The film traces the psychological collapse of Angela Long, played by horror icon Lynn Lowry, a retired ballerina adrift in the stifling monotony of suburban life. What begins as a loss of domestic purpose quickly transforms into a violent rejection of her role as a housewife. The inciting incident occurs during a tense family dinner when her husband, Richard, complains about being served meatloaf for the twelfth night in a row. At her breaking point, Angela amputates his index finger and forces him to consume it.

From there, the film spirals into a chaotic family saga involving a corrupt psychiatrist, a daughter struggling with a predatory boss, and a boyfriend played by director Guile Branco who navigates life while perpetually encased in a massive dinosaur costume. These narrative threads collide at the central Halloween dinner, where Angela ominously demands her guests be prepared to serve as the meal themselves.

“Its greatest triumph is its commitment to practical effects.”

A Halloween Feast is a monumental testament to the vitality of independent genre filmmaking. By leveraging the iconographic weight of Lynn Lowry—who delivers a masterfully villainous performance—the film immediately elevates itself above the sea of generic, low-budget slashers. Its greatest triumph is its commitment to practical effects. In a world dominated by digital polish, the tactile nature of physical effects provides a level of raw authenticity that computer-generated imagery often struggles to achieve.

Ultimately, this is a magnificent horror show that isn’t afraid to be uncomfortable. It weaponizes absurdity to deliver a blistering, hilarious critique of domesticity and suburban malaise. For fans of cult cinema who crave pure, undiluted cinematic madness, this film is a seat at a table you won’t want to leave.

The Final Verdict

Would I bother rewatching a generic, high-gloss studio drama? Probably not. But will I absolutely revisit A Halloween Feast? You bet. It’s a fiercely independent, ego-free production that reminds us why we fell in love with cult cinema in the first place.

If you’re tired of the same old horror formulas and want something new, go find this on Tubi or Apple TV. It proves the American dream isn’t just dead—it’s being served for dinner.

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Sony Pictures is gearing up for a massive September 2026 release of a brand-new Resident Evil cinematic reboot. They’ve handed the keys—and a reported $80 million budget—to Zach Cregger, the undeniably talented director behind Barbarian. I want to be excited. Cregger is a great horror filmmaker. But after digging into the strategic analysis and leaked details of what this movie is actually about, I’m left asking the same question we’ve been asking for two decades: Why can’t we just get a movie that sticks to the original subject matter?

We’ve already endured the Paul W.S. Anderson action-spectacle era that threw survival horror out the window. We suffered through the bloated Welcome to Raccoon City and that quickly-canceled Netflix series. Now, Cregger is taking us back to 1998, but he’s completely abandoning the established lore to give us an original “player avatar” protagonist named Bryan (played by Austin Abrams).

Bryan is a courier who gets into a car accident and ends up stranded at Raccoon City General Hospital right as the outbreak kicks off.

Does this sound familiar to anyone else? It should, because this trope has been beaten to death. To me, it sounds exactly like how Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead begins with Rick Grimes waking up in a hospital. It’s also the exact same setup as 28 Days Later, when Jim wakes up alone in an abandoned London hospital. And, most ironically of all, Milla Jovovich’s Alice woke up in the exact same Raccoon City Hospital at the beginning of Resident Evil: Apocalypse! We’ve already seen this specific scenario play out multiple times, including in this very franchise. We don’t need another Walking Dead or a rehash of Apocalypse. We need Resident Evil.

“The true heart of this franchise is slow, deliberate survival.”

The studio is reportedly pitching this film as an “all gas, no brakes,” 90-minute roller coaster ride, drawing heavy comparisons to Mad Max: Fury Road. Look, Fury Road is a masterpiece, but I don’t need a “Fury Road” version of Resident Evil. Most Resident Evil games are the exact opposite of fast-paced and action-packed; making a high-octane sprint is fundamentally not Resident Evil. The true heart of this franchise is slow, deliberate survival. It's about resource management, counting your bullets, debating whether you have enough health to risk running down a hallway, and checking every blind corner. I just want a film that is true to that pacing and the video game franchise. I want the atmospheric dread, the puzzle-solving tension, and the claustrophobia of the Spencer Mansion or the R.P.D. precinct.

