THE RULES OF THE GAME: before him-and he revels in every gory detail. A sequel to Aliens: Aliens Meets the Demons of Hell? EVIL DEAD II ... MEET Or perhaps Evil Dead II in outer space? This is no THY DOOM filmspace. The horror ofthis story belongs to the cult computer game released by id Software in AllgelaNdaliants 1993: Doom: Evil Unleashed. Doom reveals the complex relationships that currently exist between entertainment structures. The cross-over between popular culture forms TheEvilIs Unleashed-s-Science Fiction such as films and computer games tests the clear andHorror Meet the Shoot-tent-Up separation between diverse media forms, and this Interdimensional doorways finally make possible overlap has ramifications for genre analysis. Hans space travel between the two moons of Mars: Iauss has argued that a genre's development in­ Phobos and Deimos. The Union Aerospace Cor­ volves both the repetition of previous conventions poration's research into interdimensional travel is within a genre, and the introduction of elements a success. Or is it? In a climactic series of events, that extend and alter those conventions. Each new things start to go terribly wrong. Some people addition to a genre calls upon "rules of the game," sent through the gateways disappear. Others re­ or sets of generic conventions, which are familiar turn from Mars's moons as zombies. Then the to the audience. These rules can "be varied, ex­ moon Deimos vanishes without a trace. Enter the tended, corrected, but also transformed, crossed hero-leader of a specialized team of space marines. out, or simply reproduced." I Genres are viewed as He sends his troops ahead ofhim through the in­ language games that can introduce radical changes terdimensional gateway; armed with a Space Ma­ within a category, even leading to the "transfor­ rine Corporation gun, he follows them through, mation into another genre through the invention but once on Phobos his worldview changes. The of a new 'rule to the game.'''2 One question that space marines have vanished. Instead, dark sur­ needs to be addressed is what happens when the roundings envelop him, and eerie, atmospheric "rules of the game" extend beyond the one me­ music accentuates the suspense-filled moments. dium? Do genres cross media borders? The marine leader begins to scour the corpor­ A more flexible account of genre's functions in ate installation in search of any living human be­ contemporary media would acknowledge the dy­ ing ... but it's not the living who come to greet namic interchange between various popular cul­ him. Seemingly out of nowhere, an array of bi­ ture forms. Genre films and computer games are zarre creatures charge down dim-lit corridors and not closed systems drawing purely on their own through automatic doors: zombified humans, de­ genre and media specific conventions. Their mons, imps, minotaur-like forms, evil spirits. And "meaning" also crosses into other media. Clearly, so it begins. He must explore the installation to audience familiarity with genres from related me­ find out what happened, then get the hell out dia is economically advantageous to computer of there at any cost! Picking up weapons along game and film companies. This is especially the the way, he attacks the monsters like a man gone case given the horizontal integration currently op­ berserk-with fists, chainsaw, gun, rifle, and mis­ erating across a variety of entertainment media.' silelauncher. His body takes a beating, but his vic­ Genre and media hybridization is crucial to creat­ tims also pay the price. Hundreds of those de­ ing a larger cross-over market. Economic moti­ monic bodies audibly erupt, explode, and splatter vations aside, this cross-over suggests that the 504 HOP ON POP boundaries ofour critical models must expand to sequel Doom II. The sequel was made possible be­ consider cross-media hybrids such as the "interac­ cause someone left open one of the dimensional tive" computer games Under a Killing Moon and doors. The result? Demons ofHell gained accessto Phantasmagoria. Not only do both these games de­ Earth. So, it begins again. We reprise our role as pend on mise-en-scenes and cinematography that hero and return to kick some more demon butt as owe a great deal to filmic modes of production, but we struggle to save humanity from being trans­ their very structures are influenced by film genres. formed into a population of zombies. The full dra­ Under a Killing Moon combines its game format matic-andat times horrific-effects ofthis story with detective, noir, and science-fiction conven­ would have been impossible to experience without tions, and Phantasmagoria is a combination ofthe the genre's technically innovative three-dimen­ psycho-killer and splatter horror films. sional graphics and texture and the atmospheric While the game Doom:Evil Unleashed does not sound effects; these effects added to the hypervio­ employ film production techniques in the way lent and hyperaction dimensionsofthe game. these other two examples do (including film ac­ Before Doom graced our computer screens, the tors and directors), the game does depend on game effectsofid software's WolfensteillJ-D (1991) player familiarity with science fiction and horror had transformed the two-dimensional game for­ conventions, especially those evoked by Aliens mat known as the "platform game" into a separate (James Cameron, 1986) and Evil Dead II (Sam genre known as the corridor game, or shoot-tern­ Raimi, 1987). As a superhybrid form that ruptures up genre. Before WolfensteinJ-D, platform games generic and medium-specific boundaries, Doom like Donkey Kong had stressed action that took has become the blockbuster success ofthe gaming place on a two-dimensional plane that ran parallel industry. Doom, and its equally addictive sequel to the computer screen. The layout of the games Doom II:Hell on Earth,introduced a filmic quality resembled a mazelike ant farm; the player navi­ to game spaces and thus helped to broaden the gated a two-dimensional, cartoonish character digital market. An analysis of the Doom games re­ through this maze while trying to avoid obstacles veals how film genres have extended and opened placed in his/her path. Corridor games like Wolf­ their borders; the "old rules" of the generic game ensteiny- D were instrumental in transforming this spill outward from films into new media products two-dimensional platform space into a more con­ such as computer games.' The Doom games cre­ vincing three-dimensional environment. Rather ated new generic rules and new audience re­ than moving characters across a series of plat­ sponses: not only did the games alter the rules of forms that ran parallel to the screen, the player the genre in their own medium, but their impact maneuvered them through a series of corridors; also reveals the potential computer games have for the corridor format stressed movement into the influencing the development of film genres. simulated depth of the computer screen space. In Doom we play the main protagonist (a ma­ The title "corridorgames" has recently been super­ rine). The aim ofthe game is to navigate this char­ seded by the term "shoot-lem-up'' (or first-person acter through the three worlds ofPhobos, Deimos, shooter) because shoot-tern-up action is the main and Hell to discover what went wrong with the in­ emphasis in much of the game play. The most terdimensional experiments. In the process, we common example of the corridor games, there­ must also destroy all monsters that come within fore, is these "shoot-tern-up," body count varia­ shooting distance. When (and if) we get to the tions that require the player to move through cor­ end ofthe game, we will have defeated the demon ridors shooting all enemies that come toward hordes, returning to Earth victoriously .. . until the him/her. ANGELA NDALIANIS 505

