.

You play as a young woman named Sarah who awakens to find herself deep inside an abandoned psychiatric facility in the dead of night. The only item she has on her is a smart phone that plots a map of her surroundings as she explores and from which a mysterious man is able to communicate with her. She is tasked with collecting 'remnants' which are notes and letters detailing the twisted history of the asylum. Once enough of these are collected a magical room conjures up an important item which then must be taken to a magically locked door to proceed. Unfortunately Sarah is not alone, Evil ghostly women frequently attack her and, who can only be repelled using flares or ran away from. Will she ever escape?

Daylight is really scary, I cannot remember the last time I was so afraid of a game (probably not since the original Fatal Frame/Project Zero). The locations you find yourself in are dark and oppressive and the threat of the ghosts ever played on my mind. I was at first concerned that there was only going to be the one location but there is in fact a natural progression that sees you explore a wide range of different locations, even some levels based outdoors. The creeping fear is one thing but the sudden appearance of a ghost is the money shot on the scales of fear. I lost count of the times I would turn around to find myself face to face with a twisted woman, her eyes glowing yellow, screaming at me. Every time this happened I involuntary shouted out loud (usually some form of swear word), it helped I restricted myself to only playing Daylight at night time in the dark.

There are two essential items you need to get through the game. The first are glow sticks which show up which items in the levels are interactable for often remnants are hidden in drawers and cupboards, the second as I mentioned earlier are the flares which banish the ghost women, both are in short supply and you really do not want to find yourself with these both gone.

While very scary Daylight is not a perfect game. The load times are insane, luckily they only appear when you first load your game. The graphics are not amazing at all, they do the job and I did not mind them but occasionally things look a little bland. More could have been done to improve the plot, the notes and letters you find are occasionally interesting but a lot of them are quite mundane and the voice acting is not the best I have heard, though your characters laboured breathing when you get chased by a ghost or witness a spooky going on (such as a child crying or a chair suddenly flipping over in front of you) is a nice touch.

It is very game like in that there are clear levels, each time you enter a new area and find the remnant list has reset you know exactly what to do. Explore the randomly generated levels looking for the tell tale orange light indicating a remnant, find the magic room and magical exit and rinse and repeat. Occasionally you get pre created levels in between these random ones which help split up what could become a stale process.

For the fear factor alone I have to score Daylight high, a truly terrifying game such as this is hard to find nowadays, sure it is far from perfect, but man is it scary!

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Zombies Ate My Neighbors (1994) - Zombie Videogame Review (Virtual Console)

I had a copy of this on the Megadrive soon after it was released, even back in the early 90's I loved my horror. The frankly shocking and horrifically scary title was reduced to merely 'Zombies' in Europe which I am glad of as I am sure it would have led to a crime wave of violent proportions had the far better name stayed.

You play as either Zeke or Julie; two teenage kids whose neighbourhood has been over run by monsters created by the evil Dr. Tongue. Your goal in each of the 55 levels is to rescue your neighbours before they are killed by the many creatures. Each level has it's own B-Movie style title card to it and takes place in a whole range of locations.

Played at an elevated perspective each level is set out like a maze in which up to ten neighbours are hidden, rescuing them is merely a case of walking into them, but should an enemy do the same they will die with a cartoon angel floating up to heaven. Once all the neighbours are rescued an exit door appears to take you on your way. Starting off in neighbourhoods levels soon take you to many varied locations. You get super markets, hedge mazes, castles, pyramids and much more each one populated with specific enemy types.

Zombies are the most frequent enemy type but there are a large variety of other monsters taken from the best B-movies have to offer. There are Jason Vorhees inspired hockey mask wearing brutes armed with axes (chainsaws in America, but censored for Europe), Chucky inspired evil knife wielding dolls, martians, blobs, giant ants, werewolves, vampires, building sized babies and countless others. The one thing you cannot complain about is lack of variety. To battle these creatures you have access to a lot of power ups and weapons. Rather than guns you have household items. Water pistols, tomatoes, cutlery, plates, soda cans. These all work best against specific enemy types so constantly changing up your weapon is needed to succeed. power ups include a potion that turns you into a hulking monster or a ghost, inflatable clowns that act as decoys and first aid kits to restore lost health.

Special mention has to go to the music, since I first heard it in the early 90's the level 1 music has permanently been scarred into my brain, all the music is pretty damn good but with 50 levels and only a handful of tunes they can get a bit samey after a while.

Zombies Ate My Neighbors is a damn tough game! You have 3 lives and your energy bar does not replenish between levels. Starting off with 10 people to rescue if one dies they stay dead which on the plus side makes the level that little bit shorter but on the flip side there is more chance of losing the game as it is game over should all 10 be killed. I admit I did not complete this, I never have been able to but after the first 20 levels I am always a bit bored. I wouldn't usually complain about the length of a game but this is just too long due to the repetitive nature of what you are doing. The weapons don't feel like they have much impact and are fiddly to switch between, and many enemies are too tough meaning you get swarmed by creatures you simply don't have the fire power to beat without taking massive damage.

