OK, I went over my usual one title by a few as you’ll soon read, but I actually started this as a very different article revolving around Konami’s Silent Hill HD Collection (before it slipped into delay mode). Still, what with Valentine’s Day coming up along with my usual visceral reaction to the holiday (Yuck!), I may as well be nice for a change and share some really strange candy with you.

Don’t say you weren’t warned, though…

Konami’s hugely popular horror game franchise, Silent Hill, has been a personal favorite of mine ever since I got a demo from their PR department not too long after E3 1998. At that time, I was working in an independent game shop that also was expanding into publishing reviews, articles and features on the site (and later in a magazine published by the store). When the game was finally released in January 1999, I had to review it overnight for the web site. After about 11 or so hours of playing and taking copious notes on everything from the major differences from the demo to pointing out the assorted cinematic and literary influences I saw, I wrote an exceedingly lengthy (and a wee bit too cerebral) review.  All of that hard word ended up being brutally chopped down to a mere three or four paragraphs, but a few years later after leaving the shop (and in between jobs), I reworked my original draft and posted it on GameFaqs.

While horror-themed games have been around for a while, pure psychological horror as a thematic element was somewhat new to console games at that time while movies have been using it for decades prior. As I’ve gone back to the Silent Hill series numerous times, I’ve seen a number of parallels between imagery in the series and the films on this list. Below the jump, I’m going to introduce (or reintroduce) you to some of these unsettling films with the hope that you seek them out and experience a bit of sheer fright for yourselves before or after you play (or replay) any of the games in the series…

Repulsion (1965)

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

The Tenant (1976)

Roman Polanski’s “Apartment Trilogy” of three unconnected (in terms of plot, but linked by theme) films is absolutely worth checking out, particularly if you’re into slow burns with powerful payoffs, unsettling imagery and stories that show normal people going slowly insane or being forced to deal with reality and failing. Of the three, Rosemary’s Baby is the most “commercial” film US audiences will know and thankfully, no attempt has been made to remake this classic. There WAS an incredibly horrible made for TV (!) sequel done in 1976, but trust me, you don’t want to go there. Seriously.

As for Repulsion, if you’ve never seen it, you’re in for a treat. The building tension right from the beginning will have you under the couch as the film grows darker and weirder thanks to Catherine Deneuve’s superbly creepy performance as a woman losing her grip on reality in a particularly horrifying manner. The Tenant has it’s share of scares as well with Polanski himself playing the lead role as a rather paranoid man who thinks the people around him are trying to drive him insane. Moving into the apartment of a recent suicide victim doesn’t help matters much, that’s for sure. While there are enough unsettling images here to keep you awake for a week or so, Silent Hill 4: The Room fans should find a lot to pore over in these three. Even if you didn’t like that installment, you may find yourself appreciating it a lot more after viewing these films.

Don’t Look Now (1973)

Nicholas Roeg’s genre masterpiece is also a monumentally depressing film to watch, particularly once you understand the inevitability it presents right from the beginning. As a couple mourning the death of their young daughter (who the find may be trying to contact them from beyond the grave), Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are perfectly cast and believable. There’s an overwhelming sadness to the film that’s hard to shake off, even when the shocking ending occurs. The one bright moment is surprisingly, after that event… but your mind has to be in the proper place in order to see the hope there. I’d say Silent Hill 1 – 3 fans should find themselves quite at home with this one…

Altered States (1980)

Paddy Chayefsky’s only novel was a weirdly entertaining one, but also a great read if you’re into the subject matter (isolation take research combined with hallucinogens with drastic results).  While not a “horror” film per se, director Ken Russell packs in a ton of amazing psychological imagery and some fantastically trippy (for the time) special effects. The performances are solid all around (This was William Hurt’s first film, if I’m not mistaken), John Corigliano’s score SHOULD have won the Oscar that year and while the script is a bit weak at the end (which seems way too abrupt for my tastes), overall, it’s a very well made film that really needs some sort of Director’s Cut version at some point, given its troubled production. Oh, by the way… see the film without taking any substances for best results. You’ll probably get a contact high from all the stuff Russell throws at you from a visual standpoint.

Possession (1981)

Andrzej Żuławski’s downright freakish and 110% bizarre film experience mixes horror, drama, sex, violence a great deal of blood and one of the strangest endings you’ll ever see all portrayed by a cast that goes above and beyond in terms of their performances. The film is partly about the director’s own relationship and personal issues, but it’s definitely NOT an autobiography. Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani literally throw themselves into their performances and there’s a Carlo Rambaldi-designed creature that’s perverse yet hard not to watch when its on screen (thankfully not for too long). The film’s narrative isn’t as important as the feelings you’re supposed to have while watching what’s happening. Possession is disorienting, disturbing and brilliant all rolled into one and will linger with you long after the final scene. The entire film feels as it’s tailor made to be a new game in the Silent Hill franchise, as every character is twisted or broken inside and all that emotion pours out on screen.

Jacob’s Ladder (1990)

The major direct influence on the original Silent Hill game (and later, Silent Hill: Homecoming) and for the longest time, a film I disliked tremendously. I thought it was too slickly produced and overrated by some friends and worse, more unpleasant and depressing than frightening because it tried so hard to be different than other horror films of the period. Of course, what else would director Adrian Lyne do, as most of his other popular films had that slick editing style (and fog machines working overtime).  After playing Silent Hill nine years later, I tracked down the Special Edition DVD version and it all clicked. It WAS supposed to be unpleasant and depressing and the stuff that didn’t scare me before rattled around in my head afterward and made sleeping that night a bit harder than usual. It’s now a big recommendation for any fan of the series who hasn’t yet seen it, so yup – go track it down. Now, if only it would pop up on cable at some point, as I’ve not seen in in years and no longer have that DVD…

Begotten (1991)

I remember seeing this at a film festival and also watching part of the audience walk out well before the movie ended. Not because the film was intensely gory, mind you – it’s just intense, period. Good luck finding E. Elias Merhige’s wildly creative and absolutely weird independent film cheap these days. Religious imagery has been part of the Silent Hill franchise from day one, but this amazing re-imagining of the biblical creation of the earth manages to be shocking and absolutely not something you’d want to show a Sunday school class. Between a god that disembowels himself and bits of scattered and disturbing imagery that sinks into your pores over the course of about 80 minutes, this one will have you thinking of Pyramid Head at some point, whereupon you’ll be sleeping UNDER your bed with the lights on even in the middle of the afternoon.

I’ll stop here for now, but swing on by next week for part two (provided you’re not too freaked out by some of my choices here)…