Remembering the Lost Souls of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

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With all of the advancements in video game technology over the years, I'm still surprised over the lack of diversity in the area of horror gaming. Sure, I enjoy intense survival horror games, but the offerings of quality horror games outside of this particular format are pretty thin. In other words, compelling horror games that do NOT involve shooting hordes of monsters and instead focus on eerie settings, a creepy plot, and a mood of steadily building dread are far and few in between.

One of the shining examples of non-weapons-based horror gaming for the current generation of consoles is Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Even though this game was released for the Wii in December 2009, I finally got around to finishing it. Even though I'm late in the game (no pun intended) when it comes to writing about this title, Shattered Memories impressed me in ways that few games do that I couldn't let this go by without posting a few observations about it (particularly from my background as a horror movie buff) and my recommendation for adding it to your game collection if you haven't already. Read on ...

I haven't played any of the other Silent Hill games, so I have no other examples from this franchise to which I can compare Shattered Memories. On the other hand, I've noticed that certain horror movie plots, such as those that involve zombies, vampires, werewolves, and alien invaders, are well suited for conversion into video games. Thus, what makes Shattered Memories so remarkable is that it has taken the plot structure common to a subgenre of horror movies I call "Lost Soul" movies--namely, a subgenre that includes Carnival of Souls, Jacob's Ladder, Head Trauma, and The Abandoned--and turned it into a satisfying video game, something that I didn't think was possible for this subgenre.

Lost Soul movies usually revolve around a protagonist who has experienced some kind of forgotten trauma. The trauma is forgotten either because it happened so long ago or that it was so intense and violent that it caused the protagonist to experience memory loss. The protagonist is also haunted as the result of the trauma. The hauntings may be the result of hallucinations induced by the trauma, or they may be caused by a supernatural presence; depending on the movie, the difference between the hallucinatory and the supernatural is never made clear and they remain indistinguishable. The hauntings prompt the protagonist to try to understand the trauma, which results in the revelation of an existential truth so shocking that the protagonist is never the same again. The Lost Soul narratives are apt metaphors for what trauma survivors experience in the real world, which is why they make for effectively chilling horror stories.


In Shattered Memories, you play as the character of Harry Mason. The game alternates between Harry's experiences in the town of Silent Hill as he searches for his 7-year-old daughter Cheryl after a car crash during a seemingly endless snow storm, and his therapy session with Dr. Michael Kaufmann that focuses on the car crash. Harry doesn't remember what happened after the car crash that would have resulted in Cheryl's disappearance, and it initially appears that the therapy session with Dr. Kaufmann is intended to help Harry cope with the aftermath of the crash. Yet as the game progresses, the relationship between these two events becomes less obvious, and the solution to the mystery behind it all can only be revealed by Silent Hill itself.

Complicating Harry's quest to find his daughter amidst snow drifts large enough to block entire streets are the sudden appearances of Nightmares. (No, I'm not making this up--it's what they are called in the instruction manual.) Nightmares are when all of Silent Hill suddenly freezes under a glacial layer of ice and Harry is stalked by faceless, fleshy, screeching creatures called Raw Shocks. (It's a play on psychology terms--"Raw Shock", as in the Rorschach ink blot test.) The Nightmare scenes are very similar to the scenes in Carnival of Souls where Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is relentlessly stalked by ghoulish figures while the residents of Salt Lake City appear oblivious to what is happening to her. Another nod by the game to Carnival of Souls is a scene where Harry is trapped in a car that falls off of a bridge and into the water. (Then again, the therapist's last name, Kaufmann, might also be a reference to the original 1956 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which also featured a similar character with the same last name.)


As game designs go, Shattered Memories earns its place as an award-winning horror game in its creation of the detailed, interactive environment that is Silent Hill. Throughout the game, Silent Hill shifts randomly from a town that's shut down due to a snow storm, to a town that feels all but abandoned, to a town completely covered by ice during the Nightmare scenes. These changes sometimes happen within minutes of each other, thus adding to the game's disorienting mood. The town itself also feels like it's communicating with Harry in a jumbled, disorderly way: Shadows appear that move on their own, buildings reveal parts of the town's hidden--and sometimes brutal--history, and detailed figures of ice form in rooms to represent fleeting moments between people that are forever frozen in time.

Another highlight of the game is its creative usage of Wii's motion controls. You most frequently use the Wiimote as if it were a flashlight, and it also serves are your means of interface with Harry's cell phone. The cell phone plays a key part in solving the mystery behind Cheryl's disappearance and the background of Silent Hill. You'll use the phone to take pictures of various usual phenomenon (such as shadows that are frozen in place) and receive mysterious messages from other times and places. The messages can be either in the form of text or voice recordings, and each give small hints about Silent Hill's past and where Cheryl may be. You'll also use the phone to call other places and characters to get clues to advance the story, although the game allows you to call just about every phone number you see, whether it is listed on a poster or billboard or scratched on a wall as part of graffiti.