While I do like this game and the sheer amount of variety you get given it is just too hard for it's own good. A password system every five levels helps with this but I just wish you were given more of a fighting chance when it comes to fighting the monsters. Also occasionally you have no chance to save neighbours before they are killed which is always frustrating. So a rough diamond but the graphics and music still hold up today and I imagine it is less boring in two player mode.

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ReZistance (2014) - Zombie Horror Film Review

When Black T Productions contacted me asking if I wanted to review a zombie film I did not offer much ReZistance (sorry had to get that pun out there to begin with!). I love zombie films as the name of my blog would suggest. ReZistance is an indie film and was made for the sum of $2,500 so I was prepared for some dodgy acting and special effects.

After a mysterious woman conducts some black magic the dead begin to rise attacking and killing the living. With zombie apocalypse in full swing a group of survivors that includes a martial arts student, a brother and sister duo, a biker, and a retired cop team up. The ex cop; Luke thinks he knows just who is responsible for the uprising of the undead and so together they all set out to put an end to the horror.

To begin with the acting is not the worst I have ever seen, in fact for an indie film it is not bad at all, there was no one that was so bad as to rip me out of the immersion, at least for the human characters. With the amount of zombies (and there are thankfully quite a few) there are always going to be some bad zombie acting, this includes the usual thing of zombie extras who are grinning ear to ear enjoying being in the moment and a quite ad hoc method in that there is no uniform way the ghouls walk, some echoing the classic George Romero shamble while others seem to be just walking around normally

The special effects were quite hit and miss, digital blood spurts were used which were passable but then you get less great digital effects such as a news report that featured a bad looking digital zombie stumbling around and some wounds that are created by digital overlays. On the physical side of things there are a lot of bloodied corpses, zombies in general look the part, lack of budget is never a hinderance in the zombie genre as it doesn't take much to make someone look suitably dead! One sequence when a zombie gets beheaded was quite poor and at times I got the feeling I was watching a live action role play rather than a proper film.

It sounds like I have nothing but bad things to say about ReZistance but these faults all add to the charm of the film for this is a fun feel good piece. The main plot is quite serious and if the whole film had been dark and morose I don't think I would have liked it so much, however there are comedic elements put in to lighten the mood and work really quite well. You get unrelated little excerpts in which the director Mark Colombo playing himself (and wearing a ReZistance T-Shirt) talks with a friend on how they are going to survive the apocalypse. These are quite funny and poke fun at the traits of zombie films and are infrequent enough that they are always a pleasure to watch. One of these little interludes even features an awesome cameo from wrestler legend 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan!

The plot is simple and yet is surprisingly well paced, for the most part it is tight and features lots of action, highlights being a fight with a zombie martial artist and a very one sided zombies Vs paint ballers battle. This doesn't shy away from having quite a few child zombie deaths either, good to see for a change. Sometimes scenes go on slightly too long, especially towards the beginning, a prime example is a long sequence of a biker riding to a biker bar and then back home again, seemed to go on forever. There is a lot of generic rock music here that sounds similar to music in millions of other low budget films but it is not all bad. My favourite part of the film by far is a beautiful song that is performed by one of the survivors around halfway though that is mixed up with a montage of other survivors and zombies fighting and dying; a standout moment.

I loved the use of filters, at set points these appear, such as given the film a grainy look as if it is from the 1970's or making it look like night when it isn't, quite unique and interesting. Sometimes to show what characters are thinking silent overlays are used, also quite effective. The supernatural aspect of ReZistance was slightly bizarre and some of it didn't make that much sense but that being the trigger for zombie apocalypse I was happy with, not an over done root cause.

While the low budget certainly shows there is no denying that ReZistance is a fun film that I am glad I got the opportunity to see. Some nifty editing and directing really help things along and even with a few scenes that dragged slightly I did not feel the onset of boredom. A decent effort for sure.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops II (2012) - Zombie Mode

I could hardly do a blog post about the first Call of Duty: Black Ops zombie mode without doing a follow up on the zombie maps and modes of Black Ops II. This time around for whatever reason the graphics don't appear to be as solid. There are far more modes to play on the levels but for bizarre reasons only certain maps feature certain modes.

The maps that come with the game attempted something different in that they are far smaller than previous ones but there is a bus that you can get on which drives you around between them all. Sounds better than it actually is in practice as it is quite hard to visit all the maps this way. Just like my Black Ops post I will do a run down of each of the zombie maps available.

Bus Depot - A small map set surprisingly at a bus depot. A fan can be constructed to bypass sealed doors whilst several rounds into it the ground breaks open revealing lava. This and the other maps that make up Green Run (more on that later) all feature these lava cracks in the ground. Walking on them causes your character to take damage while zombies are set on fire if they touch the lava. These lava zombies explode once killed. There are two modes for Bus Depot, the first is 'Tranzit' which has the bus that takes you round to all four initial maps, whilst 'Survival' has you surviving as many rounds as possible but without the benefit of any perks.