However, even a game like wolfenstein 3-D spheric effects in the shoot-tern-up emphasizes (which was groundbreaking for its time) remains Iauss's argument that some new additions to a "unrealistic" when compared to Doom? Doom genre can alter the rules so much that a new genre further extended the conventions of the shoot­ can emerge. Working with the conventions of 'em-up. The differences between Doom and many of its shoot-tern-up predecessors, Doom Wolfellsteill 3-D are visible primarily in the ways introduced enough new rules to allow for a redi­ weexperience the environment that the hero, and rection in the aesthetics of the shoot-tern-up we, immerse ourselves. In most shoot-tern-ups we genre. The redirection cemented the break be­ adopt the view point ofthe main protagonist. The tween platforms and shoot-tern-ups instigated by player does not see the hero's entire body; often Wolfenstein3-Dand made possible our more con­ only his hands and the weapon he wields are vis­ vincing immersion into the game narrative spaces. ible at the bottom of the screen. The game play The game was also pivotal in broadening the logic is that our own body-which exists beyond conventions and expectations of the shoot-tern­ the computer screen - "fills in" the protagonist's up genre. Doom became the form that all shoot­ body. Despite the movement into a simulated 'em-ups would aspire to and was even compared three-dimensional space, in Wolfenstein 3-D the to other "classic" examples of other genres from cartoonish, two-dimensional articulation of that other media. As one review noted, "To describe three-dimensional space persists. We discover a Doom as a first-person perspective action adven­ game world based upon blocky, monotonous en­ ture would be like calling Blade Runner 'a film vironments composed of minimal color arrange­ about robots.' '' 6 ments and flat surfaces lacking in texture and The Doom duo triggered a craze in Doom-like attention to detail. Doom, on the other hand, en­ shoot-tern-ups. These included games that re­ velops us in environments filled with realistic de­ peated conventions formulaically such as Alien vs. tails, details that flesh out laboratories, torture Predator (also an offshoot of Dark Horse com­ rooms, infernal landscapes, and military installa­ ics); In Extremis (which borrows heavily from tions. Such visual details are accompanied by Aliens);and TerminatorRampage (also influenced sound effects: background music, the demons' by the Terminator films). However, innovative cries of attack, and groans ofpain coming from the new additions such as Dark Forces, System Shock, hero's aching body. The result is an atmosphere Duke Nuke 'em 3D, and Quake have expanded the of suspense, action, horror, and grueling ten ­ boundaries of the genre by incorporating new sion. The movements ofthe hero further enhance features, adding an even greater realism and more this convincing experience of an alien world. In intensive form of game play. Graphics and sound Wolfellstein3-D, we slide robotically along the cor­ effects have become even more detai led and three­ ridors and confront our enemy (a continual as­ dimensional, and the character movement in­ sault of identical, cartoonlike Nazis) with a limited cludes greater mobility: aside from walking, run­ range of weapons. In Doom, not only do we face ning, and turning, heroes can now also look up a whole barrage of demonic forms of different and down, jump, swim, and crouch. shapes and sizes (complete with matching arsenal Besides influencing the genre within its own of weapons with multiple sound and visual ef­ medium, Doom's entry onto the shoot-tern-up fects), but we also move along corridors and up scene technically and creatively bridged the gap and down stairs in bobbing, jerky motions that between the genres and styles oftwo separate me­ simulate running actions more realistically. dia. The enhanced graphics, special effects, digital Doom'sarticulation ofmore realistic and atmo- sound effects, musical track, as well as the level 506 HOP ON POP and articulation of violence and "realism," am­ Street Fighter, and Rise of the Robots) corner the plified the shoot-'em-up genre's connections with action game market. As with action cinema, both contemporary Hollywood cinema. Discussing game genres reveal their capacity for generic surf­ Doom's influences, Jay Wilbur, the chiefexecutive ing. Examples of this surfing include the refer­ officer of id, stated that "[id] wanted to make an encing of science fiction (Rise of the Robots and Aliell-like game that captured the fast-paced ac­ Duke Nuke 'Em3D), science fiction-horror (Doom, tion, brutality and fear of those movies. Another Doom II), warlcombat (Wolfellsteill 3-D), science fine influence was the movie EvilDead II-chain­ fiction-medieval-horror (Quake), and martial arts saws and shotguns are an unbeatable cornbina­ and fantasy (Mortal Kombat, StreetFighter, Virtual tion!" ? While the games draw upon various sci­ Fighter). The articulation of the '''em'' becomes ence fiction and horror film conventions, these the means by which iconography associated with two specific film sources-AliellS and Evil Dead film genres is called upon. The "them" gives form II-stand out when playing both Doom games. and shape to the visuals, particularly to the envi­ ronment we move around in, and to the appear­ ance of the antagonists that we destroy. In Doom The Doom Duo, the Shoot-tent-Up, and Doom II the visual generic references vacillate and Action Sensibilities between an array of creatures-specters, imps, While emerging from a different tradition, many cacodemons, hell knights (thus calling up hor­ conventions ofaction cinema intersect with those ror iconography and character types), as well as a ofthe shoot-'em-up game genre, reflecting the hy­ series of cyberdemons, arachnotrons, and corpo­ brid nature ofentertainment media. In Aliens, the rate military zombiemen (which merge science hero Ripley goes back to an alien-infested planet fiction-horror components with the combat film). with a specialized marine squadron to discover In addition, we're thrust into science fiction en­ the whereabouts of the inhabitants (who have vironments that consist of moon bases, techno­ been used as incubators for the alien spawn). The logical gadgets, and teleporters; these are coupled film's hybrid structure collapses the boundaries of with an atmosphere dominated by dim lighting several genres-science fiction, horror, and the and eerie