Horror – Page 17 – David Peach

Adopted Daughter (Tomie part 12)

In Adopted Daughter, a girl is found on the ground, outside an old rich couple’s home one rainy night. They take her in and adopt her as their own — to the girl’s delight. But she may not be who she says she is, and she herself may discover some dark secrets about her new home.

Oh, how sweet. To stay here, with you… it would be like a dream.
Tomie is welcomed into the couple’s home — Adopted Daughter

What is Adopted Daughter about?

In the twelfth chapter from the Tomie Collection, Adopted Daughter sees the lady herself be taken in by a friendly old couple. This lovely couple have been unable to have children themselves, and so have previously adopted from a local orphanage. However, their fate seems cursed, as every one of the girls they have adopted has died mysteriously. These strange deaths, whilst under their care, have birthed some very bizarre and troubling rumours about them.

One rainy night, the unconscious body of a young woman is found just outside of their window. The couple quickly take her inside, dry her up and make her feel at home. She introduces herself – her name is Tomie. The couple see this event as a blessing and immediately offer her a home. She accepts, after explaining about how both of her parents have recently died. And it isn’t long until she finds herself right at home.

The old couple dote on her as if she were their very own. They do their very best to make her every desire come true, no matter what she asks of them. They buy her nice jewellery; dress her in beautiful gowns; make her hair up like royalty. But none of this manages to stop the inevitable effect that Tomie ends up having on those around her. Those same desires in the innocent soon reveal themselves with gusto, for the story’s climactic ending.

Main Characters

Drawing of young woman in Manga style. She has long black hair and a single small mole under her left eye. — Tomie

An elderly lady drawn in Manga style. — Tomie

Twists and tragedy

Adopted daughter is definitely one of the darkest Tomie stories I have read. All of the stories within this world are pretty dark by definition, however, this one manages to go that one extra step. For me, this was down to the sub-plot that is hidden within the over-arching story. I’m not going to mention a word of its details here, for fear of spoiling it for you. Let me just say that it was a twist that I didn’t see coming, and reminded me that the scariest things in horror are those that are rooted in reality.

My heart went out to this sweet, old couple. Although I don’t want to reveal their ultimate fate, the fact that they seem to be cursed with sick daughters – and then to have Tomie turn up – is a truly upsetting situation to be in. Not only that, but the rumours that go around about them are unfair too. I know that people will talk, especially about certain unknowns in their neighbourhood, but when you add it all up, this couple just doesn’t deserve it.

The couple are without a doubt shunned from society – alone together – and unable to make a family. Mix that with the horrific events that they come to witness, and you have a very unfortunate final stage in life.

Closing thoughts

I would definitely put this chapter into my top five from the entire Tomie Collection. The sense of depth in the story’s history, which comes out from the later-revealed sub-plot, is the most rich out of all I’ve read so far. I would even go so far as to say that Adopted Daughter would make an excellent Tomie film, in the right hands.

If you haven’t read a Tomie story before, or indeed any of Junji Ito’s stories, I think that this would give you a great introduction. This chapter has one of the best written narratives from the collection in my opinion. And it gives a good level of gore without being completely in your face. Adopted daughter is a standalone story in the collection, so feel free to read this one during any stage of your exploration.

Hair (Tomie part 11)

A Father keeps a box of hair from an old lady friend of his in a secret place. But once his daughter and her friend discover this secret, the hair’s original owner begins to show herself in very strange ways.

Tomie came to me more and more often. I sat in my room, dwelling, transfixed by her beauty. I felt no desire to go anywhere.
Chie becomes increasingly obsessed by Tomie — Hair

What is Hair about?

After looking around her father’s study, Chie discovers a very weird trinket hidden in secret. That trinket is a wooden box, within which is a large collection of long black hair. Although the contents of the box are strange, the hair’s unique properties are stranger still.

Once the box has been opened, the hair seems to start growing of its own accord. To share in her weird discovery, Chie confides in her best friend Miki and tells her all about her find. Playing around as children do, each of them get a strand of the hair attached to their heads. It just sticks into their scalp and makes a permanent home there.

As time goes on, they both start having strange dreams – dreams of a beautiful young woman who introduces herself as Tomie. But those dreams become increasingly real for one of the girls as she starts attaching more strands of hair to herself. But how much is too much? And what effect will Tomie’s hair ultimately have on these innocent girls?