Town - Takes place in a medium sized destroyed lava filled town which features a bank, a bar and plenty of ruined cars. There are again two modes; 'Grief' which is a multiplayer mode in which you are pitted against a second team and so must try and survive longer than them, and 'Survival' which on this map lets you use perks.

Farm - A small map that features a barn and a farmhouse. This location is full of smoky fog, one of the better levels. Like Town this features 'Grief' and 'Survival' as the modes.

Diner - You can get here on the bus route in Bus Depot's 'Tranzit' mode but you can also play 'Turned' on this level set around a diner (such unoriginal names!). 'Turned' is a fantastic mode in which one player is a zombie who then has to attack the human players. Kill a human and they become the zombie, if a human kills the zombie they get a weapon upgrade. These four levels together make up Green Run. There is quite the post apocalyptic theme going on here which spreads over into some of the other maps as shall become apparent.

Nuketown - One of the most popular maps from the multiplayer game gets reinvented here. It is still the classic Nuketown design but apocalyptic with buildings in ruins and a giant mushroom cloud in the distance. The small size makes for some frantic battles, especially the houses which create giant bottlenecks. Me and my awesome friend Lucinda once managed to get to Round 20 which for me was a fantastic achievement! The only mode for this level is 'Survival'.

Alcatraz Island - As the name suggests this takes place in Alcatraz Prison. Set during new years eve 1933 this has you playing as one of four gangsters voiced by Joe Pantoliano, Ray Liotta, Michael Madsen and Chazz Palminteri as you battle zombified guards and inmates. There is also a hulking zombie that appears to hunt you down. There are two modes; 'Grief' which is set in a part of the map called 'Cell Block', and a story based mode called Mob of the Dead. Mob of the Dead is the first and only zombie mode that is actually completable and starts with an intro sequence showing how the four gangsters escape their prison cells only to find themselves caught up in zombie apocalypse and killed. The game itself starts with you as a ghost and having to resurrect your corpse. There are electricity boxes dotted throughout the huge location that you can use to kill yourself which is actually a useful thing to do as in your ghost form you can reach high ledges, use your electricity attack to activate switches, and pass through certain walls. A great level which is super fun.

Excavation Site 64 - The map is set in Northern France in 1918 during World War I and reveals how the zombies in zombie mode came to be. There is just the one mode titled Origins and this starts with an ace intro scene showing German soldiers uncovering zombified knights and then the four player controlled characters being introduced (the four which are in the majority of zombie maps). Zombie soldiers are the main enemy type but there are six machines dotted around the map which when activated spawn in zombie knights. Throughout you get story about about a creepy girl who may be the key to the zombies origins. There are gigantic robots roaming the level, they are as tall as buildings and can crush you underfoot if your not careful! A lot of the map takes place in bunkers and trenches.

Resolution 1295 - This map is set in an underground Western town and has you fighting cowboy zombies. There are three modes, the first is Buried and has an intro sequence featuring the four characters from the Green Run levels who are trying to survive in a post apocalyptic world. The level starts in a factory on the surface but a broken floor leads down to the secret town that has shops, a church, courthouse and more, quite a confined map with lots of corridors so you never feel safe as there is hardly any open areas. The other two modes are 'Turned' and 'Grief' and take place exclusively underground.

Great Leap Forward - The last map is again post apocalyptic and takes place over two ruined tower blocks in China. There is just the one mode called Die Rise which again features an intro sequence. The tower block features a few benches to assemble items, one of these lets you create a gun that shoots purple goo that kills zombies on contact but also makes the floor super slippy making you and the zombies slip and slide. Once the power is turned on you can ride the elevators to the rooftop where you can leap to an adjacent tower block. Every five or so rounds you must survive against leaping monkey type monsters who don't deal too much damage but are tricky to shoot. I love this giant level, loads of fun!

At first I was disappointed with the zombie levels in Black Ops II, the default ones are not that great and I see the ability to travel between maps as a failed experiment. The DLC zombie maps though are so well designed and make for some great variety. I just wish there had been the option to do all game modes on each map rather than being confined to certain ones.

Hater (2006) by David Moody - Horror Book Review

With my often chronicled love of David Moody's Autumn series of zombie books I never actually checked out any of his other books. I picked up Hater late last year and finally got around to reading it last week. While there are no zombies as such he again tackles the concept of the end of the world we know.

There seems to be a disease sweeping the globe, It makes the affected person suddenly become a vicious killer completely out of nowhere, no one is safe, strangers and close ones alike can in the blink of an eye loose all reason and turn to murder anyone. At first it is a few random cases but as the days go on more and more people get this horrific affliction and before long the government appear to loose all control as thousands upon thousands of people turn into psychotic killers with no explanation or cure in sight. Hater follows Danny McCoyne who along with his wife and 3 kids tries to survive in a world that is slowly going towards destruction.

