Category: The Republic of Shawntario

I ended the first part by mentioning how a masterful blend science fiction and horror themes can make for an intriguing and beautiful story. Today I am going to talk about a story where these conventions have been put together perfectly.

Dead Space- FORMAT: Video Game

Dead Space tells us the story of Isaac Clarke as he battles the grotesque Necromorphs on the spaceship Ishimura. This one also gets points for adding Survival Horror in to the mix.

At its root Dead Space is simply about a man in claustrophobic and poorly lit rooms killing monsters. As easy as it can be to take video games at face value, the story in this one is so well written it forces you to pay attention.

Early on there’s an almost throw away line about Isaac having a girlfriend on board the Ishimura. As things increasingly start to go awry around him, Isaac makes the decision to search for her as well as attempt to complete his mission of getting off of the ship.

This is where one of my favorite Horror conventions kicks in- The Battle of Sanity.

There are numerous hints throughout that Nicole (his girlfriend) is not alive and that he is dealing with either a demonic presence or a hallucination brought on by the psychological trauma of everything that’s unfolding. The battle raging inside of Isaac’s mind as to whether or not anything happening around him is real and his guilt over potentially not saving Nicole is both paced and played out perfectly.

Despite the fact that Isaac is for the most part a silent protagonist, the events unfolding around him make him a truly sympathetic character.

Here’s another thing that makes Dead Space so riveting to me, Isaac Clarke is a normal person.

He uses simple Sci-Fi weapons and isn’t a battle hardened killer. The fact that he is such a simple person adds depth to his character and amps up the fear when he is in a dangerous situation. You truly fear for Isaac, even against the other human threats you meet because he seems so out of place amidst this destruction.

If you haven’t played Dead Space, I recommend you do so. The controls may seem slightly clunky but I promise you the story and atmosphere more than make up for it. Do yourself a favor and skip the second and third games in the series though.

This concludes Part 2. Part 3 will go up on Friday or Saturday.

As you may well be aware, Horror is my first love in fiction. I did start this website afterall. What I don’t talk about often enough though is my second love, Science Fiction.

Before there was Horror in my life there was Sci-Fi. I grew up an avid fan of the Star Wars films (before their bastardized special editions) and Star Trek: The Next Generation. One of the first “adult” novels I ever finished was The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein. As I grew, so did my love for good science fiction.

I remember being 9 and watching the first season of Babylon 5. It was the first time I had ever grown attached to characters before. I watched the show every week and took notes on all of the sub plots and “b-characters” that I found interesting. A few years later I started watching Deep Space Nine. It was truly a good time to be a young fan of science fiction.

When I was 11, everything changed. I remember watching Alien for the very first time. I was absolutely floored with the way that they took the best parts of Science Fiction and mixed it together with horror. The claustrophobic space vessel, the fear of shadows and the unknown, the fear of being hunted. It was an exhilarating experience.

From that moment on I sought out any and all sci-fi/horror movies I could find. I was extremely happy to track down Aliens and then Alien 3 in my fathers VHS collection but I wanted more.

I was lucky that my father had a large VHS collection.  I was luckier that most of them were horror movies so it was easy to find copies of The Thing, Scanners and The Fly.

To this very day The Thing is one of my favorite movies. I watch it once a month and was incredibly pleased with the version that came out a few years ago with Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

One of my favorite aspects of both genres is the exploration of the unknown.

In Horror it is the exploration of unknown feelings, actions and desires that have fueled my favorite novels and movies.

In Sci-Fi it is the exploration of unknown technology, planets, and life forms that fueled my favorite authors.

When a good writer combines the vast emptiness of space with the fear of being alone and mixes in a touch of claustrophobia it makes for a beautiful story.

This concludes part 1. Parts 2 and 3 will go up Wednesday and Friday.

Greetings All,

I return with another Indy Short of the Week.

This week I bring to you Red Star, a stand alone to the Fallout Nuka Break series. This short film is about the journey of our mysterious Ranger as he decides whether or not to leave his quiet and solitary life behind in order to become a hero. Enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np531fzqWAY

Greetings and Salutations friends,

It’s been a while since I’ve contributed an article to this section of the website so I am rectifying that right now.

Every Sunday I am going to be posting what I feel is the best Indy short I’ve seen during the week.

This week I am starting off with Seizure from Nightwalker Cinema.

These guys are immensely talented and have another short up Called 32 that will be featured in this years Mascara and Popcorn festival in Montreal, Quebec.

They are also hard at work on their first feature length film called The Dinner Guest.

Give them a follow on Twitter @NightWalkerCnma

Like them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NightWalkerCinema

Visit their website http://www.nightwalkercinema.com

So without further ado, Here is Seizure, from Nightwalker Cinema.