Main Characters

Body horror

When I think of the body horror sub-genre within horror manga, I imagine the contorted faces from some stories. Or even the devastated bodies from viruses and curses such as in Emerging or Manhole. What I never even considered was how hair could be used in just as an effective way. It just took someone like Junji Ito to see what I could not, and bring it to my eyes in as demented a form as possible.

What Ito has managed to do, yet again, is go to a place that I could never have even dreamt of. We all know that increased hair is a universal sign of maturing within us humans. So to have that taken and used as a catalyst for the changes that these girls start going through was a stroke of genius.

The conclusion to this chapter gave me some remembered feelings from another story of his called Greased. Although not anywhere quite as vulgar as Greased in what it shows, Hair does a great job at ticking some of those same boxes. It too uses parts of the body’s natural processes to try and completely unnerve you. And for me it completely succeeded.

Transformations

Hair is a chapter that focuses solely on Tomie’s ability to take over an unknowing host. We saw a similar case to this in the Basement chapter through the infection of Yukiko’s blood. However, here Tomie is doing the same thing through the DNA of the hair that Chie’s father had been keeping. As soon as it latches on to them, it works its way into their mind and begins to take them over.

The more I think about it too, the more I can’t necessarily blame Tomie for what she is doing. I mean, of course she is the enemy here, but is she not simply clinging on to her life like any self-aware being would? Of course it is to the detriment of the girls she is affecting, but I find Tomie’s motives here somewhat pure. It is the father who kept the hair hidden for himself for so long that I blame. He would have known the powers that Tomie had, yet still he kept that hair in the same house as his wife and daughter.

What I found interesting, and even refreshing, with this chapter, was how Tomie herself doesn’t actually appear in the story in physical form. Instead, it is only through the hallucinations that both girls witness that she appears.

In summary

I found Hair to be a calmer chapter in the Tomie Collection, but with one of the more visually disturbing endings in my opinion. I think that any dark ending to a story that affects children is by default more disturbing. But in how Ito chooses to essentially teach these girls a lesson really touched a nerve in me when I saw its conclusion.

I guess that those are the buttons that horror manga should press. If you’re not left feeling at least partially disturbed after reading one, then the author hasn’t taken full advantage of the genre.

Thoughts on A Nightmare on Elm Street

A Nightmare on Elm Street is one of the most recognisable titles in cinema – as is it’s villain, and star, Freddy Krueger. I felt the urge to re-watch this film after my recently-formed gaming obsession with Dead By Daylight. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that much of the film still holds up to modern viewing.

What is A Nightmare on Elm Street about?

A Nightmare on Elm Street follows four high-school kids, who are all experiencing almost identical nightmares. Nightmares about a mysterious burnt man in an old jumper and hat with knives for fingers. This figure is none other than one of cinema’s most charismatic antagonists – Freddy Krueger.

Freddy has long been dead, but has since returned to feed on children’s fear within their dreams in order to kill them. While alive, Freddy was exclusively a child killer – and possibly worse in the originally draft – which makes him one of the most despicable of his contemporary killers. Yet, perhaps intentionally, this is juxtaposed with his bouncy, playful actions and the fact that through the course of his films people have come to regard Freddy as a “cool character”.

It isn’t long until one of the children Freddy is hunting, Nancy, takes it upon herself to stand up and fight back against him. This ultimately leads to a showdown where you’ll want to throw your fists up and shout “Fuck Yer, Nancy!”.

The Effects still hold up

When the Matrix came out in 1999 it blew most people away with its cutting-edge, computed-generated, effects. Less than ten years later and those effects sure did start to look dated – more so now. However, with films that focused on created actual physical effects, this dated effect is lessened quite substantially in my opinion.

A Nightmare on Elm Street, although cheesy in parts, still holds up strongly with its physical effects. Especially those bedroom death scenes from both the start and end of the film. R.I.P. Johnny. And Freddy is every bit as menacing and full of charisma as I’d remembered from watching it years ago.

It’s great when modern films take a leaf out of the books of films like this one. You really can’t beat the authenticity of good-old physical effects. Especially in horror.