Told from Danny's perspective Hater takes place slightly over a week. Each day has its own title card and this along with the brief punchy chapters creates the inability to stop reading. I just could not put Hater down at all with every spare second I had I found myself returning again and again to it. The concept of something that could strike anyone at any moment is a terrifying prospect and Moody uses introduction chapters to each day usually with the excerpt of someone who is very soon to become a Hater (the term the media use to describe the victims). Best friends, husband and wife, strangers; no one is safe which creates an intense feeling of paranoia.

Danny's troubles are very real; he has a terrible job, money troubles and problems at home with the struggle of raising three young children. Even when there is open violnce on the streets he is forced again and again to face the danger as he can't afford to loose his job, or to go out and get food. Each time he leaves the relative safety of his home I found myself anxious for his safety knowing there could be trouble at any point. The theme of paranoia even goes to his family home though, as while they have barricaded themselves in their house the prospect remains that at any point in time someone could turn on the others. He is by no means a perfect person, he seems very human and has many flaws.

A lot of the theme of Hater is the media's role in swaying the general public on issues of note. Early questions surround just whether the apparent increase in the random violent attacks occurring throughout the country is just a result of news outlets finding stories to report on that normally would not get shown. Of course this turns out all to be a moot point as there really is an epidemic going on.

Rather than leaving you guessing as to what goes on in the mind of a Hater very early on, in fact the very first part of the book reveals just what is happening, the affected person suddenly getting an intense feeling of fear that they are to be attacked and so feel the need to lash out to protect themselves. This makes the whole term Hater immediately redundant in the eyes of the reader, would have been a good twist later on to reveal this was the true motivation but it works as it is.

The sense of paranoia is incredible, the feeling that anyone could turn on you, that any argument you find yourself in has you wondering if the person your speaking to has turned or is just showing natural emotion. Just over half the way into the book and things completely flip around. From that point on the story is told from the perspective of a Hater and holds up a mirror to all you have been told before hand. Just who are the real monsters? The Haters or the ones trying to control the situation. I for one stick to what I thought and found it hard to sympathise with the killers but this was an interesting and unique angle to go on.

While Haters are human, retain speech and all functions anyone else has they still fit into the zombie genre well with their unrelenting violence on unsuspecting and powerless victims, the books end I have seen in any number of zombie films, but usually from a completely different angle.

Well written and addictive Hater is another fantastic David Moody book. As an end note I am very tired today and know for certain this review suffers due to my exhaustion from a bad day job. I set myself the goal of doing a blog post a day for all of October and so here it is; a terrible review for an amazing book!

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Dracula Untold (2014) - Fantasy Horror Film Review

Vampire films are often hit and miss, especially ones which revolve around the Prince of Darkness himself. Dracula Untold looked like it could be interesting though in that it was to be the origin story for Dracula, chronicling how Vlad Tepes became a vampire.

As a child Vlad (Luke Evans) was given over to the Turks by his father along with 1000 other children to become a soldier in order to protect his father's kingdom from being destroyed. He survived the brutal training methods the Turks used and rose to become a figure feared on the battlefield. As a man he returns back to his kingdom to become King. For ten years he rules his land in peace,  but one day the Turks arrive and like in the past demand 1000 children be given over to them, including Vlad's son. Deciding he can't comply with the demand and knowing this will lead to war against an unbeatable army Vlad in desperation visits a dark creature that lives in the mountain. The monster grants Vlad the power to destroy his enemies by turning him into a vampire. He has the power of the vampire for three days after which he will regain his humanity, but should he drink blood during this time he will stay a creature of the night for eternity...

Wow, huge writers block coming on, not a good start. There are some great special effects in Dracula Untold yet at the same time the actual sets, and set pieces sometimes seem to suggest a lack of funds to really bring the true vision to the film. The focus of the film is on Vlad and if he can resist the darkness and save his people. The thirst for blood is ever present but seems to come and go depending on if the scene calls for it. While his decision to become a monster to save his people was well handled it was obvious to me that actually the plot was all caused by his wife Mirena, if you look out for it all the key points of the film are due to her.

As a vampire Vlad has super strength, can control bats, and can turn into a swarm of bats, whilst the usual foils of sunlight, silver, stakes through the heart and crucifixes all apply at one point or another. The effects for sunlight and silver damage are not bad but this is a mostly bloodless affair with blood only showing up occasionally if it is to do with the story. There are quite a few battle sequences but as a rule these have great build ups then all too brief payoffs, though Evans certainly looks like a powerful force. One great sequence in which Vlad is stood on top of a tower controlling a deadly swarm of bats was pretty darn awesome but then later you have a pretty lame one on one fight between him and the leader of the Turks that was predictable, unoriginal and kind of boring truth be told.