sound effects that recall the ghoulish combat film-into one by incorporating all these backdrops that dominate in horror films. As with genre forms into an overriding action cinema tra­ action cinema, generic specificity of an icono­ jectory. For example, a dominant plot concern of graphic, narrative, or thematic kind is no longer the film is a science fiction interest in corrupt cor­ central to the genre. The only stable, defining porations that misuse technology and science and characteristics that exist are those prolonged mo­ endanger humanity. Often, however, this story is ments ofpure, adrenaline-rushing action. frozen for the sheer spectacle displays of bodies, The role required of the game player adds a special effects, violence, and blood-pumping ac­ further action cinema sensibility to the game ex­ tion. The film invites us to take part in a series of perience. Action cinema is defined by the physi­ adrenaline-rushing scenes that focus on chases, cally active roles required ofthe protagonists. This explosions, gun blasts, and spectacular special genre of games is also classified according to the effects as humans hunt aliens and aliens stalk dominant action it requires of its player: to shoot humans. "them" up. The games not only contain the role of A comparison ofaction cinema with the shoot­ sole vigilante against a multitude of no-good fu­ 'em-ups reveals interesting parallels. Shoot-tern­ turistic demonic spawn (complete with arsenal of ups (along with beat-tern-ups like Mortal Kombat, weapons), but also focus on spectacles of action ANGELA NDALIANIS 507 encapsulated in the never-ending gun battles and themselves provide a different experience to that fist fights that players engage in as they fend off provided by action films. In action cinema, no their enemies. The physiques ofsome of the "hu­ matter how economically pruned down the narra­ man" baddies ("The Heavy Weapon Dude" and tive and no matter how often the story is frozen "The Shot Gun Guy") also reflect the connection for the spectacles of action, the action is still with action cinema. Their chunky, muscular bod­ placed within a rigidly ordered sequence of narra­ ies and assortment of machine guns and bullets tive events. For example, in the final, climactic recall characters who populate action films like scene in Aliens (after Ripley and Newt's tension­ Commando and Broken Arrow. Action cinema, riddled and action-packed "escape" from the alien however, focuses its spectacles of action around mother's den), we find ourselves engrossed in the the bodies of its muscular, half-naked protago­ duel between the alien mother and Ripley. As nists-the most popular being Bruce Willis, Jean viewers, we are enticed by the action in its own Claude Van Damme, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. right: the build up of nail-biting suspense as the But in shoot-'em-up action games like Doom, alien mother stalks Newt; Ripley's exit to change Duke Nuke 'em, Quake, and Dark Forces, we are into her "transformer/terminator" outfit; and the invariably the protagonists. Rather than seeing a final explosive encounter as alien and human en­ display of main protagonist hyperbodies on the gage in hand-to-hand combat. However, the pre­ computer screen, we have to make do with the sentation of these events is unchangeable. And, knowledge that our own muscular, well-oiled, and eventually, this action sequence returns us to a sweaty bodies occupy the real space beyond the storyline concerned with unraveling events about screen. the Corporation, Ripley and Newt, and the aliens. The action of the Doom games has enough in In the shoot-tern-ups (overt connections to common with action films to allow for a two-way film aside), game players would profoundly resent flow between these media. Universal Studios had the freezing ofthe visuals, spectacle, and action for been seriously considering producing a film ver­ the sake of the linear unraveling of the story. The sion of Doom with Arnold Schwarzenegger-the Doom storyline outlined earlier may sound like man who brought the capital A into Action ­ the foundations of a great action-science-fiction­ everyone's favorite for the lead role." Jay Wilbur horror film and may soon be one, but when we saw the Doom film as likely following the game's play this game (and others like it), we desire dif­ lead in providing "mainly, just nonstop seat-of­ ferent experiences than we do as film spectators. your-pants sweat-of-your-brow action."? Con­ In game play reality is the last thing a Doom player temporary blockbuster movies' greater emphasis thinks of when in the throes of shoot-tern-up on action and spectacle at the expense of tighter, action for the higher purpose of saving humanity. more literary-oriented narratives is no new phe­ Intricate science fiction-horror plot details are dif­ nomenon to the cinema. It is, however, an aes­ ficult to glean (and of little interest) once within thetic that has become more pronounced because the game itself. The primary directive is to exter­ of the exchange with computer and arcade game minate (and revel in exterminating) the barrage of formats. The chase and action scenes that take aliens as they pour out of corridors, secret pas­ place in corridorlike spaces in films like Die Hard sageways, and multidimensional doors and come 3 and Under Siege 2, for example, reflect a certain straight for us. As protagonists, we work according "shoot-tern-up" sensibility. to the principle: "shoot first, and shoot anything While these overlaps reveal the extent of the that moves-and don't even bother about asking convergence of popular culture forms, the games questions later." The game revels in those mo- 508 HOP ON POP ments of spectacle so typical ofaction cinema, but minutes into the film, Ash's girlfriend Linda be­ now the action has become the essence of the comes possessed. After Linda's death, a group of game experience. travelers join Ash and, one by one, similarly be­ come possessed, leaving Ash behind to play the hero. From the beginning of the film, we are The AestheticsofGore: thrust into what can only be described as a roller­ Doom Meets Evil Dead II coaster ride of gore and splatter. Three examples Aliens' impact on Doom is reflected in the way the will suffice. Gore moment number 1: Within the action tendencies in the game move beyond the first few minutes of the film, Ash dispenses with generically specific. The influence of Evil Dead II, his demonically possessed girlfriend by chopping however, draws Doomback to the specifics ofhor­ off her head with an axe; later that evening, he sees ror. In Aliens and Evil Dead II, different kinds of her decaying, decapitated body performing pirou­ action spectacle are evoked. The display of bodies ettes in the woods outside the cabin-with her and violence is a feature that sprawls across several head rolling along the ground in accompaniment. genres and is present especially in action cinema. In a series of events that deal with this struggle However, horror differentiates its brand of body between the living (Ash) and the dead (Linda) , horror and bodily destruction through the self­ Linda's body (minus the head) attacks Ash with a conscious play and graphic articulation of the vi­ buzzing chainsaw. But since Linda's head is lying sual (and aural) sense of horror. Splatter horror on a bench in the tool shed, her body has no access films like Evil Dead II amplify the gore factor that to vision, and she accidentally slices her own body runs across many contemporary horror films; the in halffrom the neck down. The result? Every inch audience responds to spectacles ofaction that ra­ ofspace in the tool shed is flooded with sprays of diate around bodies in revolting states of destruc­ blood. Gore moment number 2: Ash's hand be­ tion.!" This visual assault of splatter horror aims at comes possessed. The solution? First he stabs it, extracting an emotive response from the audience tacking it onto the floor. Then he saws it off with and targets a gut-level reaction. This reaction vac­ the chainsaw, complete with more blood-spraying illates between revulsion and comedy and, like ac­ effects as the blood gushes over Ash's face, and tion , is always at the expense of the narrative. The he victoriously cries out, "Who's laughing now?" playful intensification of the sound and visual ef­ Gore moment number 3: Ash tries to push a de­ fects of gore and the splatters of blood and flesh mon spawn into the basement by slamming the in Doom and Doom II reveal an undeniable debt trapdoor down on its head. He succeeds. In the to the erupting and audibly splattering bodies of process, however, one of the demon's eyeballs va­ the Evil Dead films, particularly the over-the-top cates its socket at a super velocity, making its way quality ofthe second film. The EvilDeadfilms and full speed across the room and into the mouth Doom computer games depend on games played (and, presumably, down the throat) of a hysteri­ with the spectator; these games converge around cal, screaming character. While blood may not be gore and, through this gore, around issuesofgenre. involved, the abject events we witness make our The "buckets of blood" attitude to bodily de­ own blood curdle and our flesh tingle in a combi­ struction finds its perfect expression in Evil Dead nation of revulsion and humor. II in a frenzied series of morbidly hysterical We are invited to participate in a film that takes scenes. The story begins in a way that recalls the the violence and gore of horror.cinema to their prequel. A couple-Ash and Linda-arrive at a absolute sensory limits. The horror genre is re­ cabin in the woods only to discover that an evil has duced to moments of excess: excess of style and been unleashed from the Realm ofDarkness. Only excess gore. Besides the gut reactions that the ANGELA NDALIANIS 509 film'sbloody sequences provoke in us, this sensory lae. In the shift of films to games, a main difference involvement is also present on a stylistic level­ is found in the role of the audience/game player. especially through the hyperkinetic camera move­ In film the extent of our physical involvement ments that thrust our vision into the narrative within the film space is limited; a linear narrative space. This is nowhere more evident than in the exists before we see it and has been preorganized high-velocity tracking shot used in the beginning in a precise temporal sequence. Unlike their filmic of the film. The camera glides rapidly through the counterparts, computer games provide us with woods and cabin, then collides into Ash, sending "narratives" that transform and extend the nature him spinning in a clockwise direction at an in­ of film spectatorship. In computer games, rather credible speed. All along, sound effects amplify than perceiving the narrative through the protag­ the visual disorientation that assaults us. onists of a predetermined narrative, we often are In calling upon Evil Dead II and the tradition of the protagonists. the "gross-out" splatter film, the Doom games de­ In her exploration ofthe human-computer in­ ploy the destructive sensibilities of the splatter terface, Brenda Laurel attempts to articulate the film. Many shoot-tern-ups also have this crucial precise nature of the interaction between human link to the splatter factor of horror cinema; while and computer. She imagines a situation: if, during the narrative and iconography may alter, the com­ a theatrical performance, audience members were bination of violence, gore, and splatter remains taken up onto a stage and made to perform, their stable.'! But by the time this spectacle of gore relationship to the performance would shift from emerges in Doom and Doom II, it has reached a that of spectators to that of "audience-as-active­ state of transcendental purity. In a homage to Ash, participant." 12 Computer games display precisely the Doom hero has the option of replacing his this sense for theatrical and performative possi­ hand with a chainsaw appendage while (again, like bilities that allow the game player a more active Ash) also having access to a shotgun. With these role. The player must interact with and propel the two weapons (among many others), the hero ex­ narrative events that are taking place. The pro­ poses the game player to a series of visual and gramming of the games appears to offer limit­ sound extravaganzas that circulate around bodies less (though often highly controlled) options and in states ofdestruction. Masses of these evilbeings choices in the sequence of these narrative events. erupt and explode as they become the recipients of In Doom and Doom II, the temporal structure the hero's punches, chainsaw attacks, and shotgun branches off like a web into multiple directions bursts. Even the visual style of the games recalls that break up any signs ofstrict linearity. When re­ Evil Dead II: the high-velocity, out-of-control, playing a specific game level, for example, we can point-of-view tracking shots of Evil Dead II find change the direction and order of our character's their parallel in the point-of-view movements of movements; we can take different routes; we can the game hero . Evil Dead II and the Doom games fight a different sequence ofdemons; we can die in invite us to interact with an experience that is in­ a variety of ways, then return to the game reborn tent on the aestheticization ofgore. again. In other words, the same "story" is retold­ or, rather , replayed-in a series of different ways, and the notion of the singular, linear narrative no Lights, Camera, Interaction! ... longer holds sway. Let the Games Begin This alteration and loosening up ofclosed nar­ Despite overlaps, it's inevitable that the shift of a rative structures can be taken further still through genre from one medium into another alters the the use ofpatches or .wad files. While not allowing presentation of various conventions and formu- the player to alter the actual game play itself, the 510 HOP ON POP