A personal favourite favourite of mine of all the film’s effects, is when Nancy is asleep at Tina’s house. Freddy can be seen pushing his way through the over-arching bedroom wall from the other side. And although it’s not too difficult to work out how this could be achieved it is still effing terrifying and highly effective.

Freddy is still rock n roll

Freddy Krueger is one of those pop culture horror icons who sits beside all of the greats. He sits with characters such as Michael Myers; Pinhead; Jason and Leatherface. He was played so perfectly by Robert Englund and like Doug Bradley for pinhead, will always be tightly linked to his seminal role.

Interestingly what differs Freddy from many of his contemporaries, is his sense of humour and playfulness with his victims. Michael Myers was a silent shape in the darkness; Jason too was silent; Pinhead spoke only in a deep, almost poetic manner. But Freddy just toys with his victims in his cheeky, tormenting way.

Freddy has been a really fun villain to revisit and I’m looking forward to re-watching the other films too. This includes one I’ve never seen before – Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. I’ve heard good things about it so will get a hold of that when I can.

In Summary

A great horror film that I think still holds strong today. Wes Craven unknowingly created an icon that would go on to become a household name – like Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and Coca Cola.

If you’ve never before seen A Nightmare on Elm Street, I urge you to give it a watch. Yes there are some aspects of it that will be dated, such as the fashions and the acting in places. But this really is an important horror film like all of the top films lists repeat. You wont sleep easy till you watch this film.

Resident Evil 7 Biohazard

Pretty much one of the best gaming experiences I’ve ever had. The entire first play-through in PSVR

Charlie Boy (Hammer House of Horror episode 6)

Charlie boy is about a couple, Graham and Sarah, who come into possession of an African idol after Graham’s uncle dies. (Sarah gives the idol the name Charlie Boy). Unbeknown to the couple, the idol is cursed and is in fact a voodoo statue.

What is Charlie Boy about?

After a disagreement with his brother, Graham – sitting at home nursing a drink – takes out his anger on the Statue. He does this as he is looking at a photograph of five close friends, himself and his brother included. The rest of the episode is then about the systematic killing (or accidental deaths) of all who appear in said photograph in the order they appear.

The episode had some juicy deaths in its 51 minutes including a man getting thrown off a horse and on to some plough spikes. Others I can’t reveal for fear of spoiling aspects of it for you, should you choose to watch it. This story is one of the grimmest to watch overall – nobody really has a good time in this one. That being said I do enjoy a good downer of a story – there’s no light without shade.

A weaker example of the series

Charlie Boy had some potential to be a great episode but unfortunately fell a bit short for me. One big thing that let it down was the soundtrack. At times the music felt like it belonged somewhere between Confessions of a Window Cleaner and Foxy Brown. It’s a shame because the idea itself was a sound one that fits with the rest of the series well. It just seemed to be poorly executed by people who had no real vision of what Hammer Horror is.

In Summary

This is one episode of The Hammer House of Horror that I think you could comfortably miss. It does have some redeeming qualities, such as a higher death count to previous episodes. So it isn’t all doom and gloom. But yer, not the best one.

Resident Evil Kitchen Demo on PSVR

The Resident Evil Kitchen Demo is a little taster that Capcom put out around the release of Resident Evil 7. It shows off, in its short five minutes of game play, the pure horror potential for Playstation VR, and indeed VR in general.

What happens in the Resident Evil Kitchen Demo?

You spend the entirety of the demo strapped to an old wooden chair in a completely run-down kitchen. The Kitchen gave me similar vibes to the Peacock house from the infamous X-Files episode, ‘Home’. Just sitting there in the chair, both my real-life chair and the in-game chair, looking down at my bound-hands, I was already bricking it.

It felt very much like the start of the original saw film too, in that I had essentially woken up with no recollection of how I got there.

Once you figure out how to wake your friend up off the floor, he slowly gets up and tries to untie you. This is where my first palpable fears manifested. Behind him, moving in the shadows of the corridor, I could see a figure. A figure that no sooner had I said aloud ‘behind you!’, was already upon him.

Looking directly into the face of the hideous visage of a woman, who looked somewhat decayed and possessed, was a feeling like no other. In VR you can look around her head at the mangled locks of hair; the saliva in her teeth; the killing gleam in her eyes, staring directly into yours.