Here is the frustrating part: Cregger didn’t need to completely detach from the lore to make this work. I firmly believe that fans would be perfectly fine with a Resident Evil movie that doesn’t cast the main characters from the games. You don’t need to shove Leon S. Kennedy or Jill Valentine into the plot to make it a valid entry. Throughout the history of the video game franchise, new characters have been successfully introduced while still staying honest to the series.

Fans would absolutely embrace Bryan the courier if the content stayed accurate to the lore and at least acknowledged that the events of the games actually occurred. Just let the characters exist in the established universe! Give us a passing reference to S.T.A.R.S., or an Umbrella memo that ties into the wider bioterrorism conspiracy. When you strip all the world-building away, it ceases to be Resident Evil and just becomes a generic zombie survival flick.

And while we are on the subject of the legacy characters, we have to talk about Albert Wesker.

No matter what, when it comes to casting actors as major key players within this game’s universe, someone is always going to have an issue. The fan friction is inevitable. However, the internet rumor mill recently went into overdrive fan-casting Antony Starr (The Boys) as Wesker. Starr recently shot down the rumors, citing his age, his lack of knowledge about the IP, and the fact that the movie isn’t using legacy characters anyway.

It’s a massive bummer, because I have to agree with the internet on this one: Antony Starr would make an amazing Albert Wesker. He has that perfectly calculated, terrifyingly controlled sociopathic energy down to a science. I really wish he was more open to playing the role, even if the current script doesn’t have room for him.

Ultimately, Cregger himself has admitted he expects hardcore fans to “crucify” him for altering the lore. He’s banking on the raw intensity of his film winning over the audience, especially with the massive hype surrounding the recent launch of the Resident Evil Requiem game.

I hope the movie is good. I really do. But as a fan of the franchise, I’m tired of compromises. Stop trying to reinvent Raccoon City, and just give us the Resident Evil we’ve been waiting for since 1996.

What do you guys think? Are you down for a ‘Fury Road’ style sprint through Raccoon City with a brand-new character, or are you tired of Hollywood ignoring the source material? Sound off in the comments below.

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• Was Scream 7 a bad movie? No.

• Was it a box office success? Yes.

• Was it a fun watch? Absolutely.

• Was it a strong installment in the franchise? …That’s highly debatable.

Don’t get me wrong, sitting in the theater with a bucket of popcorn watching Ghostface do their thing is always a good time. And let’s be absolutely clear: Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox were flawless. In my opinion, they are not at fault for the movie falling short of the massive hype surrounding it. I still enjoyed it very much. But as a long-time fan of the franchise, I have some serious bones to pick with the story arc we were handed.

Let’s be honest with ourselves—we all love Matthew Lillard. How can anyone NOT love Matthew (shame on Quentin)?! The sheer anticipation of Stu Macher’s return is arguably the main reason this movie shattered the box office compared to other recent installments.

And what did the writers do with that perfectly good story arc? They wasted it on an AI deepfake.

Finding out that Stu wasn’t alive was extremely disappointing. At the same time, the complexities surrounding his (possible) survival in 1996 are just too hard to ignore.

The logistical gymnastics required to make this work just don’t hold up. First of all, how and why would Stu’s parents fake his death in the first place? It makes zero sense. Keep in mind, at the time of the events of Scream (1996), Stu was only 17-18 years old, so most likely Stu’s parents would’ve had to carry this out. I can’t imagine that a teen would be able to pull this off. Is it possible that he could’ve just run away after the events? Yes, but at this point in time, the franchise has already committed itself to the fact that Stu’s family had a funeral service and buried Stu.

Is it possible that Stu could’ve survived? Maybe. However, those old tube televisions were HEAVY back then!

