Phasmophobia
Greetings, ‘Phasmophobia’ is a 4 player co-operative horror game that launched in 2020 although a brave single player is also able to play solo if they so wish. It was created by Kinetic Games who are a small independent video games studio based in the United Kingdom. They do not appear to have produced anything else of note according to their website and associated wikis nor does there seem to be any other upcoming projects unrelated to this game. As can be gleamed from the name of the game, it focuses around phantoms. The player is a ghost hunter and is tasked with determining which type of spirit is haunting a location during an investigation and to avoid being killed by the apparition in the process. ‘Phasmophobia’ became a very popular game around its launch due to numerous Twitch users and Youtubers streaming their terrified reactions, causing it to be the best selling game on Steam in October and November of 2020.
As of December 2024, there are 24 ghost types that the players have to whittle down to just one by collecting 3 categories of evidence on default mode. The difficulty can be increased which lowers the amount of evidence in the game and therefore makes identification even harder. While certain types of ghosts may share some of the same evidence with others, only one will have a specific combination of the 3 traits. The evidence is gathered through using various ghost hunting items. For instance, an Electromagnetic Field Reader will reveal if a ghost is in a nearby area by flashing over a range of readings while a ghost writing book can be written in by various spirits provided the player isn’t present during the action. Players can also make use of their headsets to speak to other players via an in game radio and with the ghost directly when using a spirit box.
A photo camera is one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in the game as the player can take pictures of paranormal instances including dirty water in a sink, otherworldly prints in salt and photographic proof of the phantom itself. Other items, such as a crucifixes, can impact the match in other ways including delaying hunting. Hunting is when a ghost is capable of killing players who are unable to escape the house. All players enter the level with a 100% sanity rating but this can be dragged down in various ways such as using cursed items, which can help track down the target, or by a lack of light in the room. A lower level of sanity means that spirits are more likely to perform numerous actions including engaging in hunting. Sanity is monitored in the starting location of the van which is a secure zone and serves as the focal point for reviewing equipment including live video camera feed.
There are 13 maps at present which consists of 8 small maps, 3 intermediate and 2 large ones. They cover various locations including residential houses, farmhouses, a school and a psychiatric hospital. I generally found the smaller and medium maps to be the most enjoyable as the bigger maps can be so extensive that it is hard to find just the ghost never mind the evidence it leaves behind. While more maps may be added in the future, it is interesting to note that a previous one known as ‘The Asylum’ was removed by Kinetic Games. The first few rounds of playing ‘Phasmophobia’ was a great experience as everything was so fresh and unknown with a genuinely creepy atmosphere having been built up. After playing it for a while, the mechanics become obvious and the fear it managed to initially induce is very much lessened. Saying that, I still have a soft spot for ‘Phasmophobia’ and I consider it to be one of the best co-operative games I’ve ever played.
Plot=6/10
Characters=5/10
Graphics=8/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
When I was young, folks used to talk about you. Said as how you knew things. Said if a man had been wronged, he could come to you and you'd call upon this thing in that man's name, and that man, he'd be avenged.
Ed Harley
Pumpkinhead
The Quiz Part 16
Greetings, welcome back to another iteration of the annual quiz which has returned for its 16th year. As hard as it is to believe the quiz has been a yearly tradition for this long, I’m also finding it difficult to wrap my head around the fact that it is also exactly one month to Christmas Day. As part of the run up to the festive season, I’ve come up with 10 questions to test your knowledge on a wide range of subjects. Last year Mark and Jordan tied in first place with 8 points while Aaron scored 6 but he could pull of an upset and come first again like he last did in 2019. So have a crack at it but don’t forget to avoid the spoilers below and put your score in the comments. Best of luck!
1. Which American entertainment personality created and narrated the seminal TV show ‘The Twilight Zone’ and later went on to do the same for another horror anthology show called ‘Night Gallery’ in the 1970s?