This is what horror really is

Horror games are always fun to me in retrospect. At the time of playing I experience what the game developers must strive for – prolonged anxiety and a fear to move onward through the game. But there really is no feeling like that of the release of tension after a well-timed, tasteful jump scare. And I have the feeling Resident Evil 7 will have those in spades.

Seeing the twisted and zombie-looking woman up close in my face actually got me turning my head away. I knew, somewhere in my mind, that this was just a game. But that held truth was buried beneath the many layers of fear from this demo. The level of immersion here is unreal and this has somehow awoken a level of computer game experience that I never even knew existed.

On to the full game

As soon as I finished the Kitchen Demo I was online shopping for the full game. I kick myself now for not picking it up in the PlayStation Store sale a few months back. As I type this sentence I am awaiting a confirmation email to come through for me to collect the game.

I have no idea how I’m going to survive this game. Outlast feels like a walk in the park now, compared to this. (It’s not – Outlast is still very scary, but Resident Evil 7 just has a whole new dimension – literally and figuratively).

p.s. I have since bought the game and have played the first hour. It has not disappointed me and I can not wait to write up my thoughts on it in full.

The House That Bled to Death (Hammer House of Horror episode 5)

The House That Bled to Death kicks off strong and stays strong throughout its 50 minutes. It keeps a sustained anxiousness until it’s very final scenes.

What is ‘The house that bled to death about?

The darkest and coldest opening of the series so far. An elderly couple are together in the kitchen about to have a cup of warm milk before bed. The husband heats the milk and slips a dark powder into one of the cups. As he sits there and lets his wife drink the tainted milk, not a word is exchanged. We have no idea as to why he is murdering his wife and in the world of Hammer House of Horror it doesn’t really matter.

Fast forward some time ahead and we are with this episode’s family, the Peters family. They are buying the very same house where the murder occurred, unknowing to them, from one of the creepiest estate agents in a TV series ever. As soon as they begin moving in, strange things start happening – doors jamming, strange visions and the most gruesome death of an animal I’ve seen in the series thus far.

As they try to bare the strange goings on in the house, tensions are increased both within the family and with the neighbours and friends. The poltergeist-like happenings culminate with the most shocking child’s Birthday party I’ve ever seen. But just when you think it’s all over, we see one of the most interesting – in my opinion – closing scenes of an episode of Hammer House of Horror I’ve watched.

I wonder about the child actors

Every time I see these sorts of series or films I can’t help but wonder how the children are affected. I mean, obviously if there’s a dead body the child wouldn’t necessarily need to physically see it. Through the magic of editing this effect can be produced. But when you have a scene such as this episode’s Birthday party, where the children are directly affected, this must be an awkward conversation with the young actors’ parents.

Nonetheless the child actors do a really good job in this episode. Their terror is almost palpable – which is worrying on a couple of levels. Sometimes I find the younger actors more convincing than their superiors. This could simply be down to the fact that children, in their very nature, are innocent. So the horrors that befall them are that much more horrific.

In Summary

Definitely one of the strongest and most memorable episodes of the Hammer House of Horror TV series. The House That Bled To Death has everything you could want from a hammer horror series.

The feeling of claustrophobia is maintained throughout most of the episode from being limited to the interior of their house. The house too is not a house that would necessarily stand out. You would see many houses like it passing through most built up city suburbs. This in itself is scary. The fact that it isn’t some huge eerie castle or dark, set-back mansion. This is a regular house, for regular families, who have to endure some far-from-regular things.

Growing Pains (Hammer House of Horror episode 4)

We open the episode to see a small boy looking around a laboratory at the different coloured powders on the shelf. He then proceeds to eat one of the powders, which immediately sends him into a trance-like fit before dying on the grass outside. His parents run out after hearing breaking glass only to find their son, William, dead in the garden.

After the tragic opening we move to some time in the near future, the length of which is never revealed. The mother is picking up her newly-adopted son, a very polite – and slightly odd – young boy. After a near-fatal accident on the way home, the boy starts to become integrated into the family.

However, something just doesn’t sit right with the parents Terence and Laurie – something about their new son just isn’t right. After an increasing number of strange, and graphically horrific, occurrences happen around the home and the father’s lab, the story ends on a darkly melancholic note.