.wad files can modify the sound effects and the are participating; in this process of participation, level data that affect the look and texture of the the imagination and "playful instincts" have an game environment (the walls, lifts, doors, ceilings, important role to play in collapsing the bound­ sky, landscape , etc.) and can also transform the aries between illusion and reality. In the human­ appearance of the aliens. If we were to categorize computer interface experienced in playing com­ the Doom games according to film genre cate­ puter games, the illusion or representation gories that place a great deal of emphasis on set­ "invite(s) us to extend our minds, feelings, and ting and iconographic details, the .wad fileswould senses to envelop" the games as ifthey were real.15 actually allow the player to take an active part in While not a computer game, Evil Dead II extends altering the genre ofthe game itself. For example, just such an invitation. Not only are we thrust into popular .wads include "Porndoom" (which deco­ the narrative space through our emotional reac­ rates the game architecture with pornographic tion to the gore, but our senses are also plunged images of women, thus aligning the game to into the film every time our point of view merges pornographic genres); "Pacdoorn" (which trans­ with the view of the camera as it races through the forms some of the nasty demons into not-so­ narrative space. nasty-looking Pac Men, therefore reliving the "Interaction" encompasses a dual function. game's links with the platform game format); The first is concerned with an interactivity partic­ "Simpsons Doom" (which swaps the characters of ular to the computer game medium. This consists Doom with characters from The Simpsonsi; and of a more active interaction in shaping the game "Aliens Doom " (which samples Hudson's voice "narrative." The second form ofinteraction is not from the film Aliens and transforms the Doom restricted by medium limits. Besidesreflecting our demons into the film's aliens). In other words, de­ willingness to immerse ourselves in illusionary spite the plot layout as outlined on the Doom game spaces as if they were real, interaction also de­ cover, in the game itself, due to cheats, .wads, pends upon our more active and critical engage­ and general game play, the "narrative," character ment with these fictive spaces. The Doom games types, setting, iconography, and sound effects do and Evil Dead II achieve this in the way they dare not stay still long enough for us to impose on the us to become engrossed in a game about genre." games the generic form of categorization more In particular, Doom II and Evil Dead II ask us to traditionally aligned with film. consider the function of the sequel in a genre. The types of interaction required ofthe specta­ Iauss has argued that the relationship between au­ tor and game player therefore differ between the thor, the work, and the public is never a passive two media. However, it is problematic to assume one. Active participation ofthe public is central to that computer games provide an active type of in­ the production ofa genre's meaning." Evil Dead II volvement and a "truer" form of interaction, while and Doom II acknowledge the central role the au­ films only offer the audience passive levels of en­ dience plays in actively shaping and participating gagement. Brenda Laurel has suggested that the in a genre's conventions. notion of "interactivity" is a troublesome term. One assumption is that "interactivity" is viewed as Generic Game Play and the Sequel: the "unique cultural discovery of the electronic Evil Dead II age." 13 Interaction can, however, also be achieved in other ways-including "sensory immersion" In her book Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds, Mait­ into an illusory space.!' This idea of interactivity land McDonagh makes a comment about Dario and immersion depends greatly on feeling as if you Argento that could easily have been written about ANGELA NDALIANIS 511

Sam Raimi. Argento's films, she argues, often film is literally marked as sequel when a "II" in­ "sublimate their narratives to mise-en-scenes signia stamps itselfvisibly and audibly through the whose escalating complexity is characterized . .. "Evil Dead" titles. From its beginning, the film by a series ofbaroque stylish devices." 18 This func­ tells us "I am a sequel" and establishes an expecta­ tion of excess is an important component of the tion in the audience of the sequel as repetition of post-iosos horror film and, as McDonagh points the "original. " out regarding Argento, excess does not just imply After the opening narration and the opening "more." Excess involves a process that causes the titles, we're introduced to the two main characters, mind of the spectator to rebel because expecta­ Ash and Linda, as they drive up toward the cabin. tions have been shattered and everything does not This sequence presents us with a minifilm that seem to make sense "according to the rules." 19 In is quite self-consciously presented as a reduced Evil Dead II, Raimi produces precisely such a re­ version of the events that occurred in the first sponse from the spectator, forcing us to stand out­ film, TileEvilDead.We are introduced to the same side the film and interrogate its structure. lead actor (Bruce Campbell) with the same name Evil Dead II is preoccupied with its status as a (Ash); in a similar drive through similar woods sequel. This fact becomes one of the most chal­ with a similar girlfriend, they come across a simi­ lenging aspects of the film's interaction with its lar bridge and arrive at a similar cabin in the audience. In the prequel Tile Evil Dead, a group woods; then, as the ominous feeling of doom of vacationing teenagers-including Ash and mounts, they profess their love to each other in a Linda-arrive at a cabin in the woods. In the similar way (with the narrative dwelling on the cabin they discover a book called Tile Book of locket that Ash gives to Linda). All these cues tile Dead, which unleashes an evil spirit from the wreak of copy, formula, and repetition of the depths of hell itself. This evil spirit attacks and "original." On the one hand, we have this famil­ possesses the characters-including Ash's girl­ iarity to cling to. On the other, something is not friend Linda-leaving Ash alone to fend off the quite right and our expectations for the familiar forces of darkness. The film ends with Ash emerg­ are undercut. A series ofdetails begin to accumu­ ing from the cabin in broad daylight. We, and he, late and the opening scene not only focuses on assume that his struggle has been successful, but in points of repetition and familiarity that connect the final shot ofthe film we are plummeted into a the film to Tile Evil Dead,but also introduces sev­ high-speed tracking shot that we associate with a eral variations that contradict its status as sequel. demon's viewpoint as it races through the woods The differences pile up. While Ash is familiar, and the cabin and, finally,toward Ash. And so the the girlfriend is not the same. She has the same film ends. name-Linda-but is played by a different ac­ In case the viewer missed the first film, the tress. Additionally, this cannot be the identical opening scene of Evil Dead II provides the audi­ event depicted in Tile Evil Dead because none of ence with a brief narration that outlines the sig­ the other characters are present. In the sequel, nificance of Tile Book oftile Dead. This narration