Second, we are supposed to believe that thirty years later, both Gale Weathers and Sidney Prescott—two women who have literally written books on these massacres and investigated every corner of their trauma—would have absolutely no idea he was still alive? I don’t buy it.

The Missed Opportunities

By relying on a deepfake, the movie completely undercut its own emotional weight. Because the focus was so heavily skewed toward this AI misdirection, the actual killers of the movie ended up feeling completely irrelevant (and let’s be honest; they mostly were!).

Imagine how much more rewarding the storyline would have been if Stu was actually alive. Picture this: a heavily scarred, older Stu Macher who has spent the last three decades living with immense remorse, finally stepping out of the shadows with one goal—to save Sidney. The “Hannibal Lecter” of the franchise. That is a character arc. That is the kind of legacy-sequel payoff the fans deserved, rather than an AI deepfake.

The film could’ve gone so many ways. I would’ve liked to see an interaction between Sidney, Mindy, and Chad where Stu could’ve talked about his remorse and the loss of his friend Randy. This could’ve been possible if they had gone in the direction of Stu being a runaway who went missing after the events of the first film. I think that many fans would’ve been happy with this direction!

Sidelining the Meeks Twins

Aside from the Stu fumble, the other glaring issue was the roster balance. We desperately needed more of the Meeks twins. They bring such a great energy and foundational connection to the lore of the films, and it felt like they were pushed to the background to make room for a convoluted tech-plot that didn’t stick the landing.

Final Verdict

Scream 7 is a highly entertaining slasher, carried by the undeniable star power of its legacy cast and the allure of Matthew Lillard. But as a coherent chapter in the Scream franchise, it fumbled the ball on what could have been the most satisfying character redemption in horror history.

As for my thoughts on Scream 8? Honestly… meh, but I will always watch any film in the franchise.

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There is a lot going on in the two minute trailer. The film will take place approximately six years after the events of ‘X’, in the year 1985. Mia Goth will be returning as Maxine. If you remember, Goth starred in two roles in the first film; Maxine and Pearl. In the second film, Goth played the role of Pearl. 

It appears that Kevin Bacon has been cast as a detective investigating the Night Stalker murders. The setting of 1980’s Los Angeles/Hollywood definitely gives a cool feel to the trailer. There is even a shot of the set of Psycho! You can clearly see the Bates Motel and Norman’s house in the trailer. 

The film is slated to be released on July 5th, 2024, and it looks like it’ll be a great way for Ti West to wrap up the ‘X’ trilogy.

We are really looking forward to this one. I was a huge fan of the first two films in the trilogy and I cannot wait to see this film. July cannot come soon enough!

You can find out more about ‘MaXXXine’ over at A24.

Let us know your thoughts on the trailer in the comments below!

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The post A24 Releases Trailer for Ti West’s ‘MaXXXine’ first appeared on Nightmare-Zine.

“Thanksgiving.”

On an afternoon in 2007, I was in an empty movie theatre in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. I am pretty sure it was a rainy afternoon. I am not much for the beach, so I would often spend my time in the movie theatre, shopping, dining, etc., anyway (especially during the off season when things were less crowded). I can remember where I was when I saw Tarantino and Rodriguez’s Grindhouse, mainly because of Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving trailer. I mean, who could forget that? The entire runtime of Planet Terror and Death Proof — 3 hours and 11 minutes — were amazing, but the Thanksgiving trailer was what stuck with me. My friend and I were huge horror buffs (we would frequent the conventions together) and saw the film around the same time. We both loved the trailer. We would joke about it every holiday season, and do the voice from the trailer; “Thanksgiving.”

It is clear that Eli Roth understands what makes a great slasher film, and since this is his first true ‘slasher’ film, he has set the bar pretty high.

The original Thanksgiving trailer from 2007 was very entertaining, but didn’t really provide much in the way of plot or story. Although I enjoyed the original trailer, I wasn’t sure that it would ever be made into a full length feature film, or how it would even translate to a feature film.

