Silent Hill 2 (2024)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Silent Hill 2.

In the decades since its release in 2001, Silent Hill 2 (SH2) has earned and maintained a reputation as one of the greatest survival horror games ever made thanks to its powerful storyline that tackled taboo subjects in a mature way. Fast forward to today and ten years after the 2012 release of Silent Hill: Downpour, Konami announced a full series revival, which included two SH2 projects: a remake also called Silent Hill 2 (SH2R), developed by Bloober Team, and a film adaptation, Return to Silent Hill, directed by Christophe Gans, who had previously directed the original Silent Hill film adaptation. Despite involving former Team Silent members Masahiro Ito and Akira Yamaoka throughout development, SH2R fought an uphill battle. Although Bloober Team had experience with horror titles like Layers of Fear, Observer, Blair Witch and The Medium, these titles usually had a mixed reception at best. Add to that the lack of pre-order bonuses for physical copies and the negative reception to early trailers, which included some differences in presentation and character models. Fortunately, confidence grew as the October 8, 2024 release date grew closer and the game released on PS5 and Steam to positive reception, as well as selling 1 million copies within the first three days.

Personally, I had faith in SH2R from the moment of its announcement, as I could sense the team’s passion behind the project, though I followed the development with more cautious optimism. When it released, I also had a hard time finding a physical copy on day one, but I fortunately found a store that still had a number of them left. Throughout the following playthrough, I felt impressed by what Bloober Team had accomplished and, when it ended, I took a little time to process my full opinion before writing this review. As of this post, I can confidently say that while SH2R isn’t a flawless masterpiece, and neither is the original, I think Bloober Team knocked it out of the park and made me even more excited about the series' future.

Second Look - Resident Evil Village (PS5)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village.

It should go without saying that the strong reviews and sales numbers of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (RE7) led to a sequel in 2021, also the latest game in the series, Resident Evil Village (RE8). At least, that would be the typical story. In reality, RE8 entered development at the tail end of RE7’s production with the idea of continuing the previous game’s story and style. Early on, the development team came up with the concept of the village setting, as well as drawing influence from Resident Evil 4 (RE4) in making it a central game element. They also developed the game with more of a mixture of action and horror after observing reactions to RE7’s horror and deciding that dialing back and spreading out the scares would make it more approachable for newcomers. For accessibility, the title also emphasized the “village” aspect rather than officially designate it as Resident Evil 8 (even though that’s exactly what it is). Despite the change in approach, the end result garnered strong critical reception and sales over time.

As someone who started with the Winters storyline, I enjoyed RE8 when it came out, in spite of its flaws, and coming back to this game in my journey through the Resident Evil (RE) franchise didn’t change my opinion that much. Like my replay of RE7, however, what really changed was my perspective on its gameplay and how the story fit in with the overall timeline. Not only did I better appreciate some of its improvements over certain gameplay systems from its predecessor, but also its influence from RE4 and one specific twist that prompted all of these RE reviews in the first place.

Stubs - Island of Lost Souls

Island of Lost Souls (1932) starring: Charles Laughton, Richard Arlen, Leila Hyams, Bela Lugosi; Directed by Erle C. Kenton; Screenplay by Waldemar Young, Philip Wylie. Based on the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau by H. G. Wells (London, 1896). Producer: None Credited. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. Drama, Science fiction, Horror

While Universal gets credit for the early 30s craze for horror film with Dracula in 1931, they were not the only studio to make that genre of films. Paramount Pictures had released Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and wanted to make a follow-up with more horrific and sexual themes. On June 1, 1931, Paramount paid $15,000 (equivalent to $300,500 in 2023) for the rights to H. G. Wells' novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, first published in 1896. Along with the novel, the studio also had access to an unproduced play by Frank Vreeland that was based on Wells' story and titled His Creatures.

The Paramount version of the story differed from the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau, on which it is based. One of the differences was the addition of a character called The Panther Woman. This was used in pre-production as publicity with a talent search for the actress to play the role. Paramount publicist Arthur Mayer developed a contest that involved giving the winner a trip to Hollywood, $200 (equivalent to $4,470 in 2023) a week for five weeks, a home at the Ambassador Hotel, and a role in the film.

A copy of the form women could fill out to be considered for the role.