2. Who said this? – “Evacuate? In our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.”
3. Which United States President was the first person to hold two non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office from 1885 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897?
4. Place these generations of games consoles in order of their North American release dates – A. Xbox 360 B. PlayStation 1 C. Nintendo Game Cube D. Atari 2600 E. Dreamcast
5. In the 1957 Science Fiction film ‘The Incredible Shrinking Man’, the protagonist Robert Scott Carey battles against what type of creepy-crawly in the climactic conclusion?
6. In the card game of Uno, what happens if a player sets down a card that contains a circle with a slanted line running through it?
7. Name the character.
8. Unscramble the letters to reveal an actress - DAREUY PRENUHB
9. Which iconic comedic duo are referenced throughout the ‘Imposter Series’ as a statue outside of McMenamin’s Movie Theatre (Saoirse), when Eamon Quayle mockingly refers to their bowler hats (The Curse) and with one of their movies playing in the Picture House (Sinner’s Paradise)?
10. The Conservative and Unionist Party lost the 2024 UK general election in a major electoral blow but for how many years had they been the governing party of Great Britain until they were ousted from power?
Spoilers!
1. Rod Serling
2. Grand Moff Whiluff Tarkin
3. Grover Cleveland
4. D. Atari 2600 (1977) B. PlayStation 1 (1995) E. Dreamcast (1999) C. Nintendo Game Cube (2001) A. Xbox 360 (2005)
5. A spider
6. The next player is forced to skip their turn
7. Gabriel Van Helsing
8. Audrey Hepburn
9. Laurel and Hardy
10. 14 years
Quote of the Day
They wouldn't put me on a pedestal, so I'm laying 'em on a slab!
Oswald Cobblepot / The Penguin
Batman Returns
Ash vs Evil Dead
Greetings, ‘Ash vs Evil Dead’ is a horror comedy television series that ran from 2015 to 2018 for three seasons before it was cancelled due to low viewership. It had numerous directors involved including Sam Raimi who is known for directing the original ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy that this programme continues on from, the critically acclaimed ‘Spider-Man’ trilogy from the 2000s and stylistic Western ‘The Quick and the Dead’. Bruce Campbell reprises his iconic role of Ash Williams while new cast members to the franchise include Ray Santiago, Dana DeLorenzo and Lucy Lawless. Jill Marie Jones and Samara Weaving, who is known for the 2017 slasher movie ‘The Babysitter’, also appear in the first season. The conductor is Joseph LoDuca who composed the soundtrack for the original ‘Evil Dead’ films as well as the 2001 period French horror movie ‘Brotherhood of the Wolf’ and would be later contributing to the ‘Chucky’ TV Series.
The plot picks up 30 years after ‘Army of Darkness’ in which a much older Ash hasn’t progressed in life at all. He’s still working as a stock boy in a department store and being his wild partying, womanizing self as he lives alone in a trailer. His life is uneventful as the Deadites, the demonic evil that Ash had previously defeated, had been dormant for decades but that soon changes when he goes to a local dive bar. After he picks up a loose woman and has his way with her in the restroom, he is disturbed to notice that for the briefest moment her face had become deformed during the act and she warns that they are coming for him. The deformity is one he is all too familiar with as it indicates the person has been possessed by a malicious Deadite. At that moment he recalls that he recently read from the hidden away Necronomicon while high as he was using it to impress a prostitute named Lucy during a ‘poetry read’ and unwittingly unleashed the ancient evil.
Elsewhere Michigan state police detective Amanda Fisher and her partner, John Carson, are responding to reports of a disturbance. A neighbour had claimed they had heard a woman screaming from inside her home. Once inside the dark house, the cops find a corpse and eventually encounter a weeping woman at the other end of the room. The crying woman is Lucy. Amanda asks Lucy to turn around and put her hands up but Lucy merely snaps her head around, revealing she has the face of a Deadite. Lucy attacks Amanda and stabs her in the hand with a pair of scissors before she impales Carson on wall mounted antlers. A stunned Amanda pulls a pistol from out of her ankle holster and kills Lucy by shooting her in the head. As Amanda attempts to recover from the shock, she becomes increasingly confused as Carson’s body is no longer in the room. Her undead partner emerges from the shadows and attacks her until the adrenaline filled Amanda shoots him dead as well.