A lot of the plot seemed to be stolen from the video game Castlevania: Lords of Shadow series which I found bizarre, overall it is nothing special. We already know beforehand Vlad will become Dracula so while it is interesting to see him wrestle with his urges it's more a case of watching to see what makes him loose his humanity rather than wondering if he can win out. The acting is acceptable, the main characters hold it together whilst the legions of unimportant extras have quite a stereotypical fantasy look to them all and just all kind of merge into one. There are some moderate plot holes stumbled into, including a giant one near the films later half. There is an open ending suggesting the possibility of a sequel and it would be interesting to see where that went (again if you have played Lords of Shadow then it won't be too surprising an end).

With a decent musical score, some pretty great action sequences and a solid performance from Evans (though the amount of times he falls onto his knees and screams is kinda humorous) it is the other side of the coin that brings Dracula Untold down to merely being an ok film. I did enjoy it but just slightly cribs too much from films that have come before to stand firmly out on it's own.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) - Zombie Mode

I have long intended to do a blog post about the awesome zombie modes in Call of Duty: Black Ops 1 and 2. It was first included in Call of Duty: World at War but I won't talk about that much as the maps were re-released as DLC for Black Ops. I promised I would state that I only ever got into the zombie mode due to my dear friend Lucinda who is a keen advocate of it. I have discovered I wrote about this two years ago but hey; this is an update. My original post on this can be found here.

The zombie mode tasks you with one objective only; survive. It takes place over a confined map in which zombies assault barricades eventually destroying them and coming after you. Whilst it can be played in single player it is really designed for co-op play. You earn points from killing zombies which you can use to buy better weapons, power ups from vending machines (such as quick revive), and unlock more areas in the map you are in. Each round the zombies get stronger and there are more of them. You will die! The puzzle box is the most essential item to find in each level. Opening it gives you a random weapon, the one hit kill Ray-gun is the one you really want to get.

I  don't own all the maps for Black Ops but I do have most of them. Following is a small description of the various maps...

Ascension: I don't own this map, it takes place at an abandoned Soviet Cosmodrome and features four characters from World at War. There is a special enemy type in the form of space monkeys (sounds cool).

Call of the Dead: Again I do not own this map. This one takes place on the Siberian coast and features a lighthouse and a ship wreck. A special enemy type is zombie legend George Romero! You play as one of four horror icons; Danny Trejo, Robert Englund, Michael Rooker, and Sarah Michelle Gellar who provide voices for these characters.

Shangri-La: The last of the Black Ops zombie maps I do not own. This one takes place in a jungle and features a host of new enemy types (such as a zombie monkey) and again the character you play as are the four ones from World at War.

Kino Der Toten (Theatre of the Dead) - This is the first of the three maps that come with the disc and is one of the best zombie maps. As the title suggests this is set in a theatre and has you battling Nazi zombies as well as crawling zombies that explode upon death. It is quite a large map and includes a huge theatre room as well as a teleporter that briefly takes you away to a safe room for a breather. Every five or so rounds rather than zombies you have to survive against Hellhounds that spawn in randomly.

"Five" - Set in the Pentagon, you play as either John F.Kennedy, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon or Robert McNamara. The layout for this one is quite linear rather than the looping design most maps have. Once the press room is over run you can take an elevator down to the mission room. From here you can get to some offices which includes a teleporter that takes you back to the start. A hard level I find.

Dead Ops Arcade - Different to all the other maps this is an overhead shooter similar to Smash TV. You are attacked by waves of enemies and after they are all killed you move on to the next arena. There is lots of treasure and power ups to collect. Is ok but I often get bored with this one.

Nacht Der Untoten  - This was the very first zombies map and it shows due to a very small layout. Nonetheless it is fun and chaotic after an initially slow start. Set in a ruined building.

Verruckt (Asylum) - There are many doors in this level and as with quite a few of the maps the power is off until you find the switch. It seems that you either spawn in one of two parts of the building. Another level I never seem to do well in.

Shi No Numa - For this one you are fighting Japanese zombies in a building in the middle of a swamp. Quite a large level and features Hellhounds again. The swamp water makes your character move slowly.

Der Riese  - Starting in a courtyard in the middle of the factory the big draw for this one is to initiate four different teleporters which then opens up a Pack-a-punch machine in the courtyard (this machine upgrades your weapons). Another large map that has quite a few ledges you can drop down from to make cheeky escapes from death.

Moon - The last map and the most bizarre. Moon features the largest zombie map out of both Black Ops and Black Ops 2. Starting on Earth you have to get to a teleporter that takes you to a secret Nazi moon base. On the moon you have to wear a space suit to avoid suffocating while altered gravity means you can jump long distances. I have yet to see all this level has to offer. Here you get teleporting crawling zombies as well as zombie astronauts who cause you to teleport to a random section of the map if they grab you!

So there you have it, quite a self indulgent blog post but it is something I have always wanted to write about. I love the zombie mode in this game, I wish they would make a stand alone Call of Duty zombie game and no, the mobile games do not count.

