Coming Soon to HappyHorror.com!

[Editor's note: This article's part of our re-posting since I had to re-build the site by hand. I wanted to include it to show what all went on. Don't worry though, we'll be finished with the reposts soon, but for now I hope they give new visitors an idea of what all we've gone through since our inception. Thanks for bearing with us!]

Originally published: June 10, 2006 @ 11:19am PST

Welcome again, everyone, to Happy Horror! I’m your host, Red Hawk, and I just wanted to update you on some of the stuff I’ve got on the burner for the website. I know that my own output hasn’t been very much in the last couple weeks but that should increase once I get a bit more time on my hands. In the meantime, I want to thank GlowStormLion and glittersoul for helping out with the articles, you’re both going above and beyond and I appreciate it!

First up, in the next few days, I should have reviews for One Missed Call and One Missed Call 2. I just watched these movies and they were really good, I thought, but you’ll have to wait for the update to see my whole opinion. Also coming soon will be one of the most reviled movies of all time, or so it would seem, House of the Dead! I’ll also be covering its sequel, House of the Dead 2: Dead Aim.

On the tokusatsu side of things, I know it’s been really quiet, but have no fear, I’ve got plans for there, also. As soon as I get it ordered and received, I’ll be covering the 1973 series White Lion Mask. I’ve only seen three episodes of this show but I already love it and plan on getting the last three tapes as soon as I can. After that, I’ll also start my coverage of what some say is the best sentai series made, Choujin Sentai Jetman! This is, without a doubt, one of the best TV shows I’ve ever seen anywhere, period. I’ll be bringing an episode by episode guide, monster coverage, hero coverage, mecha, everything!

On to games! I’ve got several more Fatal Frame ghosts to cover for the Ghost Gallery before we move on to Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly. I also have a sequel game to cover, The Suffering: Ties that Bind. If you played and enjoyed the first one, you’ll definitely want to try this one out, if you haven’t already. In addition to the first game’s monsters, it adds at least a half dozen, if not more (the only monsters missing from the first game, pretty much, are the Infernas, the Festers and the bosses, though Dr. Killjoy makes several return appearances). I’m also open to other suggestions on what to cover, so please shoot those queries over to here! redhawk28@gmail.com

So, as you can see, there’s a lot to cover! I’m looking forward to all of it, and I hope you are, too. Oh, before I close this off, do you want a forum on here? Let us know! As always, until next time, this is Red Hawk signing out!

American McGee’s Alice on PC or Mac

Originally published: June 10, 2006 @ 3:31am PST

"Haste makes waste, so I rarely hurry. But if a ferret was about to dart up my dress, I’d run."

- Cheshire Cat in American McGee’s Alice

American McGee’s Alice is available on: PC CD-ROM (Windows 98 or ME or Windows 95) or the Mac version

"Dude, you have to try American McGee’s Alice," he told me excitedly, as only a true gamer geek can.

"Who put it out?" I asked.

"American McGee!"

"What else have they made?"

"It’s not a they it’s a he."

"But you said American McGee, isn’t that the company?"

"No, it’s the designer guy’s name," the way he said this part employed a tone of obvious condescension at my gaming ignorance.

"His name is…. American?"

"Right."

"Awesome!"

Now what in the world would possess a person to name their child American? Okay, it’s not really all that weird, but it’s my lead in to the cool quote I found about how American was named. Ready?

Pictured: Not quite the Alice we’re used to seeing is it? Same quaint dress, though.

"My mom smoked pot. She was a hippie. I’m not sure how else to put that," Mr. McGee’s been quoted as saying.

Now it all makes sense, huh? According to other information I dug up, he was almost named ‘Obnard‘ so yanno, American is pretty conservative if you put it in that light. Curious names aside, American McGee proved to be quite talented. I liked Alice in Wonderland due to the same reason that McGee’s mother named him what she did, but even then I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted to play a GAME based on a children’s story.

"Oh no, man, this is waaayy different than plain old Alice. Here, look!" my vibrant companion gushed.

And look I did. I watched him play the game for a while and was so enthralled by it that I knew I must have him immediately bur… I mean purchase a copy for myself… with the box and everything! So I did that and installed it on my PC. I had a fairly active social life in the dorms at this point in my college career, but it certainly dimmed for a week or two after I discovered American McGee’s Alice. The game was amazing and I found myself actually sucked into not just the gameplay but the storyline, as well.

This game is generally described as a 3rd Person Shooter using the Quake III engine. In other words, you steer Alice from behind and make her run, jump and attack various enemies, as well as figure out how to navigate the environment. It’s totally action-oriented, but running around mindlessly trying to destroy everything isn’t going to win the game for you. Alice requires strategy and a willingness to well, die a lot. I know I did. There are lots of fun weapons like playing cards, croquet mallets and such that are not generally seen in other games. Bouncing about as an adolescent girl in a floofy, blood-soaked dress is also something of a trip. You’ll enjoy it, I’m sure.

