Alone in the Dark, Genre Contamination

Fortunately, I had a heated discussion with Frederick Raynal, in my view the creator of the “survival-horror” genre, since it is the genre we must talk about, and it is from the genre that we must start in order to delve into this analysis. 

The term “genre” is usually used in the film field, both by the fandom of Italian giallo/noir/horror and by the corresponding critics. The latter, over the last few years, has aligned itself with the language of the fandom, that is, without using any further terms to specify the area of expertise of the respective strand. In this way, it has managed to maintain a constant dialogue with its niche audience. 

Revisiting the evergreen ALONE IN THE DARK years later, I could not help but notice close connections with genre cinema, with particular attention to our own national cinema. The main references are those born from the repercussions generated by the cycle of haunted houses. The earliest embryos of these films date back to the 1920s, specifically with THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER by Jean Epstein from 1928, which would later be followed by a colorful remake in 1960 under the guise of HOUSE OF USHER, directed by the extraordinary Roger Corman and featuring a monumental Vincent Price. This is followed by THE HAUNTING by Robert Wise from 1963, also known as THE HAUNTED (in some editions the film is also known as THE HOUSE OF THE HAUNTED). 

This strand will reach its peak in 1981, with the arrival of THE EVIL DEAD by Sam Raimi, probably because of the perfect compromise of fear and splatter that the film is steeped in. 

On the wave of these films, the major producers of our national cinema smelled a business opportunity, remembering the lesson of ’76 with the arrival of JAWS by Steven Spielberg, where the subject overshadowed its own genre and more besides. At the time, the posters for this film devoured the facades of the major cinemas, to the point of almost changing their intended use. 

The “Roman school” has given birth over the years to numerous figures who have characterized “genre” cinema. Masters so skilled that they in turn influenced other directors of international standing.

Among the greatest we have the patriarch Mario Bava (not forgetting Riccardo Freda), moving on to the contested duo Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci until arriving at other figures no less important such as Claudio Fragrasso, Lamberto Bava, Ugo Liberatore, Alberto De Martino, Ovidio Assonitis, Damiano Damiani, Michele Soavi and many others from the damned ranks. 

The starting coordinates of ALONE IN THE DARK are precisely these. But the reference epicenter is precisely the figure of Lucio Fulci (1927 – 1996), while the figure of Dario Argento becomes an excellent verification satellite of it.

Before delving into the analysis of ALONE IN THE DARK, it is worth remembering that on different tracks, some years earlier Eric Chahi had already moved with his Le Pacte (The Pact - 1986) for Amstrad CPC.  With an eye turned toward the famous saga about the haunted house of “Amityville”, the French programmer attempts an approach through gameplay that is completely different from ALONE IN THE DARK. Using a structure that at times recalls graphic adventures, the game draws its lifeblood from the gruesome films that tell of the dark events connected to the facts orbiting around the parricide of the DeFeo family.

Here the empathic screen is transformed into a catalyst of negative emotions; fear is actually delivered by these films, which in turn is channeled into the images projected to the player. We recall the famous AMITYVILLE POSSESSION (1982) by Damiano Damiani, as well as the second episode of the series, which, compared to its predecessor AMITYVILLE HORROR (Stuart Rosenbeg – 1979), boasts a more macabre and intricate visual writing, delving into the darkest recesses of the horror genre. The subsequent episodes did not enjoy the same fortune. 

In order to analyze these reference sources, it is necessary to examine some scenes from the game in comparison with the films of some of the aforementioned masters. 

The game opens with the protagonist Edward Carnby (alternatively, we can also play as the female counterpart Emily Artwood, niece of the owner of the house, or rather of the last owner) traveling to Derceto, an abandoned colonial-style mansion owned by the late Jeremy Artwood. The mansion is located in a swampy area of Louisiana, long a land of beliefs linked to the occult such as voodoo, devoted to jazz and much more. 