Contestants were required to be between the ages of 17 and 30 years old, to be in good health, between 5 feet 4 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall, and not have worked, or be related to anyone who had worked, at Paramount. In his memoir, Merely Colossal, published in 1951, Mayer claimed that the contest attracted 60,000 contestants. There were four finalists; Lona Andre, Gail Patrick, Kathleen Burke, and Verna Hillie and the judges were Cecil B. DeMille, Rouben Mamoulian, Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Taurog, Stuart Walker, and Erle C. Kenton, who took over directing the film from Taurog.

On September 29, 1932, Kathleen Burke was summoned to the casting office and told she had won the contest. Two days later, the film went into production. There was location shooting on Catalina Island for a week, and on the SS Catalina, which encountered real fog as called for in the script. Shooting lasted until early November, with retakes of the scene of Ruth with Ouran on December 8. Bela Lugosi was added to the cast in October, replacing George Barbier as the Sayer of the Law. The film was first released in Chicago on December 23, 1932.

Second Look - Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (PS5)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

Following the mixed reception of Resident Evil 6 (RE6), in spite of its high sales, Capcom realized it needed a change in direction going forward with the franchise, which included cancelling a sequel meant to continue in RE6’s footsteps. Jun Takeuchi, who had experience with the series since the original Resident Evil (RE1) and produced Resident Evil 5, took over the project and helped brainstorm ideas for the next game, which led him to an isolated setting in the vein of both RE1 and The Evil Dead. As development proceeded with this concept in mind and under the direction of Koshi Nakanishi, which included a first-person viewpoint, the team created the RE Engine (“Reach for the Moon” Engine) for smoother next-gen game development and later made the game VR-friendly. Despite some misgivings from fans based on the Beginning Hour demo, the final 2017 release, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (RE7), received near-universal praise and sold well enough to warrant a sequel of its own, Resident Evil Village.

As I’ve mentioned in other Resident Evil (RE) reviews, RE7 was my formal introduction to the series after a couple false starts. Despite some flaws and my general aversion to horror games, I loved it and played it multiple times across both the original release and the later Gold Edition release, which has all of the DLC on the disc (sans Not A Hero). My journey through all of the pre-Winters RE games inevitably led me to another replay of RE7, this time through the free PS5 upgrade. I had always viewed RE7 as one of my favorite survival horror games and, perhaps as expected, this latest playthrough didn’t really change that. What did change, however, was my appreciation for this entry’s accomplishments in light of the rest of the series’ ups and downs. As a consequence, however, some of its flaws did stick out a little more.

My Hero Academia: You're Next

Note: This review contains spoilers for My Hero Academia and My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission.

Although the My Hero Academia manga has ended (arguably on an unsatisfying note), the anime isn’t yet finished, with a recently concluded seventh season and final upcoming eighth season to wrap everything up. In the meantime, animation studio Bones got to squeeze out one final film, You’re Next, which debuted during the seventh anime season. Since the film only just received an international theatrical release, we watched the dub and found that even though it’s not the best of the four films, it’s certainly an entertaining one and an improvement over World Heroes’ Mission.

Before I continue, I’d like to note that although the film is non-canon, it takes place between the Paranormal Liberation War and Final War arcs of the story, which translates to right between Season 6 and 7 for anime-only viewers.

Stubs - Murders in the Rue Morgue

Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932) starring Bela Lugosi, Sidney Fox, Leon Waycoff (Ames). Directed by Robert Florey. Screenplay by Tom Reed, Dale Van Every. Based on the short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by Edgar Allan Poe in Graham's Magazine (Apr 1841). Produced by Carl Laemmle Jr. Run time: 62 minutes. USA. Black and White. Pre-Code, Horror.

How does one follow up on a landmark performance? This is what faced Universal Pictures and Bela Lugosi after he made Dracula (1931). The original thought was to star him in Frankenstein, which is what director Robert Florey intended, with Carl Laemmle, Jr. wanting Lugosi to play the monster. According to TCM, “Accounts vary, but Lugosi was to say that he turned down the monster role because it was not a speaking part; others claim that at the time he threw himself into the preparations. What is known is that Florey, working with Garrett Fort, completed a draft of a screenplay for Frankenstein, and shot a make-up test with Lugosi (as the monster), Edward Van Sloan, and Dwight Frye. This footage, shot over two days, June 16 and 17, 1931, is long-gone and much-discussed among horror fans.”

Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil: Revelations and Resident Evil: Revelations 2.

Soon after the release of Resident Evil: Revelations (REV1), Capcom greenlit a sequel, Resident Evil: Revelations 2 (REV2), this time for home consoles and the PlayStation Vita instead of the Nintendo 3DS. For this entry, however, producer Michiteru Okabe suggested taking the episodic structure of REV1 one step further and releasing REV2 with a weekly episodic model like a traditional TV series, as popularized by Telltale Games. As such, the writing took more influence from episodic TV shows, which included ending each part with a cliffhanger to encourage players to download the next part. Each of the four episodes released as planned in 2015, followed shortly after by a complete retail release that also included both Bonus Episodes, originally released as DLC. REV2 garnered positive critical reception and, as of 2022, outsold REV1.

Since I committed to playing the Revelations games as part of my deep dive through Resident Evil (RE), I ended up at REV2 on PS4 after playing through Resident Evil 6 (RE6) instead of jumping straight to Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (one of my personal favorites). Due to my disappointment with both preceding titles, I didn’t expect much from REV2 and thought I’d face another boring slog before “getting back to the good stuff”. Instead, much like how I felt going from Code: Veronica X to Resident Evil 0 (RE0), I found myself actually having fun with REV2, as it had learned from the mistakes of its predecessor and ended the pre-Winters portion of the mainline series (according to the Resident Evil Wiki) on a high note.

Resident Evil 6 (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil 2 (1998), Resident Evil 4 (2005), Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6.

Following the success of Resident Evil 5 (RE5) in 2009, Capcom took the next natural step and started development on Resident Evil 6 (RE6). Much like Resident Evil 4 (RE4) and RE5 before it, RE6 had its own share of development woes, apart from attaching a less-experienced director to the project, whose only prior directing experience included Resident Evil: Outbreak - File #2 and the lesser-known Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure. The short version is that early in development, the focus shifted from survival horror to “the ultimate horror entertainment”, which included increasing its scope beyond the traditional bounds of a Resident Evil (RE) title and leaning even harder into the “action” genre than RE5 in an attempt at appealing to new players. This increased scope led to the inclusion of four distinct campaigns (much more on that later), each one tailored to appeal to a different corner of the RE fanbase, which also meant throwing over 600 people at the project to complete effectively four games’ worth of work in only three years. This effort proved fruitless, however, as RE6 sold fewer copies than its predecessors and received a frosty reception from critics during its initial 2012 release, as well as a lasting reputation as one of the worst games in the series.

Compared with RE4 and RE5, I had even less experience with RE6 before my series deep dive, as I had only played a small part of the demo without understanding the controls and watched a Clueless Gamer segment poking fun at it. Of course, I have much more experience with the series than I did twelve years ago, so I went into a full playthrough armed with far more knowledge and patience than before, this time through the more complete PS4 port from 2016 (though I played on a PS5). While I can see why it has its fans nowadays, I can’t say that I didn’t understand why it gained such a negative reputation, as I found it easily among the worst of the mainline games (apart from Code: Veronica X) thanks to its unfocused vision and how it plays more like a bombastic playable action movie than a proper RE game.

Stubs - The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat (1933) starring Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Frank Stayer. Screenplay by Edward T. Lowe. Produced by Phil Goldstone Run time: 63 minutes. Black and White. USA. Pre-code. Horror.

While most of Hollywood history revolves around the releases from the majors (MGM, Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros, Fox, Columbia, RKO), there were several smaller studios known as poverty row studio. One of those was Majestic Pictures, which was in business in the early 1930’s. Studios like Majestic were always on the look for what they hoped would be a break out film. And with The Vampire Bat they thought they had one.

To give a little background, Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray had been paired together in Warner Bros’ Dr. X (1932), a horror film directed by Michael Curtiz, and had completed work on The Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), a follow up horror film, also directed by Curtiz. The latter was a large-scale release and would have a lengthy post-production process before it was released.