Shattered Memories does have its problems, most of them stemming from the Nightmare scenes. During the Nightmares, the ice that suddenly appears also breaks the surrounding streets and buildings into labyrinths that you need to solve before continuing the game. You don't have much time to figure out where to go next, because these mazes are hardly intuitive and the Raw Shocks that stalk you will catch up to you that much faster for every dead end you find. To make matters worse, you can't kill the Raw Shocks; you can only push them off of you, and sometimes the motion controls aren't as responsive as you want them to be when you're struggling to get out from underneath a horde of Raw Shocks. To make it past these parts of the game, I copied and pasted sections about the Nightmare scenes from a Shattered Memories walkthrough guide I found online into a Word document for reference. Doing it that way gave me the information I needed to know how to make it past the Nightmares without spoiling the game's ending.

One of selling points for Shattered Memories when it was first released is that the game alters itself as you play it, adding elements to the story depending on what you do and how you answer the questions asked by Dr. Kaufmann during the therapy session. I couldn't tell how this feature was working as I was playing the game and from what I've read, the only things that change in the game are certain details--such as the appearance of the Raw Shocks and some of the characters, the selection of puzzles Harry needs to solve, and certain parts of the game's ending--but not the game's overall story itself. Judging from the ending I saw, the answers and actions I provided in the game resulted in the "Love Lost" ending, probably the most poignant of the game's four possible endings.


Of course, Shattered Memories isn't for everyone. If you prefer your horror games to be explosive, guns-blazing splatter fests, then this game will disappoint you. However, if you prefer an immersive, psychological horror experience that gets under your skin, Shattered Memories is something you shouldn't miss. I found myself staring slack-jawed at my TV when I saw the game's stunning ending, which is equal parts shock and heartbreak. To say anything more about Shattered Memories at this point would give too much away, so go get your copy now and see it for yourself. From Dr. Kaufmann's first words to the mementos Harry collects throughout his journey to find Cheryl to the final door through which Harry passes, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a video game experience you won't forget.




ASIMO, the Action Figure

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By now, I'm used to seeing hyper-detailed, hyper-poseable (and often hyper-expensive) robot action figures--take the selection of anime robot figures offered by Revoltech, for example. However, this is the first time that I've seen a detailed and poseable figure based on a real robot.


The Japan Trend Shop has a 1/8 action figure based on Honda's ASIMO robot. The figure features two sets of palms and over fifteen points of articulation, so it can be posed in ways that match the real ASIMO. It's a very impressive replica of the real thing, and a worthy addition for anyone who's a fan of robots--both the real and the imagined varieties.

You can order your ASIMO figure from Japan Trend Shop here. If you order now, 5 percent of your payment will be donated to Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières to support their services for the survivors of Japan's recent earthquake and flooding. Even if you aren't interested in the ASIMO figure, the Japan Trend Shop has plenty of other uniquely Japanese stuff (including some nifty, hard-to-find Godzilla and Star Wars merchandise) so feel free to look around so you can get your geek on and help Japan at the same time. Everyone wins!

More Cool Costumes!

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It's been quite a while since I've looked at cool costumes, so I thought I would shoot out a few more that I think deserve mentioning...

Changeling

Gar Logan started out as Beast Boy with the Doom Patrol, but it would be his time with the New Teen Titans in the 80's that would forever cement his place in my list of cool costumes. The guy has green skin and can turn into any animal (again, green) but his costume is this cool red-and-white number that gives you no indication whatsoever as to his name or power set. Instead, it's just this neat design that was a vast improvement over his old purple Doom Patrol uniform.

Unfortunately, Gar's back to being Beast Boy and the purple outfit is a regular occurrence. Still, this suit wins for the time it was around, which remains the high-point of the Teen Titans comic run thanks to George Perez.

Captain Comet
Another red-and-white color schemed hero, Captain Comet was a truly cool guy in the 70's to me. He was in the Secret Society of Super-Villains comic book (a title I recently scored a full run of at last year's Wizard World Atlanta for $20) but I remember being introduced to him in his first DC Comics Presents adventure with Superman. I didn't pick up SSOSV until later.

After SSOSV died in the DC Implosion of the late 70's, he pretty much dropped off the radar. He shows up here and there from time to time, most recently in a new incarnation and costume. The new costume pays homage to the old, but I'm still a fan of that 70's look. It's kind of simple, but the blue bands and white highlights are set up perfectly to compliment the color scheme. I have a character in the City of Heroes MMORPG that was modeled after this look.