Pictured: Mushrooms, decrepit White Rabbit, giant blades of grass.. is this a bad trip or what?

Now, while the game itself is loads of fun and difficult to beat (though I did win it), what’s really stunning are (ok, were) the graphics. For their time, in 2000, they were some of the finest I’d ever witnessed. The scenes of warped nature are very true to the imagination Lewis Carroll inspires in his books – just made a bit more sinister. This ties in with the voice-acting and the soundtrack (which includes work by Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna and Madonna Wayne Gacy, the keyboardist from Marilyn Manson) to create an extremely rich atmosphere causing the game to take on the feel of a great work of cinema.

Speaking of movies, it turns out that American McGee’s Alice is actually going to be made into a film, set for release in 2007 [UPDATE: As of May, 2008 the movie's set for release in 2009 - we'll keep you updated]. Marcus Nispel, who also directed the 2003 re-make of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, will be directing and guess who’s set to star as Alice? Sarah Michelle Gellar! You might also know her as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Sounds like she’ll be perfect as the brooding, sarcastic and insanely derranged Alice, to me.

We’ll be bringing you updates on this film as soon as we learn more. Even though American McGee’s Alice may not be the newest of games, it is still worth playing through. The solid gameplay, gorgeous visuals and spooky audio make it an experience worth having atleast once. There’s never been a finer take on Alice in Wonderland as far as I’m concerned. The Cheshire Cat with an ear ring? That should be enough soft-sell right there to get you to take a look. 5 out of 5 is the least I could rate this kick-ass shooter.

And the action figures? TO DIE FOR! Especially the Jabberwock!

Until I once again pass through the looking glass, this is GlowStormLion, battling for the hearts and minds of our nation’s youth.

Fatal Frame for the Playstation 2 – Part 1

Originally Posted: May 23, 2006 @ 03:14am PST

Title: Fatal Frame

System: Playstation 2

Published: March 4, 2002

Fatal Frame for PlayStation 2

I have played several horror-themed video games over the years. I’ve faced the zombies of Resident Evil, the psychological terrors of Silent Hill, the Scissormen of the Clock Tower series, the malefactors of The Suffering, the shibito of Siren… let’s just say I’ve been around. However, the best survival horror series I’ve ever played is the Fatal Frame series. Since the first game debuted in 2001, it has positively proven to be the scariest series I have played.

The first game came out with the tagline ‘Based on a True Story.’ While it’s true that the events in the main part of the game didn’t actually happen (girl goes into haunted house and fights ghosts while searching for her brother), some of the ghost scenes are based on actual Japanese folklore. The story most tied-in to reality is that of the mansion itself. There’s an old mansion said to be cursed that is in an area outside of Tokyo. Seven people died in a grisly way in that house. Bloody handprints have been found on the walls, spirits appear on the premises during both day and night, plus a window is said to have a young girl in it when you take a picture of it. There’s said to be a sealed talisman locked away in the attic, but those who’ve tried to find the talisman end up dead, their bodies broken and rope marks around their wrists.

To this day, the people of Tokyo fear the incidents of the mansion and believe those who live near it will become cursed. The other legend deals with a tree that weeps like a woman. People have seen a spirit of a woman there and many traffic accidents have occurred there, as well. The story goes that two young lovers would meet near the tree every night, for their social status wouldn’t allow them to be together. The young woman was so hurt by their situation that she hung herself from the tree which has wept in sorrow ever since. Finally, a brave young man thought that he could rid the area of the ghost and its past, so he chopped down the tree, distributing it as firewood to the nearby residents of the area. However, those who burned the firewood soon died under mysterious circumstances and the young man who chopped down the tree disappeared completely. This legend lives on as the ghost of Yae, who hung herself when she thought the spirits of the Himuro Mansion had abducted her daughter.

My love for the game started the moment I first read about it in a game magazine. It talked about a new game coming out that took place in an old Japanese mansion and that the combat style was based off of the old legend that a camera could steal a person’s soul. I was intrigued by this premise. I’ve always been drawn to games with unusual playing styles… Space Channel 5, 7th Guest and 11th Hour (both of which I’ll be covering someday soon) – just about any game with Full Motion Video, in fact. By the time I read this article, I’d played all three Resident Evil games for PlayStation, plus Resident Evil: Code Veronica X for PS2 and at least the first Silent Hill not to mention the PSX Clock Tower, as well, and had grown somewhat tired of the "big guns" approach of Survival Horror.

So, this article succeeded by lighting a spark in me. Fast forward a few months, and the game has come out. I immediately rent it as soon as I can and I’m just blown away. The game is fun and unnerving all at the same time. I learned quickly that health items came few and far between as I kept getting attacked by the mansion’s unliving residents. I also learned that the old Resident Evil strategy of running from enemies by leaving a room doesn’t work when the enemy can just float through a wall…..

More to come in Part 2, folks! (you can find Part 2 by clicking: THIS LINK)