Resident Evil: Revelations (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil: Revelations

As the years wore on, so did Capcom’s development of the Resident Evil series. While Resident Evil 5 (RE5) felt like a sort of conclusion to the main story, the series’ popularity meant that Capcom would continue development of future numbered entries, including Resident Evil 6 (RE6). In between RE5 and RE6, however, came Resident Evil: Revelations (Revelations), which released in 2012 on the Nintendo 3DS. Developed at the same time as the controversial The Mercenaries 3D, the team behind Revelations wanted to take advantage of the 3DS’ capabilities for handheld while also providing a uniquely portable experience in both the story structure and optional Raid Mode, which would let friends talk to one another as they played the game together. Despite the game’s intention for portable systems, it would receive ports for seventh generation consoles in 2013 and eight generation consoles in 2017.

While I would have jumped straight from RE5 to RE6 for my journey through the series, I also included Revelations, both because it received a PS4 port alongside the other numbered titles and because the Resident Evil Wiki labeled it as a major entry. Playing the game for myself made me doubt its supposed “major entry” status, but I nonetheless found myself feeling mixed on the experience, largely in regards to its technical accomplishments versus its writing.

Stubs - The Little Shop of Horrors

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) Starring: Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles. Directed by Roger Corman. Screenplay by Charles B. Griffith. Produced by Roger Corman. Run time: 70 minutes. Black and White. USA. Horror, Comedy.

Roger Corman was known for a lot of things as an independent film producer. Not only did he make countless feature films including X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes (1963), The Wild Angels (1966), The Trip (1967) and House of Usher (1960), he also handled the distribution in the US for such directors as Federico Fellini (Italy), Ingmar Bergman (Sweden), François Truffaut (France) and Akira Kurosawa (Japan). He mentored such directors as Francis Ford Coppola, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, John Sayles, and James Cameron. He also helped to launch the careers of actors like Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Diane Ladd, and William Shatner.

But the one title that comes up every time his name is mentioned is The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), a self-described comedy/horror film.

Corman shot the film quickly in order to beat changing industry rules that would have prevented producers from "buying out" an actor's performance in perpetuity. On January 1, 1960, new rules were to go into effect requiring producers to pay all actors residuals for all future releases of their work. This meant that Corman's B-movie business model would be permanently changed and he would not be able to produce low-budget films in the same way. Before these rules went into effect, Corman decided to shoot one last film and scheduled it for the last week in December 1959.

Resident Evil 5 (PS4)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Resident Evil, Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil Code: Veronica X, Resident Evil 4 (2005) and Resident Evil 5

The same year that Capcom released the original Resident Evil 4 (2005) (RE4), they already got to work on the next main game, Resident Evil 5 (RE5), with the goal to take advantage of the capabilities of seventh-generation consoles. Development of RE5 involved multiple scenario rewrites and changes in direction, which included scrapping ideas like having enemies attacking from the shadows or having the camera reflect the player character adjusting their eyes to darkness (not unlike Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater), the main constants were setting the game in Africa during the day, both to explore the origins of the Progenitor Virus and take advantage of the then-upcoming seventh console generation, and using RE4 as a foundation for gameplay due to its popularity. Although RE5 wouldn’t release completely without incident in 2009, it still garnered generally positive reception, though critics and fans noted a shift away from survival horror and more towards action. The following year, Capcom would also release an updated Gold Edition, which included additional content not found in the original release, as well as Move support for the PS3 version; PS3 copies of Gold Edition had all of the content on the disc while 360 copies still required a separate download of the new content (owners of the original version could also purchase the Gold Edition content separately).

As with RE4, I actually had a little bit of experience with RE5, specifically the PS3 Gold Edition, before I really got invested in the series with Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. However, I didn’t actually get very far, not even past Chapter 1-1, as I found the controls too awkward and didn’t have the patience for it at the time. Naturally, my deep dive brought me back to RE5, this time through the PS4 rerelease, and while I enjoyed it much more this time around, I can also see why reception remains mixed.

Resident Evil Month (Part 2)

For those who were here for Resident Evil Month last year, welcome back. This year, as promised, I have prepared reviews of the rest of the mainline Resident Evil games (as defined by the wiki). These took a while for me to get through due to my still healing "Gamer's Thumb" condition (as outlined in last year's post), other commitments, like a lengthy review of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the sheer length of looking at certain titles and all of their content. This time, you can expect to see reviews of the following:

Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil: Revelations, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village. If all goes according to plan, I may even have a bonus horror game review sometime during the month.

As with last year, I hope you enjoy the rest of this special look at Resident Evil, a franchise I have grown to love. If there's anything else from the series you'd like me to cover in the future, be they games or films, feel free to leave a comment below.