That is, until 2023…and man, did Eli Roth blow us away. Some of the content in the original trailer is even in the 2023 film, which was cool to see. I really don’t think that I had one bad thing to say about this movie. It is an entertaining, fun and humorous ride from start to finish. I just wish that it was longer, and that there was more of it!

It is clear that Eli Roth understands what makes a great slasher film, and since this is his first true ‘slasher’ film, he has set the bar pretty high. Thanksgiving took me back to being a kid in the 1990’s and watching all of the great slasher flicks of the 80’s and 90’s. It even has the ‘whodunit’ aspect, like one of my personal favorites; Wes Craven’s Scream. 

While this film has a lot of creative kills, and a pretty decent kill count, it doesn’t rely heavily on that (or gore) to carry the film. The film is self-aware and maintains the campiness from the original trailer, and has a great cast of characters. Films like this are the reason that I fell in love with horror to begin with. There haven’t been many movies that I would want to rewatch recently, but this one will probably stay in my rotation (at least around the holiday season). 

Black Friday, Plymouth, Massachusetts. Chaos unfolds at a local retail store, leaving the community shaken. In the aftermath, a small group of friends finds themselves the target of a serial killer. Will there be any leftovers?

“Thanksgiving.”

Thanksgiving is currently available to rent or buy via VOD. 

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The post Thanksgiving (2023): What’s Not to Like? No Leftovers?! first appeared on Nightmare-Zine.

Photo Credit: Rotton Tomatoes

Fans (or Phans) have been clamoring for a Phantasm game for quite a while. Over the years, I’ve seen fan made Phantasm games (and Phantasm mods of existing games). Don Coscarelli even recently voiced his desire for a Phantasm game to materialize. There is nothing that I would love more than to see a Phantasm game, and I am sure that most — if not all — fans of the franchise feel the same way. 

Phantasm would shine as a video game, and I’m sure it would be a great way to welcome new fans to the franchise that we all know and love.

In the recent years, we’ve seen a Friday the 13th game, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre game, and plenty of Dead by Daylight content. I’ve played these games and I enjoyed them, but they all pretty much follow the same blueprint. 

That’s where I picture a Phantasm game being different; because it is different, always has been different, and in the best ways. The film is a masterpiece of originality, and it would be great to see the universe expand. 

I see a Phantasm game expanding on its universe, much like the Ghostbusters video game did back in 2009.

Phantasm already has all of the ingredients to make a great open world role playing game (RPG). Nothing would have to change — we have numerous types of enemies, and spheres (the spheres are iconic), dimensional forks to other worlds, various improvised weapons (and tuning forks), and the ‘Cuda to traverse different areas and explore! There is also the amazing cast of reoccurring characters — and Morningside Cemetery. 

The game could follow the plot of the five-film franchise, and maybe even take the opportunity to introduce new characters and Phantasm lore. There is so much potential for an amazing open-world RPG. If you were to play as Reggie, Mike or Jody, there could be different storylines or endings based on how you play the game. Randomized events and fighting hordes of the undead would be a pretty cool element too. With so many unique enemies, I am sure that some epic boss fights would be thrown in as well!

There could also be different skill trees for different characters; Reggie could upgrade his four-barrel shotgun, Mike could expand on his telekinetic abilities, and Jody could use his skills to transform into a sphere (he could also have abilities related to the ‘Cuda). Resource management is also a must! 

Since Phantasm covers such a broad area of content, from horror to sci-fi, there is a lot of room for creativity when developing a game based on the film. The Phantasm universe is ripe for expansion. 

I would want to see this game done from the third-person perspective. I did like Resident Evil 7, and I think it was a good game, but I prefer Resident Evil from a third person perspective. I think this is why I didn’t become too attached to Ethan Winters, and I didn’t care about RE8. This is because of the character development — I’ve grown to care about Chris, Leon, Jill and Claire (and Barry!). I feel the same way about Jody, Mike and Reggie. Playing a game like this in first-person takes away from that. I prefer my survival horror from the third person point of view. 