After the initial New York segment, Louisiana has always been fertile ground for Fulci, starting with FEAR IN THE CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980), passing through “AND YOU WILL LIVE IN TERROR... THE BEYOND” (1981) and reaching the more informal THE GATES OF HELL (1991). His THAT HOUSE NEAR THE CEMETERY (1981) is also ideologically set in Louisiana, in an ill-defined town called New Whitby.

Returning to the role of the delegate who is approaching the house, we notice a marsh toad watching the car carrying the unfortunate man, almost as if it knew the bitter fate that awaited him. Next, the toad’s point of view aligns with the subsequent shot; this formula is a typical Hitchcockian device that the Anglo-Saxon master used during filming in his movies, the so-called “simulated motivation”.

The little reptile is a true witness to the story, almost an omniscient narrator of the story. A similar projection can be found in INFERNO (1980) by Dario Argento, where the lizard is at the same time a witness to the spells wrought by Mater Tenebrarum against her victims. Also in the same film, we find ourselves in a context linked to cursed houses built for similar purposes and key books (the three mothers by Emilio Varelli). 

The books in ALONE IN THE DARK such as the Necronomicon and the De Vermis Mysteriis play a fundamental role in advancing the story and in solving the numerous puzzles scattered throughout the cursed house. These latter, by virtue of their esoteric nature, are not very different from the book of Eibon, and from the book of Enoch featured in some Fulci films. These volumes contain valuable information about the gates of hell. 

Following the camera, the camera moves toward Jeremy Hartwood's house, and the correct wide-angle perspective helps give it a decidedly sinister look. The colonial style is in perfect harmony with the surrounding landscape; the complex alludes to certain death. The architectural style is a very important factor since it acts as a vehicle for the soul of the house; American productions favor the colonial and neoclassical styles. Italian films instead favor ancient houses with a decidedly more monumental character and walls rich in history 

Other architectural analogies are clearly evident in other niche films, starting with the vampire’s dwelling in the famous SALEM’S LOT (1979) by Tobe Hooper, and going all the way to the Nordon house in THE HOUSE OF ZOMBIES (1977) by Robert Voskanian. In all these films mentioned, we witness similar scenes. 

Meanwhile, one cannot help but notice the lit window, something decidedly unusual for an abandoned house.

Afterward, the protagonist is left by the driver to his bitter fate; in fact, as soon as he is dropped off, the car speeds away at full throttle toward safer shores.  

Immediately after, the MDP moves upward, specifically inside the window, where an entity that presides over that house anxiously awaits the unfortunate person’s entry within its walls.  

This scene partly recalls PSYCHO (1960) by Alfred Hitchcock, but above all one of the cornerstones of Italian horror, namely And You Will Live in Terror... THE BEYOND (1981). In the famous Fulci film, part of the infamous trilogy of death, we witness a similar scene. 

Liza’s arrival (Catriona McColl) at the haunted hotel is glimpsed from the same angle. The sinister observer is Mary (Cinzia Monreale), an entity from the afterworld. While watching the arrival of the new owner, the witness also frightens a worker to death with her ghostly gaze as he is busy repainting the facade of the house. This will be followed by his fall, which will cause him severe bleeding. 

The same pattern is taken up by Claudio Fragrasso in his LA CASA 5  (1990) (an apocryphal series produced by Filmrage in the vein of Raimi's LA CASA). The arrival of the deacon’s family is observed by an ill-defined entity; its focus is directed toward the children, who are seen as instruments for hatching their diabolical plans.

An interesting if distant reference is the psycho-thriller Who's at the Bottom of That Staircase... (PIN) (1988) by Sandor Stern.  In the film by the English director, we witness the sight of a group of boys caught in the act of spying on a house that seems haunted and inhabited by some entity of unknown nature. The figure stationed at the window is glimpsed by the “losers’ club,” and after a brief stakeout, the fearless one of the group decides to dash up to the window. Once he finds himself face to face with the owner of the house, he will take to his heels after the intimidation issued by his interlocutor. 

From these first images, the French author demonstrates not only that he has a great command of visual language as well as editing, as can be seen from the sequences described, but also that he has an excellent cultural filmographic register of no small account, which has allowed him to convey suspense to the player. The placement of the MDPs inside the game rooms plays a fundamental role within the game (or the work).