I enjoyed seeing Ash again after such a long time and liked how the show delved much deeper into his background, including visiting his old home town, as the films never did explore that to any great degree. I also appreciated how the show added quite a lot of new details to the lore of the Necronomicon and how it paid homage to the movies by returning to the sinister cabin in the woods where Ash’s troubles began. The series also isn’t afraid to kill off major characters which is good for suspense although the main trio of Ash and his two friends, Pablo and Kelly, remain largely unscathed throughout the seasons. The three series feel fairly cohesive when watched consecutively and I don’t think the show ever ran out of steam but it could feel a bit repetitive at times. If you are a fan of the ‘Evil Dead’ trilogy or even the remakes, of which I am yet to see, then you’d probably enjoy this latest instalment in Raimi’s cult horror hit.
Plot=7/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=7/10
Quote of the Day
When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?
Arthur Fleck / The Joker
Joker
A Confederacy of Dunces
Greetings, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ is a comedy novel by American writer John Kennedy Toole and this work is often cited as one of the best pieces of modern literature ever produced. It was released posthumously in 1980, 11 years after the troubled writer killed himself in part due to his inability to get his works published during his lifetime. Some other struggles likely contributed to his death, such as the unverified belief that he was a closeted homosexual who struggled to accept his desires. The often depreciating way he wrote his gay characters in ‘Dunces’ would certainly suggest there is some truth in the notion that he was repressing his feelings. After years of trying to get his work appreciated by the literary world, his mother Thelma was eventually successful when she gave a copy of ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ to a novelist by the name of Walker Percy. Walker was suitably impressed by it and their combined efforts ensured the novel won a Pulitzer Prize a year after it was published. John only ever wrote one other novel called ‘The Neon Bible’ that he had completed while in his teens but he regarded it as a rather adolescent effort.
The story takes place in New Orleans during the early 1960s and is about Ignatius J Reilly, a 30 year old unemployed slob with a degree in medieval history and a great dislike of the modern world. While waiting for his mother outside a department store, Ignatius is accosted by Officer Angelo Mancuso who wants to arrest him for being a suspicious looking character. An outraged Ignatius loudly declares his innocence and begins to berate the lawman, drawing in a crowd of people watchers around them. An eccentric older man by the name of Claude comes out from the crowd to Ignatius’ aid and starts to accuse Mancuso of being a communist. This distracts the police officer who is forced to redirect his attention on to Claude, who is arrested for his behaviour. Ignatius’ mother arrives during the ruckus and uses the distraction to flee from the scene of disorder with her son. The two walk into a club called ‘The Night of Joy’ as they hope to hide from Mancuso. The bar is a shoddy strip club run by the strict proprietress Lana Lee. Using it as a place of sanctuary while Mrs Irene Reilly and her son lay low, Irene makes the most of it as an opportunity to get heavily drunk.
Meanwhile, the poorly socialized Ignatius regales a dim-witted bartender by the name of Darlene of the one time he had attempted to leave the safe confines of New Orleans. The normal routine of a Greyhound Scenicruiser bus journey had horrified and forever scarred the mollycoddled Ignatius who became even more of an isolated shut in as a result. After watching them for a bit, Lana Lee decides that both Ignatius and his mother were bringing down the atmosphere of her establishment so she kicks them out. The two decide that the heat would have died down by then and wander home but as they start out on their way, the inebriated Mrs Reilly drives her car into a building. Mrs Reilly is caught red handed and is charged a sizeable sum for the property damage she caused. Unable to pay the fine herself, she forces her lazy son to get a job so the money can be raised. He had previously coasted by without one, shunning any notion of work in favour of self-indulgently pursuing his interest in medieval philosophy. Ignatius surprisingly does gain employment with Levy Pants but soon causes problems as he, thinking of himself as a great social activist, attempts to get the African-American employees to launch an armed coup d’état.