The Killing Games (2012) - Horror Film Review

I meant to watch this for review early on this year, however a combination of factors (some my fault, some not) led to my viewing being delayed until this weekend. I have previously covered The Killing Games (here) where I wrote about it had been banned from being played at a film festival due to high levels of violence.

The Killing Games takes place in a remote part of Canada. After witnessing the brutal murder of a couple and her best friend by two psychopaths Elysia runs home to her father who vows to do anything to protect her. Meanwhile a misfit bunch of criminals head out to do a heist which doesn't quite go according to plan. These two separate story-lines seem unrelated and play out almost like two different films but come together in an interesting way.

From the trailer I saw many moons ago this seemed like it was going to be a home invasion film but it is actually much deeper than that with the focus of the film different to what I expected. I thought it would revolve around the two psychos; Son of Satan (Edwin Autridge) and Dirty Jesus (John Scott). These two characters are nasty, awful scum who live to rape and kill anyone they wish to do so. I detested these characters but at the same time they are almost hypnotic in the way they carry on. Satan is almost feral, the physical acting is top notch here, Jesus on the other hand seems the more intelligent of the two though both are evenly matched. Their time in the film is limited but they manage to steal all their scenes and come across as quite menacing and intimidating.

From the brutal opener I was not sure I would get any enjoyment out of The Killing Games but as I settled in to the bad acting I found myself laughing out loud at the silliness of it all, the dialogue is ridiculous, the characters hyper unrealistic and everything is really surreal and barmy that I come to see that this appears to be completely intentional. For the most part I saw this as a darkly comedic venture, I can't recall the last time I laughed so much during a film. Characters constantly over explain everything over and over again; the wacky Birdman being the prime culprit. Characters also flip between emotions like they are all bi-polar being happy then super sad or angry then back to being happy all in the blink of an eye, is all so wonderfully inconsistent.

So for a film that has previously been banned is it extreme? Hell yes, there are a few rape scenes that were not pleasant to watch at all, quite a bit of nudity and bloody violence and bucketfuls of swearing. This seems to exist in an alternate reality where life is cheap. Case in point is Elysia who runs constantly screaming for what must have been a fair few hours but then as soon as she makes it home she starts acting like not much has happened, her Dad so unconcerned that he even leaves her to go help a stranger whose car has broken down. Meanwhile her cousin shows up who tells a macabre story and puts on a super violent film for her to watch. There are a few mini films and short stories told that are quite disturbing and cement the fact that what we are seeing doesn't take place in our dimension!

In general the acting is pretty bad but I can't tell if this was intentional, the weird gang of criminals in particular are so bizarre in how they all act that even the heavy use of drugs throughout can't explain away. So weird, but so funny at the same time. Barry J.Gillis has the makings of a cult classic here. It is not all silliness here though, the way the disparate plots thread together is very well done and there is a twisted sense of justice in that everyone who is killed in the film have been shown to have done immoral things earlier on in the film and so in a way deserve it (excluding the murders in the initial intro sequence). Special mention goes to Kim Sonderholm's genius bit part here (who I swear appears in every indie film that has ever been made!)

I enjoyed The Killing Games far more than I ever expected to, it is a unique experience and feels like a world like no other, surprised to find myself recommending this if it sounds like your thing.

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The House of the Dead 4 (2012) - Zombie Horror Videogame Review (PS3)

Originally released in Arcades in 2005 The House of the Dead 4 was then ported to Playstation 3 in 2012. I did actually play this once in the wild, the gimmick for this game was that you had a machine gun as your weapon. While this is able to be played with the Move controller I don't actually own one so had to play with a controller which is hardly ideal.

Set in 2003 three years after the events of The House of the Dead 2 (an old badly written review that links to!) this is actually a prequel to the third game. AMS agent James Taylor was at the AMS European HQ as he believed the events of the second game (in which a nameless European city came under zombie attack) were not over. Disaster strikes and he ends up getting trapped underground along with Kate Green (another agent). Three days pass and eventually they free themselves only to find another zombie invasion has begun. Having an idea of just who is responsible James with Kate tagging along head out into the zombie infested streets to search for answers.

As always this is an on rails light gun game that sees you shooting your way past lots of undead. The machine gun weapon means the amount of zombies has been ramped up to high levels, most can be killed just by spray and praying, they seem to be far weaker to account for this increased amount. Zombies of various types are the main enemy though other creatures such as giant leeches, bat creatures and midgets also appear. I am never too sure of the lore but I suspect the zombies in this universe are all machine made rather than being what were once humans which explains away a lot of the repeated enemy types.

The bosses were the real highlight of The House of the Dead 2 for me but here they are nothing special at all seeming to be made up of various boss types already seen before. A lot of the bosses are just huge lumbering monsters with the weak spot usually being in roughly the same place each time. One giant fat boss was sort of fun as he was impervious to your attacks and your bullets sort of bounced off his flabby belly, and the final boss (like a technicolour fly-man giant) was well designed.