The first Fulci-esque references are visible in FEAR IN THE CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, as well as the first film in the trilogy of death. In this film, Fulci lays the foundations of the poetics of H.P. Lovercraft and plays with the camera to project fear and gore.

In this film we have Father William Thomas (Fabrizio Giovine), a cursed priest who, with the act of suicide in the Dunwich cemetery, commits an act of blasphemy against God, and precisely because of his nature as a man of the Church, by doing so, he will open the gates of hell and will in turn transform into an entity with diabolical powers.  Father Thomas’s figure is not very different from that of the occult pirate Ezechiel Pregzt, who through certain rites manages to access dark dimensions by exploiting the sacrilegious context hidden beneath the foundations of the house he built. 

In fact, the tomb where the body of the shepherd of evil lies is located in a context very similar to that of ALONE IN THE DARK, namely a labyrinth placed beneath the cemetery full of tombs and tunnels leading to the priest’s family mausoleum. The sepulcher is the antechamber to one of the seven gates of hell. 

Famous is the scene in which Father Thomas hypnotizes the clairvoyant Mary Woodhouse (Catriona McColl) in an attempt to kill her through fear. During the mental paralysis, Mary will begin to bleed from the eyes; this iconic image will serve as a bridge through Tarantino in his KILL BILL - VOLUME 1 (2003) (the Tarantino film is a true encyclopedic catalog of Fulci's filmography), up to Hideo Kojima for his DEATH STRANDING, but it is clear that the Japanese author is already drawing from the original source. In fact, the beach of DEATH STRANDING (2019) has a function very similar to the black lodge of TWIN PEAKS (1990 – 1991 – 2017) by David Lynch, but translated on a visual level with the sea of darkness visible in the famous finale of BEYOND THE DOOR by Fulci. 

The Japanese master knows the Italian master’s poetics very well; in fact, within the game it is possible to find a file that pays homage [ZOMBIE 2 (1979) and A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN (1971) are mentioned] to the Roman director. 

But THE AFTERLIFE will be the nerve center on which ALONE IN THE DARK will consolidate its everlasting foundations. Starting from literary sources, H.P. Lovercraft and Edgar Allan Poe, both Fulci and Raynal share literary canons in common that have these coordinates. 

In THE AFTERLIFE, we have a cursed house like in ALONE IN THE DARK. In the film, the house was used as a hotel, and its foundations rested on one of the seven gates of Hell. In the Infogrames game, we have a house built on a dimensional portal that leads to dark dimensions. 

In both titles we have a character who evokes dark events, namely the one who opens Pandora’s box. In the video game we have the occult pirate Ezechiel Pregzt, who through certain rituals manages to access dark dimensions by exploiting the sacrilegious context. Meanwhile, in the Italian film, we have Twieks, the painter of the occult, who, because of his thirst for knowledge, has crossed the threshold of the inaccessible, and in doing so has flung open one of the gates of hell. 

It will remain etched in the eyes of the spectators, his death sentence decided by the villagers and carried out through blows of chains, until it led to a crucifixion that ended with slaked lime thrown on the face of the painter of darkness, still alive.

This cult scene will be heavily paid homage to in SILENT HILL (1999). After all, the influence of Lucio Fulci is everywhere within Konami's title.

Another analogy can be identified in the figure of Jeremy Hartwood who, due to his nature as an artist (he also appears to be a painter), may vaguely resemble Twieks, the painter of the underworld. Unlike him, J. Hartwood committed suicide because of the manifestations of the house's diabolical nature.

This factor recurs in many films about haunted houses; in these cases, the former owners part with the house only through suicide. Ultimately, this is the will of the house.

We remember WHO IS BURIED IN THAT HOUSE from 1986 by Steve Miner, where the writer Roger Cobb’s aunt hanged herself in her own room because of recurring voices and alleged hallucinations that drove her insane and ultimately to the extreme act. 