I can partially understand why so many people like ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ with its bizarre characters but I didn’t quite get all of the appeal myself which may be down to the hype surrounding it. Once I figured out half way through the book that it was the sort of novel that didn’t really go anywhere, I found it a bit difficult to engage with the rest of it as there were no stakes. I personally felt that it was simply too long and that the jokes which were humorous at the start of the novel such as Ignatius’ barmy behaviour, felt lacklustre towards the end. Its rambling plotline is why there have been numerous failed attempts to make a film adaptation of it with the general consensus now being that it isn’t suited to the silver screen. I do like the morally indignant and repulsive character of Ignatius however as he is a quite a unique creation. I enjoyed that his actions, which are intended to better the world, are not driven by his desire to improve the human race but merely to outperform his equally batty pen pal Myrna Minkoff with whom he has a strange rivalry with. In conclusion, this novel is a hard one to recommend but those that do enjoy it seem to really get a kick out of it.
Plot=6/10
Characters=7/10
Wording=8/10
Overall=6/10
Quote of the Day
Harry thinks if you call him Harry again he's gonna make you eat that cat!
Harry Moseby
Night Moves
IT
Greetings, ‘IT’ is a 1990 television miniseries adaptation of the extensive Stephen King novel of the same name from 1986. It was directed by Tommy Lee Wallace who had previously worked alongside John Carpenter on a few films such as ‘Dark Star’, ‘The Fog’ and ‘Halloween’. He had also directed ‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’, an instalment in which the horror franchise attempted to move away from Michael Myers. Due to the two part ‘IT’ series being set across different time periods, there is a large cast of actors and actresses involved in the programme including Tim Curry in a campy but fun iteration of Pennywise the Clown. Other cast members include Richard Thomas, John Ritter, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson, Dennis Christopher, Tim Reid and Richard Mauser. The soundtrack was conducted by Richard Bellis who also composed music for numerous Disney theme parks and attractions such as those found in EPCOT.
The plot begins in May 1990 and is set in the town of Derry, Maine during the rumblings of a thunderstorm. A young girl by the name of Laurie is in her backyard while her mother is dashing back and forth between the house and garden, bringing her washing in before it rains. The mother calls her child into the house but unbeknownst to her, Laurie is mesmerised by a figure hiding behind drying out sheets hanging on the line. The imposing figure is a colourful clown who greets the child warmly. When Laurie doesn’t come inside as she was beckoned, the mother heads outside and is horrified to discover her child has been brutally murdered. The police later turn up to the scene of the crime and it also attracts the attention of an unnerved librarian called Mike. Fearing the return of a horrifying entity from his childhood, Mike gets in contact with his old school friends and warns them that Pennywise has returned to Derry as he always feared he would.
30 years earlier in the spring of 1960, a young child called George is playing outside in a heavy downpour with a paper boat made by his older brother Bill. The torrential rain causes the boat to quickly float downstream until it disappears down a storm drain. George is upset over the loss of his boat and quickly looks into the dark drain to see if there is any way he can retrieve it. As he gives up and is about to go home, he hears a voice call out his name. George turns his attention back to the sewer system and a brightly coloured clown has appeared, peering out of the drain. After an attempt to lure him in with balloons, Pennywise introduces himself to George as the boy was instructed not to speak to strangers by his parents. George agrees the two are no longer strangers after this and can therefore talk to each other. Pennywise holds up George’s paper boat and teases him to come closer. An elated George outstretches his hand which Pennywise suddenly seizes hold of and reveals a terrifying row of sharp teeth.