There are 6 stages in the main game that take in a series of dull locations such as a shopping district, subway, sewers and offices but also take you down memory lane by having you visit a couple of key locations from the second game. There are some alternate routes to take which provides some replay value. Completing the game opens up a new mode that is set after the events of the main game but only features two additional stages.

Previous games in the series have been quite gory (as gory as you can get with green blood anyway) with holes being shot through enemies and limbs shot off. This game though seems to dial back on the violence, enemies unsatisfyingly seem to kind of melt when shot and while the blood is now red it is so watery and hard to see that it may as well not be there. Everything in general seems more cartoon like. Another complaint with the graphic style is that reoccurring characters such as James and G look absolutely nothing like they did in the other games.

Being a Sega House of the Dead game the story is bananas and patchy at best. There is always a strange disconnect between the serious story and the jovial characters who make jokes and odd comments despite it looking like the end of the world. The voice acting as always is truly terrible and the plot just an excuse to get you fighting in various locations.

This is about as good as the third game which isn't really a compliment, nothing whatsoever to rival the brilliance of two. If you have a Move controller then add on an extra zombie head to my score, even then you will not be in for a thrill ride.

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Autumn: The Human Condition by David Moody (2013) - Zombie Book Review

Autumn: The Human Condition actually first came out in 2005. Years in the past I reviewed it but the sands of time (and the fact I was even worse at writing back then) meant that review no longer exists. In 2013 the unthinkable happened; the book was re-released but with around a third more content included! What was already a damn good book became pretty much essential if your a fan of the Autumn series.

The Human Condition is an anthology with a difference. it contains fifty short stories all taking place in the Autumn universe Moody created. These stories are in chronological order starting with Day 1 of the infection that destroyed the world all the way up to Day 119. Many of the stories feature characters that were in the five Autumn books (Autumn, Autumn: The City, Autumn: Purification, Autumn: Disintegration, and Autumn: Aftermath) while many more feature original characters never before seen.

There is such a wide variety of characters and story types that there really is something for everyone. The initial first couple of days there is a slight samey feel as pretty much the same thing is told over and over again but after this things really improve with a whole host of hilarious and depressing stories. A lot of the people focused on are really not great people and so their plights become quite funny. Duck and Cover follows council man Ray Cox who after years of trying to remain inconspicuous in his job now finds himself the centre of attention and the one responsible for re-establishing order. Office Politics meanwhile follows Simon Walters who is existing in a state of complete denial, still carrying out his nine to five job at the bank despite overwhelming odds. Elsewhere you have Lester Prescott whose plan to make his home into a fortress ends with disastrous results.

Many of these stories are cautionary tales with the flawed characters getting their just desserts but others are more touching and sad such as Angel and the fantastic Joe and Me (a key story that the book ends on, had me near in tears at one point!). A few key themes that seem to stick throughout the Autumn-verse are rebellious teenagers (here seen with Webb, Digital and Skin) and a large variety of jilted ex-lovers (Oh No, Not You Again and others). Many contain solitary characters though some feature larger groups such as the series of stories that show how the cast of Disintegration came to be.

Moody really demonstrates his ability to not only tell humorous and touching tales but also to really get in the heads of the characters he has created. Often in his series I would find myself getting confused by the amount of varying personalities so having mostly just one person per story really fleshes them out.

A fitting end to the Autumn series and a treat for people who have read those ones. As a side note the very last story of the 2005 release has been removed in this edition, but when there is so much more extra content (plus the zinger of having the out of time line Joe and Me to finish off things) it is not that missed and was only a few pages long anyway. A top tier zombie anthology.

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Outlast (2013-14) - Horror Videogame Review (PS4)

One of the main reasons I got a new laptop was so that I would be able to run Outlast. I had done a few hours of it on the PC but thought being able to play it on a TV screen would be much more fun and so got the PS4 version when I saw it in a sale. Outlast is a first person survival horror game.

You play as Miles Upshur; an investigative journalist who has travelled to the remote Mount Massive Asylum after receiving an anonymous tip that inhumane experiments are being performed on the inmates there. Sneaking into the asylum you soon discover that the patients are all free and that the staff all appear to be dead, unfortunately by the time you find this out your entrance is no longer available. Before you are able to get the main doors open you are drugged and awake deep in the mad house. Armed only with your video camera you must avoid the attention of the murderous, sadistic crazies and find a way to escape the nightmare...

There is no combat at all in Outlast, enemies must be ran away from, or you must hide from them. The video camera you have access to makes the game feel like a 'found footage' version of a game. Whilst you do not need to have your camera out I found it much more atmospheric to film everything. Your camera also has night vision on it which is essential for traversing the dimly lit locations. The night vision drains your batteries so juggling between using it and not is a big part of the game. A cool part in which you loose your camera for a time really highlights just how useful it is, in the dark you have to instead rely on lightning to briefly light up the rooms you are in.