only Ash and Linda make the trip to the cabin. An commences: "Legend has it that it was written by alternative interpretation would be that it's just the the dark ones. Necronomicon ex Martus, roughly beginning ofanother, different story also starring translated Book of tile Dead.The book served as a Bruce Campbell, who appears as a "different guy" passageway to the evil world beyond." After this who coincidentally happens to be named Ash. But opening sequence, the film's status as a continua­ things are still not quite right. If Campbell plays tion of the first film is further driven home. The some "other guy," and if the story taking place in 512 HOP ON POP the first five minutes is taking place sometime af­ the events that we see in the opening sequence of ter the events in the first film, then the bridge that the beginning of Evil Dead II? Is the opening Linda and Ash drive by (which was destroyed in scene, perhaps, the prequel to the rest ofthe film? The EvilDead) should not be present at the begin­ Is this a copy or an original? Are these old rules or ning of EvilDeadII. Raimi presents us with a puz­ new rules?21 Somehow, the film is all these things, zle to be solved, and this puzzle dares us to be­ with two "narratives" (one present in the prequel come involved in a game ofactively interrogating and one in the sequel) coexisting and struggling the film's structure. with each other and with the audience. The con­ The beginning ofthe film therefore introduces tradictions, the plays on repetition, the undercut­ us to false leads that depend on our sense of ge­ ting of expectations, all have the effect of making neric and sequel expectations. There are enough us contemplate the production of generic "mean­ familiar elements to suggest a reworking of The ing" and how we extract it. Rather than passively Evil Dead as a reduced flashback. However, the accepting Evil Dead II as a sequel, the film invites opening story also establishes itself as a new story the audience to ask the question "what is a se­ that is intent on denying the fact that Ash was ever quel?" and furthermore "what is a sequel's rela­ in the woods in The Evil Dead, that is, until the tionship to genre?" Raimi refuses to give us a con­ death and burial ofthe possessed girlfriend (which tinuation or sequel that is about sameness and occurred halfway through the first film and occurs repetition. Instead , the beginning of the film plays only minutes into the sequel). At this point, Evil on the idea of a sequel as similar to and different Dead II picks up at the precise point that The Evil from the original." Like genre films, Evil Dead II Dead left off: with the high-speed tracking shot draws on our expectations while simultaneously through the cabin headed at breakneck speed for altering and adjusting those anticipated conven ­ Ash. This movement seems to send the camera tions and patterns. As extensions ofboth The Evil and our vision spinning in all sorts of acrobatic Deadand of the horror genre, EvilDead Irs refusal directions, making us feel as if we truly are on a to repeat formulaically the prequel explores the rollercoaster ride that takes us on a one-way trip generic process as a dynamic system. While doing back to the prequel. It takes about seven minutes this, the film does not deny us the thrill ofthe ride before our desire for repetition appears to be un­ that we are taking. problematically fulfilled, and the film suddenly seems to remember it is a sequel. Or does it? Generic Game Playand the Sequel: Doom II Again, issues ofgeneric repetition are complicated because, even in this tracking shot, the beginning The kind of interaction involved in our critical of the film again presents itself as a film that both immersion in EvilDead II suggests an audience in­ is and is not a sequel, a narrative that is and is not teraction that exists at the level of generic game a narrative continuation. In the "sequel" version play. While the notion of game play and interac­ of the tracking shot, the camera propels forward tivity may be more literal in the Doom games (in in an "over-the-top" way that is eager to establish the way the medium itself embraces player inter­ its superiority to the first film. The camera does action), interaction also works on this second level not stop once it arrives at Ash's location; it follows in computer games. This level of interactivity de­ Ash as he is sent flying and somersaulting through pends on the audience's critical awareness and rec­ the air."? ognition of the way the games self-reflexivelyand This poses some riddling questions. Is this a se­ deliberately manipulate generic conventions. Both quel to the first film, or is this a continuation of Doom games exhibit an obvious playfulness in the ANGELA NDALIANIS 513 references they make to Evil Dead II. Besides the perience between Doom and Wolfenstein 3-D: splatter sensibility already mentioned, the most "Next to the horrors of Doom , Wolfenstein is a obvious allusion is the way both games allow the front seat at a Johnny Mathis concert (or some- hero to part with his hand and brandish a chain­ . thing like that)." 23 saw arm in the style of Ash in Evil Dead II. Beyond One ofthe most disorienting experiences while this, as with Evil Dead II, the sequel Doom II de­ in the Wolfenstein3-D levels occurs when touches velops a tongue-in-cheek attitude that goes fur­ of Doom II spill into this game predecessor, mak­ ther than Doom. Not only does the latter game ac­ ing the "3-D" addition to the "Wolfenstein" title knowledge some ofits sources, but, like Evil Dead seem quite hollow when compared to changes that II, it also explores the relationship that exists be­ have been introduced into the genre since Wolfen­ tween generic repetition and generic variation in stein 3-D. Occasionally we encounter this spill as the extension ofa genre's vocabulary. three-dimensional decor (e.g., in the textured, 3-0 Taking its lead from Evil Dead II, Doom II plays trees and skies) that invades the two-dimensional a clever game with the genre of its own medium. space of the Wolfenstein 3-D world. We are also Doom II consists of thirty levels (and two secret continually reminded of Doom Irs presence levels) located on Earth, Mars, and Hell. Having through the superweapons still at our disposal; traveled through fourteen levels of gore, destruc­ these contrast to the limited and primitive weap­ tion, and mayhem, the hero arrives at the richly ons used in Wolfenstein3-D. The player also expe­ textured and layered settings of Doom Irs "In­ riences the occasional and unexpected minotaur dustrial Zone" (level 15). Having undergone some figures that charge forward, catching the player off genuinely hair-raising and heart-pumping mo­ guard by introducing a blast of suspense and hor­ ments fighting an array of imps and demons (to ror that is so much the trademark ofDoom II (now the accompaniment of atmospheric music tracks, buried deep in other levels of the game). The most sound effects, and suspense-filled horror light­ spine-tingling moment that escapes into this se­ ing), the player enters not one but two secret lev­ cret "Wolfenstein" level from