Phantasm would shine as a video game, and I’m sure it would be a great way to welcome new fans to the franchise that we all know and love.

Kickstarter, anyone?

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The post Phantasm Should Be A Video Game, Boy! first appeared on Nightmare-Zine.

Photo Credit: Steam

I had to do it. I just had to. 

After the amount of reviews that I read for Stray Souls, I had to play it. After diving into the first chapter of the game, I was hopeful — and maybe a little too optimistic — that I would enjoy the remainder of the game. I mean it couldn’t be THAT bad, could it?

I was unrealistically hoping for another Deadly Premonition, and I couldn’t have been further off. Deadly Premonition was like catching lightning in a bottle. Stray Souls was nowhere close. 

Before we dive in, I will answer the question in the title of this post. Is the game survival horror? The answer is no. It isn’t even close. 

The game follows Daniel, who inherits his grandmother’s house on his eighteenth birthday, but quickly realizes the dark baggage that came with it. Soon after moving in, strange things start to occur in the house that send him on a journey for answers about his family’s past. 

I mean the premise of the story seemed promising enough…

The story is actually one of the reasons that I wanted to give the game a chance. I also read some interviews with Jukai Studios where they talk about originality, boss fights, and compare the game to a lot of other survival horror staples, etc. 

The game can be completed in under five hours. This is not a long game by any means, and it is also not a challenging game at all. The gameplay is linear and you will not be backtracking at all. You won’t be doing too much exploring of ‘Aspen Falls’, mainly because there isn’t much to explore, and the linear gameplay doesn’t allow for it. This is one of the main reasons that I do not consider Stray Souls to be survival horror. The game also lacks an inventory management system.

Unlike Resident Evil, where you are able to roam the Spencer Estate, explore, backtrack, solve puzzles, gather key items, do some crafting and inventory management, Stray Souls checks none of these boxes. 

The game gives you an over abundance of ammo pickups and health every step of the way that it feels ridiculous to even compare it to other survival horror games. There are so many ammo pickups that I would have been happier if they just gave us unlimited ammo. There is also only one weapon in the game, which is a pistol that is given to you. Daniel has no secondary or melee attack that you can use to fight off enemies, if you do happen to run out of ammo. 

There is not a wide variety of enemy types in the game, and bosses can easily be defeated pretty effortlessly. 

Each level in the game follows a similar formula. You will find yourself trapped in an area on the map by fog, and you will have to defeat a set number of enemies to make the fog disappear before you can proceed through the remainder of the level. In some cases, you will have to track down the enemies to kill (because they will not always come after you), and this can be frustrating. I even had a couple of enemies glitch into map, and I couldn’t kill them so I had to restart the level. This happened more than once.

The sound was also a major issue for me. Even when you are not near an enemy (or if an enemy is on a completely different floor), you can hear them like they’re standing right next to you. Rarely would I ever complain about sound in a game, but this game is the exception. 

The glitches and bugs, combined with the many issues that I mention above make for an overall disappointing experience. This is unfortunate because the story did seem pretty interesting and unique for a horror game. The delivery just wasn’t there.  

The ~$30 list price for this game is definitely too much. I wouldn’t play it again, even though it does offer more than one ending. There isn’t much replay value there. 

I may even have to consider it a PASS for Xbox Game Pass (if it makes it to Game Pass)… 

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From the author who brought us the apocalyptic dread of ‘The Cabin at the End of the World’ (which was adapted to screen by M. Night Shyamalan), ‘Horror Movie’ dives into the equally unsettling world of Hollywood reboots and buried secrets.

Paul Tremblay’s new novel ‘Horror Movie’ already has already piqued my interest. The synopsis alone has me thinking of all the different places that this story could go. Is it going to be something along the lines of the V/H/S series, The Ring, or even Dario Argento’s film Demons (which is one of my favorite horror films)?