Still inside the dark house of Derceto, we have a corridor that serves as an exhibition gallery. This wing is full of haunted paintings, and in the gallery one can catch a glimpse of a painting illustrating the central orifice that unleashes all the evils of the house. Just as in the cursed hotel we have the painting by Twieks depicting the secret hidden in the hotel’s underground and, more precisely, behind the gates of hell.

The painted presence may be a reminiscence of the French author in relation to Fulci's film. 

Returning to the video game context, we also have the presence of monstrous spiders infesting a room (it seems to be a veranda); these arachnids obstruct the protagonist's path. This setting will echo in the later RESIDENT EVIL (1996) with similar obstacles in the continuation of the action.

In the film, the architect Martin Arvey (Michele Mirabella) goes to the city library to examine the archives in the hope of finding the floor plan of the “SEVEN DOORS” hotel; once he finds it, to his immense astonishment he discovers that the basement is much larger than the current setting suggests.

The discovery coincides with his death sentence. A bolt from the blue invades the surrounding space, seeming almost to penetrate the reading room, and in doing so the architect falls from the ladder in fear. The fall will cause him very serious injuries, such as to leave him paralyzed on the ground; the living, helpless body will become a proud feast for demonic spiders. This scene represents one of the most explosive “gore” canvases in Fulci’s repertoire. 

During my exchange of dialogue with the French author, I had the opportunity to speak about these personal reflections of mine. It was he himself who confirmed my theory, telling me that in his youth he spent a great deal of time inside his father’s video store, and in doing so he had the chance to watch numerous films, especially those of Italian production. By reconstructing some fragments of the aforementioned films, my theory took shape, since he did not remember the names of the films, but rather the key scenes. 

Starting from the first movements of the camera and the first shots of FEAR IN THE CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD all the way to the most complex and refined film such as And You Will Live in Terror... THE BEYOND. 

The first film of the death trilogy, through the experimental use of the MDP in the interiors and exteriors of the town of Dunwich and through its camera movements, already shows us the first signs of contamination. The sudden appearances of zombies in the town of Dunwich will help inspire the work of the French master. In fact, Derceto is completely infested with them, and they often appear out of nowhere just as in Fulci’s film. 

The second film by the master of Italian “gore,” “THE BEYOND”, will provide further confirmation of this. Through a slower, more measured pace of action that plays on suspense, just as happens in ALONE IN THE DARK. The Italian director demonstrates that he has further refined and consolidated his direction, and these aspects certainly did not go unnoticed by the eye of F. Raynal. 

Unlike the first film, here we have zombies that appear out of nowhere inside the hotel, in decidedly unexpected places, such as a bathtub. 

ALONE IN THE DARK would serve as a model in the years to come for a whole series of video games that would explore similar themes. The first and most important of these would certainly be RESIDENT EVIL (1996), a highly successful game that would bring this video game genre back into the spotlight. A triumph also driven by the disruptive effect that the PlayStation had on the global market.

The similarities between RESIDENT EVIL and ALONE IN THE DARK are very evident, in some cases they seem to have been created by the same creative mind.

In the wake of RESIDENT EVIL, other games of no lesser importance would be born. Starting with the already aforementioned SILENT HILL, its quintessential antagonist, and moving on to DINO CRISIS, also from Capcom, a title that rode the wave of success of the dinosaurs from the JURASSIC PARK films, the famous series coined by Steven Spielberg in 1993. 

The home title by INFOGRAMES was followed by two more episodes, also produced by the same brand, but unfortunately they did not enjoy the success of their predecessor. Only ALONE IN THE DARK 2 (1993) managed somehow to keep the flame alive.

In the years that followed, other titles would be released that would merely carry the historic brand; unfortunately, they would be remembered only for their huge failure. The latest recorded episode is the pseudo-remake of the original ALONE IN THE DARK, released in 2024; despite a massive advertising campaign, the game disappointed fans’ expectations.    

To conclude, we can say that certain masterpieces never die, and deserve only to be taken up again and recontextualized, and ALONE IN THE DARK is precisely one of them. This title teaches not only that some video games deserve to be played again not only for their pioneering nature, but also for historical and artistic research purposes within an interdisciplinary context of broad scope.