Put the bunny back in the box

I find that any horror that is being told is almost always amplified when children are involved. Whether that involves the child as being either the victim or the perpetrator. Take the rabbit killing scene for example: if an adult breaks the neck of a rabbit on screen, yes it is horrible. However, put that action into the hands of a small child, whether possessed or not, and the violence takes on a whole new angle.

Hammer House of Horror was going places and trying things that other shows at the time just weren’t doing. At least that’s what I believe based on my limited research. We can see parallels with modern anthology series like Black Mirror and Inside No 9, which themselves are doing things others just aren’t. Both of these no doubt took some of their cues from this TV series.

Although this episode was a bit of a slow burn for me, there was still enough to enjoy it as a whole. I thought the child actor at the time, Matthew Blakstad who played adopted son James, was suitable creepy. But from all of the reviews / critiques I’ve read of this episode, all mention him as being an evil boy. Although that was the impression I had from the start, I didn’t feel that by the end. Instead, I believe him to be a sheltered boy who unwittingly becomes possessed by the late Willam.

Summary

This episode is definitely the weakest of the first three i have watched so far. Although it did have a few redeeming qualities for me. You wouldn’t be missing too much if you bypassed this episode. But, for any of you fans of the Hammer House of Horror series, you should find enough interest to warrant 50 minutes of your time.

The Thirteenth Reunion (Hammer House of Horror episode 2)

Leading on from the series’ opener, Witching Time, is the second episode of the eighties British anthology series Hammer House of Horror. The Thirteenth Reunion is a step away from the supernatural – perhaps consciously so in order to display the show’s diversity.

What’s The Thirteenth Reunion about?

Ruth is a newspaper reporter who has been stuck reporting on the mundane for too long. As part of her job, she is sent to a nearby health retreat called “Think Thin”. The owner has some questionable encouragement methods and she is sent to get the story.

During her first day she meets Ben, a well to do banker who dies that evening. His death occurs soon after taking a slimming pill that was given to him by the clinic. Although she is initially shocked at the news of his death, Ruth wastes no time in turning the suspected foul-play to her advantage. The advantage being the possibility of breaking a potentially big news story on her own.

Ruth and Ben have drinks in The Thirteenth Reunion.

She is approached at Ben’s funeral by the director, who suspects his bosses of being up to something shady with some of the bodies – Ben’s included. She takes this opportunity to team up with the funeral director to investigate his bosses’ strange goings on. These events set Ruth on her passage of exploration that ultimately lead her to an unforgettable twist ending that will leave you open-mouthed long after the credits roll.

The horror is not knowing

There is no way to talk about the closing ten minutes of this episode without ruining it for you. What I will say is that you wont see it coming, not the full story at least.

All the way through this episode we are kept in the dark almost as much as Ruth is. We do get to see some of the interactions between shady characters that she doesn’t, but never enough to give the game away.

The Thirteenth Reunion is an episode that plays its cards very close to its chest. The majority of the episode is pretty standard investigative journalist stuff and it isn’t until the final few minutes that the real horror begins. And the majority of that horror is not in what it chooses to show you, but in what it chooses not to.

Witching Time (Hammer House of Horror episode 1)

One evening David is composing the score for a new film when a loud but brief storm hits. When his dog, Billy, goes running off, he pursues it into the nearby horse stables. However, in the stables he doesn’t find Billy; instead he finds a mysterious woman in a black robe lying in the hay.

Black magic woman

Lucinda claims to be a witch from the 17th Century who managed to escape her execution by sending herself forward in time to the present day. She is played excellently by fiery red head Patricia Quinn. Lucinda is probably my favourite of the four main characters in this episode. Her portrayal of the ever-maddening witch is an entertaining watch, albeit not as scary as I would expect from this series.

As she becomes infatuated with David, Lucinda finds new and interesting ways to get inside his mind. Using the knowledge of David’s wife’s infidelity to her advantage, Lucinda slowly twists his mind against her so she can try and have him to herself.

Winter is coming

I knew I recognized the actor playing David Winter by not only his face, but also his distinct delivery of his lines. It was none other than Jon Finch, who I remembered from Hitchcock’s underrated ‘Frenzy’. Finch plays David with a similar, direct intensity – even in quieter scenes – that I remembered fondly from Frenzy.