I really like how Tremblay is choosing to revolve this novel around a film from the 90’s. I am hoping that we get to spend a good bit of time in the 90’s, or that we get to bounce back and forth between the 90’s and present day. This is something that I really enjoyed in his novel ‘The Pallbearer’s Club’, and I think it is something that Tremblay does very well when telling a story and developing characters that you can care about. 

Here is a brief plot summary of the upcoming novel:

A ‘cursed’ art-house film called ‘Horror Movie’ from the 1990’s gains a cult following despite only three scenes being publicly released. Decades later, Hollywood wants to reboot it, drawing the sole surviving cast member back into the fold. He grapples with his chilling memories of the original shoot, blurred lines between reality and fiction, and the tragic events that unfolded. Despite his dark past, he navigates the Hollywood machine to help with the remake, facing demons both new and old.

‘Horror Movie’ will hit stores on June 11th, 2024.

You can pre-order your copy HERE!

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The post Horror Movie: The New Novel From Paul Tremblay first appeared on Nightmare-Zine.

The Pallbearer’s Club:

Now that sounds like a club I would have joined in high school! Quite a unique title for a very unusual book. This novel took me a little while to unpack after I finished reading it—like I said, it’s unusual (and not in a bad way)!

This novel has a little bit of everything: punk rock, dive bars, heartbreak, humor… oh, and (maybe) vampires!

The Pallbearer’s Club takes place in the 1980s and follows a teenager named Art Barbara. While in his final year of high school, Art starts the ‘Pallbearer’s Club’ to help with his college application process. He recruits members of the club to volunteer at funerals for the recently departed with few friends or family to attend. This is where he befriends Mercy, a mysterious young lady who introduces Art to punk rock and Hüsker Dü.

The book reads as a memoir from Art’s perspective. Art reflects on his life and his relationship with Mercy. Throughout the novel, there are excerpts where Mercy chimes in and comments on Art’s recollection of the events. This was a very interesting part of the novel because you get two separate points of view as you’re watching the story develop. Art and Mercy’s relationship makes for an intriguing read.

The book ultimately brings you to the present day, where we find an older Art. He reflects on his time playing in his many bands, even including a time when he met Bob Mould from Hüsker Dü and Sugar. These portions of the novel were some of my favorite parts. It takes you away from the horror/suspense aspect of the novel for a while and has you follow Art as a washed-up, drunken punk rocker. Tremblay’s use of imagery almost puts you there in the crowd at a punk show.

This book quickly became one of my favorite reads of the year. It will have you reflecting on it long after you put it down.

Grab your copy HERE.

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Richard Chizmar has become one of my favorite protagonists.

When I first heard that the follow-up to ‘Chasing the Boogeyman’ was going to be titled ‘BECOMING the Boogeyman,’ my initial thought was that it had to be a prequel. Boy, was I wrong. This book picks up following the events of the first book; it throws you right back into the horror and doesn’t let go!

The beginning of the book feels like watching the season premiere of your favorite television show. It immediately pulls you back in and quickly brings you up to speed. I could easily envision ‘Chasing the Boogeyman’ and ‘Becoming the Boogeyman’ translated to screen (although, I would prefer a mini-series over a feature film—fingers crossed).

Post-COVID, we find Richard Chizmar winding down from a book tour (yes, Chiz is the main character in his own book, for those who haven’t read the first novel) at his home in Bel Air, Maryland. After years of recent book signings, travel, and interviews, Chizmar is now a well-known writer. This success stems from his novel ‘Chasing the Boogeyman,’ based on the 1988 events in Edgewood, Maryland, where a serial killer (the Boogeyman) claimed the lives of four teenage girls.

Chizmar’s Bel Air, Maryland home has become somewhat of a popular tourist location, frequently visited by both fans and critics, until one day something disturbing unfolds.

Has the Boogeyman returned to claim more victims?

Grab your copy HERE!