Blue Shield

This is a pretty understated costume with the blue and white scheme, but it works. This obscure hero hasn't made a lot of appearances in the comics, but he has held the position of security director of Project Pegasus for a while...which isn't too shabby.

His power actually involves a small force field around his body rather than an actual shield. I guess I can see where he was going with the name though.

You'll never see him on a t-shirt or in his own title, but he was good enough to make this list.

Ronin

I was always a fan of this character's costume. Clint Barton definitely wins as the coolest guy to wear it (yet) and it made sense for him to get to stretch his abilities beyond the bow and into other weapons while he was getting his head on straight after House of M.

Looking sort of like a ninja Snake Eyes (and yes, I know Snake Eyes was a ninja), the costume allowed for swords, nunchaku, throwing stars, and a host of other fun goodies to be pulled out at any moment.

Clint is back to being Hawkeye and Echo (the original) isn't up to wearing it again anytime soon, but hopefully someone else will grab the suit soon and Ronin will be around again!

Goliath

Say what you will about Hank Pym's constant costumed identity changes, the man can design a really cool costume. Ant-Man has made one of my lists before, and this short-lived blue-and-yellow Goliath suit joins him.

While choosing the name "Goliath" as a superhero name didn't make a lot of sense (hint: Goliath was a bad guy), the costume was a good choice. The antennae from the old Giant Man/Ant Man costume didn't really work.

I'm not sure the goggles were the best idea though. Blue Beetle and Booster Gold would disagree with me, I'm sure.

Manhunter

Paul Kirk was the original Manhunter, and though there have been two since him I still give him the best costume. I know a lot of people were put off by his somewhat garish appearance--especially for an assassin--but I think it works in print. In real life, the flowing sleeves and freaky boots probably wouldn't be the best choices during combat.

I have been reading a lot of Silver and Bronze Age comics again lately (as you'll notice in some of my upcoming posts) and was introduced to this character through his backup stories in Detectice Comics that eventually led up to his teaming with Batman in issue 443 and dying in that mission. It was an incredible storyline that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I've always thought the costume was cool. I bought the statue and the DC Universe figure of this character long before I actually read the stories.

Campy, Kooky Commercials Worth Watching: Man-Eating Focus Groups

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I don't normally like to advertise more mainstream, non-geek-centric products on my blog, so consider this an advertisement of an advertisement: the Snickers Peanut Butter Squared Focus Group ad. Watch it here at YouTube.


Not only is this ad so delightfully morbid, but it's also a spot-on satire of focus groups and public relations. Never before has a seemingly innocuous phrase such as "Eat both squares please" taken on such hilariously sinister connotations. Kind of makes you wonder what the same focus group would say about Jaws and its sequels, doesn't it?

Five Fantastic Low-Budget Creature Features from the Modern CGI Era

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Skyline is being released on DVD this week, at the same time as Battle: Los Angeles occupies space at your local multiplexes. The detail that connects these films is that both depict alien invaders kicking the crap out of Los Angeles; at one point, Sony even considered filing a lawsuit against the makers of Skyline for possible creative infringement. What sets the films apart, though, is their price: Battle: Los Angeles cost $100 million to make while Skyline only cost $11 million, equaling a cost difference of $89 million. Skyline isn't the best alien invasion movie ever made; I found it to be an average movie at best and it sort of reminded me of Target Earth, an alien invasion cheapie from 1954. Yet in spite of its middling script, Skyline's creature effects are as amazing as they are cost-effective. Besides, what's not to love about a race of alien invaders who insatiably crave human brains? Mmmm, brains....

In the modern era of CGI special effects and mega-budget creature-heavy films such as Avatar and the Clash of the Titans remake, it's easy to forget that monster movies wouldn't be where they are today without innovative filmmakers who had to make the most out of very small production budgets. Here's a list of five impressive creature feature films from the last few years that were made for under $10 million with little or no CGI effects. Sure, these movies may be somewhat derivative and cheesy and probably didn't get much distribution outside of DVDs and a Saturday night showing on the SyFy Channel, but they nevertheless deliver exciting stories with inspired scripts, limited sets, lesser known actors, and practical effects. Read on ...


Abominable (2006)


Basic Premise: Rear Window meets Bigfoot.

Budget: I couldn't find the exact number, but I'm guessing that this was made for around $5 million.

Details: Considering that kind of budget this film had, the end product is top-notch. It has a great cast that includes horror genre vets Jeffrey Combs, Lance Henriksen and Dee Wallace Stone, a memorable orchestral soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin (who is the father of Abominable's director, Ryan Schifrin), and outstanding creature effects and kill scenes. Matt McCoy does a great job as the wheelchair-bound Preston Rogers, who is forced to use his wits against a murderous monster that's much bigger than Raymond Burr.