the depths of Doom els hidden behind a secret doorway on this level. II occurs when the cyberdemon (the most awe­ This secret doorway transports us to the corridors some creature in the game) comes seemingly out of Wolfenstein 3-D, id Software's predecessor to of nowhere-intent on never allowing us access Doom. The first secret level ("Wolfenstein") takes to the Doom levels again. The processes ofgeneric us back to the first levelofWolfenstein 3-D, and the variation emphasized in this exchange between second ("Grosse") to the final level of Wolfenstein predecessor and successor reflect the crucial im­ 3-D. After the hyperrealism of Doom II, we find pact that innovative graphics and design had on ourselves in the rigidly angular, monotonously the development of this shoot-lern-up genre dur­ decorated and colored corridors of Wolfenstein ing and post-Doom. 3-D, where we battle against two-dimensional im­ The play on the Wolfenstein 3-D secret levels ages of soldiers that all look exactly the same. This reveals an awareness of an audience familiar with shift of game experience is both a treat and a dis­ the generic conventions of these games and with appointment. It is hysterically funny and quite the filmic tradition being referred to. As Brophy jolting. The atmospheric game play of Doom II is states in reference to the contemporary horror suddenly replaced by a type of game play that had, film, we are dealing with a genre that "mimics it­ before the emergence of Doom, been quite inno­ self mercilessly" and exposes a "violent awareness vative and exciting. But to quote one reviewer who of itself as a saturated genre."> Exactly the same grappled with the differences in the game play ex- point may be made of the shoot-tern-up genre in 514 HOP ON POP the wake of the Doom games, which are to the the cyberdemon, in order to exit level IS and move shoot-tern-up what the Evil Dead films were to on to the "Suburbs" (level 16), we must enter the the splatter film. As Brophy argues in response to exit room. In this room we find four identical car­ the horror film, Doom II in particular recognizes toonlike figures hanging from nooses on a futuris­ that the player is aware of its place within the tic gallows in the center of the room. To complete shoot-'em-up genre's historical development. It this level the player must first shoot these char­ "knows that you've seen it before. It knows that acters down, releasing them from the nooses you know it knows you know.T" In laying out its that keep their two-dimensional, primitive, card­ film and game predecessors, the makers of Doom board-cutout little bodies swaying in midair. II are telling us that they have outdone their pre­ These "cute" little additions to the level have some decessors. The predecessors, however, are not only historical significance . These characters are clones Wolfellsteitl and earlier, more primitive shoot­ of"Commander Keen," another id Software prod­ 'em-ups; they also include Doom Irs prequel uct dating back to 1990; Commander Keen even Doom. This idea of an example saturated with al­ predated Wolfellstein 3-D and reigned back in the lusions that stress its generic superiority is driven days when id was still making platform games. home quite jarringly when we roam back through Again, the joke involves Doom Irs sense of his­ the door that separates the Wolfensteill 3-D levels toricity. The game asks its audience to celebrate from level fifteen of Doom II: we shift from the the advances made in extending the shoot-tern-up angular, simplistic visuals into the labyrinthine, genre's rules.? weaving complexities and hyperreal environ­ The humor stays with us until the end of the ments of Doom II-and its accompanying may­ game. When we enter level 30, an onslaught of hem , monsters, and ultragore. demons attacks us. Finally, we make our way to In an interview on his film The Evil Dead, Sam the doorway decorated with a ram's head-the Raimi discussed the role of allusion in the horror doorway that separates us from the exit to the en­ film. Discussing Wes Craven's allusion to Jaws (via tire game. Once beyond the ram (in my case, a poster) in The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Raimi thanks to the cheat codes that not only made me stated that in Craven's film the poster was there invincible and powered me up with every weapon to make the point that Jaws was "pop" horror under the Doom sun but also allowed me to walk whereas The Hills Have Eyes was "real" horror." through walls), we find ourselves face to face with The subsequent appearance of a The Hills Have John Romero, or, more to the point, his head on Eyes poster in the basement in The Evil Dead un­ a stake. Romero was one of the game's program­ dercuts its predecessor by suggesting that, by 1983, mers and one of the individuals who made every it was Craven's film that produced "pop" horror Doom II player's life both a joy and a nightmare for and Raimi's that presented "real" horror. It is pre­ many weeks and months of torturous game play. cisely this sentiment that the makers of Doom II Having played (and suffered because of having are expressing, and often, as with Raimi's films, played) the game, we can now destroy one of its with a wicked sense of humor. The inclusion of makers. Just as post-1970S horror cinema treads a the "Wolfenstein" level asks us to ponder the dif­ fine line that distinguishes it from comedy, Doom ferences between the "real" game horror of Doom II plays off the same sentiment. The game injects a II and the "pop" game horror of Wolfenstein 3-D. refreshing bout of comedy into the shoot-'em-up The "Grosse" level (which is also the exit level and, taking its cue from Evil Dead II, is very much out of level IS) introduces a different game-one a virtuoso performance that displays the ease with filled with humor. Having successfully pulverized which it has perfected and developed the conven- ANGELA NDA LIANIS 515 tions that preexisted it and into which it has in­ categories of "dirt." Within these categories of jectednew life. dirt, it becomes difficult to discern a clear separa­ In all these scenarios, a game is being played tion between one text and another. It is at this with the spectator, a game that depends on audi­ point ofintersection, in thi s "ambiguity ofbound­ encefamiliarity with conventions ofthe genre-a aries" rath er than in the "clear oppositions and game that bargains on outdoing and outgrossing demarcations," that the "power of (generic) dirt examples that preceded it. It is a game that cele­ lies." 29 brates its genre's rules while also actively altering those rules, inviting the audience to acknowledge Notes that alteration. Those exhilarating moments in which the Doom II game player is transported This chapter was written in 1994 (It the peak of Doom backto a past time when Wolfellsteill3-D ruled the frenzy. shoot-'em-up genre are precisely about such a 1 Hans [auss, Toward an Aesthetic of Reception (Min­ ploy. In response to the horror film, William Paul neapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982), 88. 