As an ode to the slasher genre, it only makes sense that The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me is littered with goodies for horror movie buffs. No vampires or ghost ships are lurking in the latest chapter of Supermassive's multilinear series, but heads will roll if you don't choose wisely - and quickly.
Those of us who relish a good scare will have kept a keen eye on the action to spot some references. Here are ten iconic horror movies to which the game pays a fitting, bloody homage.
Warning: This list contains spoilers for The Devil In Me (as well as numerous classic films)
10 The Haunting
Most of The Devil In Me takes place in a labyrinthine replica of serial killer HH Holmes' murder playground, The World's Fair Hotel. With terror behind every door, it's not hard not to draw similarities to The Haunting (1999). Both the film and this game feature groups of people being lured to a sprawling house of horror under false pretenses.
Here, they are watched over by a maniacal third party that ultimately doesn't care for their safety, with their every movement being recorded closely. Of course, The Haunting is about a malevolent spirit tormenting the living; The Devil In Me sees a very real, very much alive threat stalking its prey and playing with them in the dark.
9 American Psycho
When you see the first of Granthem Du'Met's five collectible business cards, his name neatly embossed in gold font over a stylish matte-black backdrop, you can't help but think of Patrick Bateman. One of the most iconic scenes in American Psycho (2000) sees the maniacal investment banker engaged in a tense discussion with his colleagues as they compare and contrast one another's business cards.
It's a lot more than a simple chin-wag over a coffee break, however, as the conversation represents Patrick's inflated sense of self-importance and his need to be seen as the best in every sense of the word. He grows increasingly incensed by the apparent better quality of Paul Allen's card compared to his own. Feeling upstaged and emasculated, he later decides that this is a crime worth killing him for.
8 IT
Aside from their mysterious host Mr. Du'Met, the only other living soul spotted by Charlie's film crew is a groundskeeper scuttling about the hotel property. He is clad in a bright yellow raincoat, and we never see his face - however, fans of the movie and miniseries adaptations of Stephen King's IT might find themselves immediately thinking of poor Georgie.
The doomed little brother of Bill Denborough is the first victim we see taken by killer clown Pennywise. Out for a walk one rainy evening to play with a handmade paper boat, he sails it down the rushing waters of the roadside gutters only to have it swept quickly down a drain. Pennywise peers up from the sewers, offers the boat with a smile, and promises the doomed little boy that he'll "float too."
7 Saw
As the five main characters explore the hotel, Mark and Jamie stumble across a gruesome reenactment of the murder of two construction workers. The crude spinning saw paired with the glaring red timer is fresh from the world of Saw (2004).
The Saw films chronicle the life and crimes of John Kramer, known to authorities as the Jigsaw Killer. His modus operandi is to capture people he deems guilty of a specific crime or personality flaw, forcing them into sadistic games that function more like death traps. Most Saw traps offer a way out; Kramer's twisted morals dictate that participants must atone for their sins to earn their freedom. However, Du'Met takes a leaf from Amanda's playbook in Saw III (2006) by making traps virtually inescapable. Du'Met is actually Detective Munday, the game's answer to Saw's Detective Hoffman. Both agents become killers themselves after being inspired and trained by their assigned case subjects.
6 The Shining
The second Stephen King movie reference on this list; how could Supermassive not nod to The Shining (1980) in a game about a spooky hotel? Although Du'Met is no Jack Torrance, his domain is a psychological prison of his own making. The Overlook Hotel is riddled with supernatural entities that drive Jack to a state of murderous insanity, plagued by demons both outside and within himself as he eventually tries to hunt down and kill his own family.
When Du'Met swings an axe at a heavy wooden door in hot pursuit of Erin and Kate, you half expect him to push his face through the gap and screech Jack Nicholson's famous line.
5 House Of Wax
The hotel's animatronic inhabitants are made of stronger stuff, as we discover when Erin explores the Silver Ash Institute. She finds a mannequin of a sickly patient, his torn, bloodied flesh bound by lengths of wire to hold his slack jaw in place.
This moment is evocative of the gruesome cheek-peeling scene in House Of Wax (2005), with Du'Met sharing Vincent Sinclair's love of, uh, displaying his work. Du'Met embalms the dead in a feat of backyard mortuary science, preparing the choicest specimens for new lives as part of his humanoid creations, while the killers in House Of Wax coat living victims in layers of hot wax to be displayed as still-breathing works of art.
4 Phantom Of The Opera
Okay, so this one is the only non-horror movie on the list. But really, that solid white half-masked face just screams, "sing to me, my angel of music." The 2004 film of the same name also features a mysterious figure hiding in the walls, watching the goings-on in his own private theater and wreaking havoc on the lives of those who dare to cross him.
Sure, the Phantom did a lot more singing and a lot less killing, but you just know that if there had been a serial killer running rampant in 1880s Paris, he would have been the one wielding the blade.
3 Friday The 13th
"It's like a summer camp from Hell," Jamie grumbles when the team finally arrives at their remote destination. After clambering up boulders and leaping from one tin roof to another, it's not hard to see the comparison. However, The Devil In Me truly imbues itself with the spirit of Jason Voorhees when it replicates the iconic twist ending of the original Friday The 13th (1980).
As your remaining protagonists escape via speedboat, the presumed dead Du'Met suddenly emerges from the watery depths and immediately takes a swing at poor Erin. This directly references Jason's shocking resurfacing at the very end of Friday The 13th in his last-ditch effort to finish his mother's work, a defining moment for slasher cinema that established a classic horror trope.
2 Psycho
What is it with slasher icons and their mommy issues? We were half expecting some sort of shower scene moment in The Devil In Me, but as Kate enters the lighthouse shack and sees a shadowy form slumped in a rocking chair, the slowly-decaying corpse of Munday's abusive mother is a much more fitting tribute to Psycho (1960). Norman Bates' mother serves as the unseen force behind his murderous ways, and Du'Met seems to be keeping Mommy Dearest around as a reminder of the broken child he once was - and the man he would kill to be.
1 Halloween
"He has the devil's eyes." This is what we are told about possibly the most famous slasher icon of all: Michael Myers (Halloween 1979). A silent killer who edifies the persistent, immortal force of pure evil, Hector Munday has become his own version of The Shape. Both Michael and Du'Met wear masks to conceal their faces, not speaking a single word as they calmly carry out heinous murder after murder with neither pause nor humanity.
The Devil In Me closes on a shot of the discarded mask. Du'Met is dead, and his reign of terror has ended. But as a mysterious hand reaches down to pick it up, we are reminded that evil never dies; it simply moves on.