Trivia: Abominable was the last film that involved the late cinematographer Neal Fredericks, whose previous low-budget horror credentials include The Blair Witch Project, and it has the distinction of featuring the ugliest depiction of Bigfoot ever seen anywhere. If you're a Lance Henriksen fan, Abominable is one of his three Bigfoot films (the others being Sasquatch and Sasquatch Mountain), and the second horror film in which he appears that's modeled after Rear Window (the other film is Mimic 3: Sentinel). Another interesting bit of trivia is that cast member Rex Linn (CSI: Miami) is such a monster movie fan that he agreed to participate in Abominable on the condition that he could play the monster for at least one scene (see the production documentary on the DVD for more details).



Alien Raiders (2008)


Basic Premise: Small town police vs. armed vigilantes vs. extraterrestrial parasites in a supermarket during the Christmas season.

Budget: $2 million, with a shooting schedule of fifteen days.

Details: Alien Raiders successfully combines a tense hostage drama with a paranoid alien invasion story. You'll recognize similarities to other films about alien parasites, particularly Alien, The Thing and The Hidden, as well as thematic parallels to short-lived TV shows about alien invaders such as War of the Worlds and Threshold. (In fact, there's just enough information provided about the aliens and the vigilantes--not to mention the stuff that's revealed in the bonus videos on the DVD--that Alien Raiders would merit either a prequel movie or a prequel TV miniseries on HBO or Showtime.) The film's cast includes horror and sci-fi vets such as Courtney Ford (Dexter, True Blood) and Bonita Friedericy (Chuck, Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Trivia: In a clever nod to the classic TV show The Invaders, the vigilantes have a way to test for parasite infections that involves the pinky finger; unlike The Invaders, the test isn't for the faint of heart.



The Descent (2005)


Basic Premise: The Hills Have Eyes goes subterranian when a group of female hikers go cave exploring while on vacation.

Budget: $5,500,000

Details: The monsters in this film are feral, cave-dwelling humanoid creatures called "Crawlers". These creatures are so scary in their appearance and behavior that it's easy to forget that they are in fact just extremely nimble actors wearing relatively simple monster makeup. Add to the mix claustrophobic cave sets and a cast of interesting characters and you're got a real nail-biter of a survival horror film. Then again, Descent's director Neil Marshall was no stranger to low-budget horror: His previous film, the excellent 2002 werewolf thriller Dog Soldiers, was produced on an equally modest budget.

Trivia: Of the films on this list, The Descent is the only one that garnered nation-wide distribution on the big screen. It's also the only film on this list to have a sequel, The Descent 2, but that went straight to DVD.



Infestation (2009)


Basic Premise: A Shaun of the Dead-style horror/comedy for big bug movies, where a group of survivors band together after their city is suddenly overrun by giant insects.

Budget: I couldn't find the exact number, but it was made for less than $5 million and was shot in Bulgaria for budgetary reasons.

Details: As low-budget big bug movies go, Infestation has a lot of offer. It balances some intense shocks and kill scenes (including an initial bug attack involving a pickup truck) with a wry sense of humor (including a goofy sight gag involving a barking dog). It also has convincing giant insect effects and a satisfying selection of big bug types: the bug monsters include the beetle-like worker insects, the wasp-like warrior insects, and the freaky hybrid insects.

Trivia: I couldn't find anything trivia-worthy for Infestation to mention in this post. Nevertheless, this feat of low-budget filmmaking looks especially impressive when you compare it to the budget of its closest bug-bug-humor-themed counterpart, 2002's Eight Legged Freaks, which cost $30 million to produce.



Splinter (2008)


Basic Premise: A pair of campers and their carjackers are trapped inside of a convenience store by an ever-changing monstrosity lurking outside in the dark.

Budget: Not available, but probably under $5 million.

Details: Of the monsters featured on this list, the one in Splinter is the most bizarre. The monster is actually a parasitic fungus that feeds on blood and infects hosts by piercing their skin with splinter-like quills (hence the title of the movie). The fungus slowly spreads through the host's body, eventually taking it over to find and infect more hosts. The fugus can even survive in and move around with a host's severed limb, and it can assemble together parts from various hosts for greater mobility. While this sounds like a tall order for any special effects team to pull off, Splinter does it very well. Splinter's small but compelling cast includes Jill Wagner (from the woefully short-lived Blade: The Series) and Paulo Costanzo (Royal Pains).

Trivia: As a nifty bonus feature, the DVD includes an instructional video on how to make a "Splinter pumpkin" for Halloween. You'd be surprised at how cool these decorations look.