BioMechanica

In 1978, a little-known director named John Carpenter set to work on what would become one of the most influential independent horror films of all time. That film was Halloween. Not since Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960) had people felt that horror had come home and indeed the 'boy next door' could be the devil himself... In 1979, Victor Miller and Sean S. Cunningham chose to refine rather than redefine this new emerging 'modern' slasher genre, by placing it in a place that kids at the time could relate to...a summer camp (shot at camp NoBeBoSo)...a secluded summer camp called Crystal Lake. Whilst the film is neither overly scary (there are a few jumps), nor particularly disturbing, it has an unsettling edge to it, partly thanks to Tom Savini's brilliant gore effects, and partly because we honestly don't know who will survive and the ending brings a surprise twist to the equation (I imagine everyone knows it by now, but just in case I won't tell you)...and in all honesty, I have seen worse acting in a horror movie, as well.

Ex-id software designer American McGee has definitely come up with the goods...this movie combines the bizarre, surreal setting from Lewis Carrol's book with a dark, gothic irony, a la the original Quake. Just listen to the story... Alice has been committed to a mental institution following the untimely death of her parents in a housefire. In the book, Alice visited Wonderland in a dream...here, she has no choice but to venture back to this place as a result of her insanity..but now it's a much darker Wonderland...the queen of hearts is now a domineering dictator, and all this is because of Alice's own lack of a sense of reality. Ingenious.

Another brilliant part of the game is the visual factor..the Quake 3: Arena engine has been put to brilliant use, and Alice is now a decidedly perturbed, sickly looking goth, which adds to the fantastic twisted, dark, and kinetic humour of the game.