2 Ibid., 90. has argued that "there are values in gross-out hor­ 3 The economic viability entailed in this intersection of ror . .. (that have) more to do with the immediacy ent ertainment media has not been missed by the Spiel­ of play than the delayed satisfaction of ultimate berg, Geffen, and Katzenberg "Drearnworks" pro ject. purpose."2g For both film spectator and game The Dream works company focuses on the integration player, the experience of Evil Dead II, Doom, or of a variety of popul ar culture forms- including films Doom IIisabout an immediacy ofplay that greatly and computer games. depends on audience recognition of the conven­ 4 Thi s cross-over and intermingling of genres is, of tions of horror and shoot-'em-ups-conventions course, nothing new. The difference is that in recent years this trend has becom e more pronounced. Not that celebrate, parody, and take to absur d limits only have generic borders becom e more malleable, but the codes drawn upon. this cross-over is now occurring on a grander, block­ Popular culture forms have evolved into a buster level that emphasizes spectacle. complex web of interconnections, connections The same may be said now of the Doom games follow­ that often refuse the enclosed, self-contained struc­ ing the release of new breeds of shoot-tern-up realism tures imposed by many genre critics . The move­ in games like Duke N uke 'Em 3D and Qllake in 1996. ments within and beyond generic and medium 6 " Doom: Evil Unleashed ," Edge (March 1994): 30. 7 "Violence is Golden," PCGamen(4) (March 1994): 43. borders fluctuate in perpetual motion, refusing to 8 " Doom the Movie!" PC Zone (December 1994): 8. The be contained in any definitive way. Aliens, Evil qu estion of who will be the lead protagoni st of Doom Dead II, and the Doom games reveal the way the the film was a topi c of great discussion on the Net, and boundaries between film genres, computer game Schwarzenegger was a hot favorit e. genres, and other media are continually shifting as 9 "Doomed: In Extremis," PCGamen (3) (April 1994): 42. theyintersect with diverse media in a multitude of 10 Philip Broph y has provided an engaging discussion of ways. This nexus ofpopular media will further ex­ contemporary cinem a's "rampant body-ness." His pand as vertical mergers in the entertainment in­ analysis of the bodily destru ction present in action and horror cinema becom es a means of exploring the com­ dustries continue. Our methods of anal ysis need plex overlaps between genres and medi a. See "The to be revised to consider generic processes in light Body Horrible: Some Notions, Some Point s. Some Ex­ of cross-media overlaps. John Hartley has dis­ amp les," Intervention 21(2),(1988): 58- 67. cussed the blurring of bo undaries currently wit­ 11 Michael Arn zen, "Who's Laughing Now?. . . The Post­ nessed in television, describing this cross -fertiliza­ modern Splatter Film," lournal of Popular Film and tion between different types of programming as Television 21(4) (Winter 1994): 179. 516 HOP ON POP

12 Laurel states that "people who are participating in the 57(683) (December 1990): 347; Philip Brophy, "Horral­ representation aren't audience members anymo re. It's ity-The Textuality of Con temporary Horror Films," not that the audience joins the actors on stage; it's that Screen 27 (January-February 1986): 12. they become actors-and the notion of the "passive" 22 Steve Neale has convincingly argued that in genre, rep­ observer disappears." Computers as Theatre (Reading, etition and difference are inseparable and that "they MA: Addison-Wesley, 1991),17. function as a relation ." Therefore, rather than revealing 13 Ibid., 20. the generic process as "repetition and difference," it is 14 Ibid., 20-21. more appro priate to claim for "repetition ill differ­ 15 Ibid., 32. ence." See Genre (London:British Film Institut e, 1980), 16 In relation to The Evil Dead, Scott McQuire argues that 50.This point is aptly illustrated in the opening minutes "the movement of this film is structured aro und a series of Evil Dead 11. of dares, the tension spring-boa rding the viewer into 23 "Doom: Evil Unleashed," 31. realms of dismemb erment and disemb owelment. You 24 Brophy, "Horrality," 3. wonder how far the film will go. It dares you to watch it 25 Ibid., 5. and go further and constantly takes your breath away 26 Phil Edwards and Alan Jones,"The Evil Dead Speak," with its obviousness and its unrestrained transgres­ Starbust 57 (1983) : 27. sions, its (technical) sophistication and its (narrative) 27 id Software is, of course, also presenting us with an bluntness." See "Horror: Re-makes and Offspri ng," homage to the compa ny's own contribution to the de­ All tithesiSl( I) (1987) : 23.This dare factor and transgres­ velopment of the shoo t-'em- up genre-particularly its sion of boundaries goes even further in the sequel. crucial role in transforming its own platform game 17 [auss, Toward all Aesthetic ofReception, 19. Commallder Keen, to corridorlshoot -'em- up games like 18 Maitland McDonagh, Broken Mi rrors, Broken Minds: wolienstein v-D and the Doom games. The Dark Dreams ofDaria Argento (London: Sun Tav­ 28 William Paul, Laughing Screaming: Modem Hollywood ern Fields, 1991), \4 . Horror and Comedy (New York: Columbia University 19 Ibid. Press,1994),422-23· 20 Similarly, on this issue of variation, the tracking shot 29 John Hartley, Te1e-ology: Studies in Television (New may dupl icate the ending of the first film, but the two York: Routl edge, 1992), 22-23. holes present in the cabin door in the first film (the damage caused when Ash was attacked bya dem on who thru st his hand through the door) are no longer there. 21 This question of original or copy is further complicated by the fact that the film reveals the impossibility of the existence of such a thing as "the original," especially as far as genre is concerned. While the use and assimila­ tion of conventions may reveal originality and may in­ stigate new directions in a genre, genre films depend greatly on that which has gone before, even if only to contest or reject a previous form . As an example, while Evil Dead Ir s absurd, darkly hysterical, and over-the­ top natur e may appear original and new within the context of the horror genre, this morbid hum or owes a great deal to the tradition of EC comics, which influ­ enced the deconstru ctive tendencies of contemporary horr or cinema. For more inform ation on the comic boo k/horror film connections, see Kim Newman, Nightmare Movies: A Critical History ofthe Horror Film, 1968-88 (Londo n: Bloomsbury, 1988), 18, 207; Farrah Anwar,"Bloody and Absurd," Monthly Film Bulletin

Minerva Access is the Institutional Repository of The University of Melbourne

Author/s: NDALIANIS, ANGELA

Title: The rules of the game: Evil dead II . . . meet thy doom

Date: 2002

Citation: Ndalianis, A. (2002). The rules of the game: Evil dead II . . . meet thy doom. In H. Jenkins, T. McPherson & J. Shattuc (Eds.), Hop on pop: the politics and pleasures of popular culture (pp. 503-516). Durham, N.C. ; London: Duke University Press.

Publication Status: Published

Persistent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/34746

File Description: The rules of the game: Evil dead II . . . meet thy doom