Many of the inmates of Mount Massive are not aggressive towards you, many walk around, sit rocking back and forth or even give you assistance. There are certain crazies who are extremely hostile to you and pop up through out the game to chase you down. A giant man covered in chains was the most irritating of these, he seemed to appear everywhere I went causing much swearing and panic as I ran from him. These chase sequences are great when everything goes to plan but they do get annoying when yet again you find yourself chased into a dead end and killed. There are plenty of signs in the asylum to gently guide you on the correct path and I am very glad there is no hand holding when it comes to telling you were to go but occasionally I did get annoyed that I appeared to be lost.

From the administration block to hospital wards, sewers and cell blocks there is quite a lot of variety through Outlast. The drive to find an exit is ever present and it plays with you by several times throughout the experience giving you false hope that you are about to finally escape the horror. I loved these teases and fell for them time and time again. One great moment had you strapped to a wheelchair, your captor wheeling you to the open exit door telling you that you were free to leave if you wished (of course being strapped in a chair you cant do this!) There is a constant thunder storm outside which really adds to the atmospheric feeling of being trapped inside a horror film.

Outlast is pretty linear, once you have completed it there is not too much incentive to return unless you want to do it just to experience the pretty entertaining story once again. There are files dotted around the asylum that shed light on what is going on, whilst if you have your camera out you will occasionally get the thoughts of your character popping up. The music is great but the voice actors are not amazing and characters in general do not look fantastic. Outlast is let down by not many character models, there only seems to be about 6 or 7 different inmate designs which took me out of the experience. The lack of designs also had me feeling that the reoccurring boss characters were not reoccurring at all and meant to be different enemies when they were not. The music and sound effects are decent though.

Outlast is at it's scariest with it's jump scares of which there are many, these always made me shout out loud in fright! There is not so much creeping terror, at points I was afraid but in general the only thing you have to fear are the boss characters and occasional crazy armed with a pole, once you have been killed once or twice by these people they loose their fear factor and I instead found myself getting annoyed when once again I was butchered. There is a slight supernatural edge to the game that I actually found myself appreciating and some more open areas kept things from getting stale.

I have not really ever played a game quite like this, I guess Amnesia is the closest thing but that I was not that impressed with. A fun survival horror that I for the most part enjoyed and I will certainly be checking out the DLC when it reduces in price but I am dubious that there is much reason to replay.

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White Zombie (2014) - Zombie Horror Film Review

It is what I have lazily termed Shocktober; a month where I intend to do a blog post every single day to celebrate this great spooky month. Starting off is a review of White Zombie which is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name.

Madeline White (Scarlett Sheppard) and Neil Bellamy arrive on a mysterious island to get married. On the boat ride over they befriend a local plantation owner Gilles Beaumonde who falls in love with White. Once on the island he enlists the help of evil voodoo magician Severin Deveraux to help him get her for himself. Deveraux has a small army of zombies and provides the plantation owner with a special potion that will make White appear to die so that the duo can later 'resurrect' her.

I saw the original White Zombie many years ago and as one of the first ever zombie films I can't say I was that impressed. The voodoo magician of that version was named Murder Legendre and played by legend Bela Lugosi but Deveraux is played with relish by Eric Vasbinder who does a great job of hamming up the role, truly a dispicable character. For some bizarre reason many of the cast appear to have had their voices dubbed over with special effects used, sadly Deveraux has such a deep booming artificial voice that it always sounds like he should be doing voice overs for film trailers and doesn't appear realistic. At one point a character says he looks like he has the fires of hell dancing in his eyes and to his credit Vasbinder really does look like a man possessed!

White Zombie while not having the biggest budget still works as a period piece with characters dressed in old fashioned clothes and getting around via horses. I loved the effort put in to make this seem like it was happening in the 1930's and a lot of the cast do great jobs, sure many of them vastly over act but they put effort in. Sadly the main male lead; Bellamy is played by someone who has zero screen presence and appears to stumble a lot with his lines of dialogue. It is hard to feel anything for this pathetic character and he just manages to fade into the background even in scenes where he is the only person on camera!

More in line with old zombie films voodoo is the cause of these undead ghouls. There is a supernatural vein running through White Zombie, the zombies appear to be authentic rather than just people under a spell but don't do anything threatening, they are just made to work (using zombies in place of horses to pull a cart in one scene is pretty funny as it would have been quicker for the passenger to simply walk). Unlike the original there are a lot of good voodoo practitioners too, they themselves resolve the plot rather than Bellamy who serves no real purpose. The rhyming lines they have can get quite cheesy but the costume design is good and I loved the eyes painted onto their eyelids.

At two hours long this does drag a bit, I found myself getting quite bored on more than one occasion and it is not scary at all, a traditional story that doesn't surprise but is mostly entertaining enough. You can tell effort was made to make White Zombie, it shows in the set design, and the enthusiastic acting of much of the cast. Far better than I expected it to be.

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