I had heard a lot of good things about this series before I sat down to watch it and the years of hype around it thankfully didn’t lead to disappointment as it easily could have. I’ve watched some other made for TV adaptations of King’s work around this period, such as ‘The Langoliers’, and ‘IT’ certainly holds up well after the many years that have passed since it first debuted. While both the child and fully grown actors gave great performances, Tim Curry is an obvious standout among them as he plays Pennywise with the perfect level of sinister comedy that further cemented him as a pop culture icon. The series wisely sidesteps the controversial elements of the novel with one moment in particular being skipped altogether. I do intend to read the novel at some point in the near future but I am a little daunted by the sheer length of it and have been told it rambles along.
Plot=8/10
Characters=7/10
Special Effects=7/10
Overall=8/10
Quote of the Day
Are you driving with your eyes open? Or are you, like, using "the force"?
Axel Foley
Beverly Hills Cop II
Educating Rita
Greetings, ‘Educating Rita’ is a 1983 comedy-drama film that was directed by Lewis Gilbert and is based off of Willy Russell’s play of the same name which debuted 3 years earlier. Gilbert is known for directing a number of films such as ‘Alfie’, ‘Sink the Bismark!’ and three James Bond movies including the outlandish ‘Moonraker.’ The playwright, Russell, is also known for writing ‘Shirley Valentine’, ‘Our Day Out’ and ‘Blood Brothers’. The picture stars Michael Caine, who had worked with Gilbert beforehand in ‘Alfie’, and Julie Walters as the two main leads with Michael Williams, Jeananne Crowley and Maureen Lipman in supporting roles. The music was composed by David Hentschel who has collaborated with numerous notable artists over previous decades including Elton John, George Harrison and Ringo Starr while also writing the score for a few films.
The plot begins with Rita, a 26 year old hairdresser, who has become bored of her monotonous life as she lives and works in a dreary working class estate. As she goes through her life listening to the usual inane gossip of her clients and having the same boozy company in the same old pubs, Rita decides that she wants more from life. She wants to feel like she has accomplished something and become a ‘someone’, escaping the constraints of her blue-collar background. A main driver behind this decision is the heavy societal pressure to start having children that is coming from her husband, Danny, and her wider family. Rita, who is actually called Susan, is afraid that having a child will chain her to a life she is becoming disillusioned with. As such, Rita decides to go back to school and seeks out higher education.
Her decision leads her to literary professor Dr Frank Bryant whom she hopes to learn from under his scholarly tutelage. Much like Rita, Bryant has become dissatisfied with his life and he has taken to drinking to cope with his lack of meaning or purpose. While Rita is frustrated with the simple-mindedness of her often inebriated peers, Bryant has grown wearisome of the pompousness and inauthenticity of the academics he surrounds himself with. When the two first meet, Frank is immediately impressed by Rita’s hunger for knowledge and her common sense answers that bring a fresh new perspective to topics he has been teaching for years. Despite admitting that he is an atrocious teacher and trying to dissuade her of an academic life, Rita still wants to learn from Frank and the two grow closer together as they both reinvigorate the other.
‘Educating Rita’ is considered one of the best British films of all time and it is not hard to see why it has earned such an envious position. Its encaptivating from beginning to end and never seems to drag at any point in my own opinion. Both Michael and Julie give very memorable, charming performances as two people struggling to find satisfaction in their own lives but providing it to the other through their companionship. Rita’s transformation into an educated woman is interesting to watch as she develops a healthy self-confidence but slowly discovers her new social group is just as flawed as her old one. I’d be eager to watch the original play someday if given the opportunity as I would like to see how faithful the film is to the source material.
Plot=8/10
Characters=9/10
Special Effects=8/10
Overall=9/10
Quote of the Day
No, it's the truth! I swear it! Danny told me! He went up into one of the bedrooms, the door was open, and he saw this crazy woman in the bathtub! She tried to strangle him!
Wendy Torrance
The Shining