I enjoyed seeing David’s slow descent into madness as the story escalated towards its heated conclusion.

What happened to Billy?

Although this is not the strongest – or my favourite – episode of the series, it does have one of my favourite concepts for a story. The horror is downplayed considering it’s the first episode of the Hammer House of Horror. However, there are plenty of unsettling moments that should appease the hardest of Hammer Horror fans.

Unfortunately nobody knows what happened to billy.

Too alive – Thoughts on the game Outlast

Dark, disturbing and utterly terrifying. I don’t think I’ve been quite so scared playing a game than I have been with Outlast. It came to a point where being killed was a blessed relief from then suspended tension. Things were always going to get bad for our hero, I just didn’t foresee how bad things would get.

What is Outlast about?

In Outlast you play Miles Upshur, an investigative journalist who is looking for his story within the walls of the Mount Massive psychiatric hospital. He has been given a tip-off from a whistleblower within the Hospital about some shady goings on. It is here that you begin the story – parked up outside and looking for a way in. But of course It’s not long until things go pear-shaped and your quiet entrance becomes a frantic search for escape.

The game is played from the first-person perspective of Miles. Seeing it through his eyes really added to my emotional investment of it all. With all the lights turned off in my living room, the small shafts of light in-game were my only illumination.

The further through the hospital you advance, the more dark and twisted the story becomes. So too do the creatures searching for you in the dark become harder to best. Made excruciatingly difficult at times with the complete inability to fight back.

An inability to fight back.

One big aspect of Outlast, that sets it apart from most, is in its fighting mechanics… or complete lack thereof. It is impossible to fight back or even defend yourself in Outlast – all you can do is run, hide and try to sneak past whatever lurks in the darkness. This fundamental rule is what makes this game so unique in all the games I’ve played. Other horror games, like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, allow you to collect weapons and ammo in order to at least try and fight back. However, in Outlast, you must use only your wits, and more often than not your cowardice, to survive.

Throughout the halls of the quickly-deteriorating hospital, you’ll find all manner of places to hide. Under beds; behind up-turned mattresses; toilet cubicles; lockers. One time I even found myself staring directly at my enemy, only under the cover of the pitch black. These hiding places aren’t guaranteed sanctuary though, as those hunting you won’t think twice about tearing a door from a locker or searching under beds.

Because of the zero fighting, all of the controls you play with are geared towards your movements. Whether it be glancing behind you as you sprint away from a pursuer, peering round a dimly-lit corner, or creaking a door open as slowly as you can. Opening a door is actually one of the initial things that got me so immersed in the game. You have the option of just opening the door normally, which results in a thud, or holding down the button and easing forward with the controller’s analogue stick.

Utterly Terrifying

No game has made me so consistently scared of playing it than Outlast did. There was never a moment when I felt any degree of safety, with every room and corridor serving only to raise my fear and anxiety levels. The amount of times I went into it saying “it’s only a game – if I die I can just try again.” was many. But I simply couldn’t disengage from the game on an emotional level. In times between playing it I’m sure part of me staying there – trapped inside the hospital with Miles.

With the game being split into chapters, I found myself unwilling to play past more than one at a time. The constant state of tension really took its toll on me after a while. Although saying that I did do the last three chapters in one sitting, which I’m actually pretty proud of.

I’ve talked about the darkness and the things that lurk within, as well as your complete lack of defences. But fear not, for you do have one item by your side throughout your time at Mount Massive that may just save your life – your video camera.

Just a man and his camera

Your only accessory that you take with you on your journey is a digital camera with its night vision mode. This camera is your only friend in the dark, often pitch black, hallways you find yourself exploring. I found myself, at least half of the time I was playing, with the camera up to my face – night vision turned on. One memory that sticks with me is being trapped in a prison area, all prison cells opened, with a huge bulking creature searching for me. Using the camera to search the blackness was the only thing that got me out of there.

But the camera’s battery won’t last forever, which is why you should always be keeping an eye open for the game’s only consumable items – extra batteries. The game doesn’t really make the prospect of exploring every nook and cranny inviting. But I strongly advise you to look around for those batteries. Luckily I never ran out of them but there were many times when I came damn close.

As well as batteries you’ll also come across numerous documents, which shed some light on the history of the hospital and what went on before your arrival. These are an interesting read if you want to deepen your understanding. If not, just run.