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Alan Wake has been one of my favorite video games ever since it came out back in 2010. Being a long-time X-Files and Twin Peaks fan, it was right up my alley. I devoured the game and the downloadable content when I finally got the chance to play it. Needless to say, it exceeded my expectations. If you’ve ever played the game, you can probably understand why.

As the years went by, I wasn’t so sure that we would ever see a sequel… until now. I was equal parts ecstatic and skeptical when I heard that a sequel was actually in the works. However, I cannot say that the skepticism was without reason after playing my first few hours of the game. By no means did I devour this game in the same way that I did its predecessor. I haven’t even completed the game yet.

A lot of changes were made with Alan Wake II. You now get to play the game with two main characters, Alan and Saga, each with their own storylines. It also leans further into the survival-horror element. Neither of these elements is the main issue though. The problems lie with the game’s mechanics. The flashlight now feels clunky and makes combat extra difficult, and add in a lack of ease when it comes to navigation, and you have a recipe for disaster. There is no mini-map or objective marker/waypoint to help guide you through the game. This made playing my first 7 hours of the game very cumbersome and feel almost like work—very different from my first experience playing the original game.

To access the map, you have to enter another game mode by pressing a button on your controller (the ‘view’ button on Xbox). This will take you to your character’s ‘mind place’ where you can complete other tasks in the game. When you do this, time does not stop in the actual game, and you can still be killed by enemies. Once you’re in your character’s ‘mind place’, you have to walk to a wall to view and navigate the map. This makes toggling between the map and navigating your way through Bright Falls and surrounding areas very difficult, especially when you’re working your way through dim-lit areas (of which there are many).

When you are playing with Saga, there is also a crime board in her ‘mind place’ where you can sort out your clues that you gather in the game. Sure, this helps with the story, but it isn’t exactly on the same level as LA Noire when it comes to the implementation of the detective aspect of the game.

I am too early on in the game to say that I am disappointed by it, and I am sure that it will wind up being a good game overall. There are a lot of things that I do like about it; the story and live-action cutscenes are very neat. It is also a very pretty game! Bright Falls looks amazing!

The story just didn’t pull me in how it did in the first Alan Wake, and I think that was mainly because of the newly introduced elements of the game. It doesn’t exactly feel like Alan Wake. Sometimes, less is more…

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We all know that Silent Hill 2 is a staple in the survival horror genre, but after all of these years, does it still hold up? Can we say that it is still a game worth revisiting, and can we say that it is a game that is ‘remake-worthy?’ I recently completed a playthrough and I’m here to breakdown my thoughts on what is considered (by many) to be the best installment in the franchise.

I’ll start off by saying that my opinion of the game is probably going to be an unpopular one, so the diehard SH fan may want to stop reading here…

Unfortunately, I cannot say that I enjoyed my playthrough of the game and I do not think that I would care to revisit it; however, I do think that Silent Hill 2 has a lot to gain from a remake. The original just did not hold up after nearly 20-something years. Sure, for its time it may have been cutting edge, but after all of this time, there just isn’t much to go back to.

About halfway through my playthrough, I found myself wishing it would end. I found it hard to become too invested in the characters (including James). The supporting cast of characters mainly annoyed me, especially Maria, and I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough about any of them.

The sound effects were very monotonous and the enemies came with very little challenge, including the boss fights. The puzzles just weren’t there. The variety of enemies was lacking. I felt like the only enemy that I had to fight were the ‘Nurse’ monsters over and over and over again…

Silent Hill 2 (and James Sunderland) could benefit from an ‘Alan Wake-Over.’ Introducing some new survival horror elements to the game would surely benefit it. There is so much to gain from a Silent Hill 2 remake, and it is surprising that we haven’t seen one sooner. There are so many games that have been remade in recent years that just did not need a remake — if anything, SH2 deserved to be on that list. I personally would’ve rather seen a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake instead of Resident Evil 4 (although Separate Ways was a great DLC).

Would I replay the original Silent Hill 2? Probably not, but I will absolutely play a Silent Hill 2 remake!

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