Not for the faint hearted

If you are of a nervous disposition you will NOT want to play this game. I’m not easily spooked but this game had me in a constant state of anxiety. Sometimes to be caught and have your heart ripped out is a nice way to break that tension… sometimes. All in all I really enjoyed this game, but it’s a game that look back at with enjoyment – when I was experiencing it I was petrified.

It’s for this reason that I can’t decide whether I want to play the Whistleblower DLC and the recently-released sequel. I mean I want to… but do I really want to?

Don’t say you haven’t been warned.

The Last of Us review

The Last of Us was released in 2013, yet i didn’t get to play it till three years later. But when I did, it quickly became one of my top three games of all time. Its whole world and the characters within have somehow become a part of me. Joel and Ellie have become two of the most important characters in my life.

What’s The Last of Us about?

After one of the most emotional game intros I’ve ever experienced, we are placed with our hero, Joel, twenty years into a Post-apocalyptic world. Early on in the game you are entrusted to look after 14-year-old girl, Ellie. This is where it all begins – one of the most important relationships in gaming history starts right here. You are tasked with getting her safely to a group called ‘The Fireflies’, the reasons for which I wont reveal here, and of course it’s not simply a case of walking from A to B.

Once Ellie is with you, she will follow you wherever you go and you must protect her at all costs. But don’t get mistaken that protecting her means she is helpless; quite the opposite is true in fact. As the game progresses you will find that Ellie is just as tough as Joel, if not more so. They both come to rely on each other for survival.

You will end up travelling across America in your mission, encountering some interesting and downright terrifying people. The locations too are beautiful to explore, with the suburbs; the University of Eastern Colorado; a snowy lakeside resort; and more. All of which have been subject to the unstoppable spread of both mother nature and the deadly virus. The combination of overgrown flora and fauna, along with the ever-mutating infected, make for some simultaneously beautiful and grotesque imagery.

Infected everywhere

The infected that you encounter on your journey can be really tough at times, with all-out gun fights being the worse option to take. The infected people are found at different stages in their individual mutations, with each stage having its own strengths and weaknesses. The most iconic of these stages is probably what are known as ‘Clickers’. These mutated festering people have one of the most iconic sounds I’ve heard – their namesake ‘Clicking’. They use this as a form of echo location due to their being blind as a bat.

There’s nothing quite so brutal as the moment a clicker grabs a hold a bites down hard.

A game of character

The emotional thread that runs through this game is much stronger than any of the make shift melee weapons that Joel can fashion. The core of The Last of Us is the father/daughter relationship between Joel and Ellie that gets stronger and stronger as time goes on. Although he is initially cold towards her, treating her simply as his current mission, you will see how their bond becomes tighter with each step they take. One of the real great parts of this character development too, is the subtle exchanges of conversation that happen in-game, when you are playing.

It is hard to talk about the characters in this game without drawing comparisons to The Walking Dead. What both The Walking Dead and The Last of Us do so well, is deal with the conflicts between humans themselves. Even though humans as a species have a common enemy in the viral outbreak, there are still separate factions that arise that will kill one another for control and supplies instead of working together.

As strong and positive as the relationship between Joel and Ellie is, there is darkness out there that would see them torn apart. This darkness could not have been portrayed any better than by David. The build up through the Winter chapter to its violent conclusion is one of my favourite scenes in gaming. And that’s all I’ll mention of it.

Multiple playthroughs

I’d never before finished a game and immediately, after the credits, hit ‘New Game’, but with this one I did. I just couldn’t wait to get back into this world once again. Once I knew the story and where conflicts would occur, I found I could take in more of the environment. I would start looking carefully at every little detail in the world around me, ever-impressed with the level of care.

When you replay through at the same difficulty you keep all weapon and character enhancements you gained first time through. This made me feel like a bad ass and I actually went looking for fights.

In Conclusion

It’s rare that a game, or even a film, that gets such high praise and surrounding hype actually lives up to it, but The Last of Us does. It’ll have you laughing at the funny interactions between the characters; it’ll have you terrified and scared for your life. It may even have you questioning the things that you really hold dear in this world of distractions and excess.

The Last of Us not only lives up to its reputation, it dwarfs it.