Editing Fragile:Main Page (section)

=Sources of Inspiration=


Fragile pays homage to a number of books, films, and video games:


28 Days Later (Movie): Danny Boyle's re-invention of the zombie movie is a great addition to the genre while also being its own, peculiar creature. I know some people don't like the way it shifts gears in the last half, but I think its good to break from the formula and take that side trip. I also like the fact that the Rage-infected "zombies" are that much scarier due to their speed and viciousness. 

28 Weeks Later (Movie): A very different kind of sequel to 28 Days Later which takes the premise and refocuses it. Its more overtly geared for action-horror than the first film, and its particularly brutal in depicting the effects of the virus. I'm not sure that the coda adds anything to what had come before, but its certainly something that invites speculation for a sequel.

Aliens (Movie): I think Alien might be a superior film artistically, but for pure entertainment value, you can't do much better than this roller coaster ride of a sequel. It takes the universe presented in the first film and expands on it in ways that seem natural and only build on rather than detract from the premise. The characters are great, the pacing is terrific, and it has an emotional core that's particularly evident in the Special Edition. Probably the ideal model of a survival horror movie.

Alone in the Dark (Video Game): The original PC game was the prototype for most of the survival horror genre games that followed (spooky haunted house, roaming monsters, deathtraps...sound like anything you know, Capcom?), and I suspect that the newer console-based game will be quite good, too.  While most video games feature protagonists who can easily slay their numerous opponents, this game gave us fewer but more dangerous opponents, less weapons, and a protagonist who had to think as much as shoot. Whatever you do, though, don't rent the apparently horrible Uwe Boll movie, which has little if anything to do with the games. EDIT: After reading some game site reviews, it appears that the console game is really, really bad. A shame.

Black Hawk Down (Book, Movie): The real world incident in Somalia, 1993, features a very survival horror-esque premise; a group of well-trained and determined men surrounded by a horde of people who are trying their best to kill them. The book is much more balanced in its portrayal of the Somalis and their rationale for their actions, but the movie does a good job of conveying the mayhem of modern urban warfare. You also see examples of how people and organizations can either rise to the challenge or completely collapse under the strain. 

Condemned: Bloodshot (Video Game): A first person video game that blends the serial killer thriller with close combat violence and even a bit of the supernatural. Its got an aesthetic of "destroyed beauty" borrowed from David Fincher, director of Alien 3 and Se7en, and the tone is pretty damn bleak. The violence is particularly notable for its creative use of improvised weapons and for its sheer ugliness.

Dawn of the Dead (Movies): I like the George Romero one better than the remake, but both of these entries in the zombie horror genre are great examples of survival horror. Once more, you have a band of survivors struggling to stay alive as the walking dead threaten their only refuge. The first film also adds in quite a bit of social commentary and satire of consumer culture, but it also works purely as a scary and exciting movie. Particularly relevant to Fragile is its use of SWAT police officers. 

The Descent (Movie): Not to be confused with The Cave, this horror film follows a group of adventurous women as they go on a spelunking expedition that goes terribly, terribly wrong. The monsters of the film don't really show up until late in the film, and a considerable amount of the tension is created by the claustrophobia of the heroes' situation and personal, psychological subtext. Its also a lovely looking movie, having obvious inspiration from John Carpenter's scary movies, particularly The Thing. The CGI could've been better, and its ultimately a pretty formulaic film - but it does what it sets out to do very well. Make sure to see the UK version; the ending is much more effective, I think.

Dog Soldiers (Movie): Another Neil Marshall movie, this time a relatively light hearted action-horror story about a band of soldiers on a training mission who encounter some werewolves. Think of it as a cross between An American Werewolf In London and Aliens and you wouldn't be far off. There's some great and funny bits of banter between the soldiers, and it also manages to be pretty spooky at times.

Eternal Darkness (Video Game): An interesting console based game that was obviously influenced by H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, but has its own monstrous conspiracy lurking in the background. It criss-crosses time and features different periods and cultures as the backdrop for its overall story of Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. There's a nice mix of action and investigation, and the bath tub scene is particularly memorable.

F.E.A.R. (Video Game): The premise of this first person shooter game is pretty familiar; a special forces soldier with exceptional (even supernatural) reflexes joins a mission to contain a strange outbreak in a fictional American town and comes across some truly creepy antagonists. The execution is what makes the game special, having more to do with Japanese horror films like The Ring or Kairo (Pulse) than Doom or Quake. There's a nice mix of high-octane, slow motion bullet ballets and periodic freaky scare tactics. I'm not a big fan of the sequels, but I hold out hope that Project Origin (a sequel made by the original creators) will be worthy of the first one. 

House of the Dead (Video Games): A light gun arcade shooter that features hordes of zombies, weird mutant monsters, and some truly laughable voice acting. It has a lot of sequels, and another atrocious Uwe Boll film version. The original was a lot of fun, though, and is on the over-the-top scale in its depiction of survival horror.

I Am Legend (Book): I haven't seen the movie, to be honest, but what I know about it suggests that its a decent survival horror flick. Anyways, I'm more inspired by the book, by Richard Matheson, which is about the last man in a world overrun by classical-style vampires. There's a great sense of isolation and loneliness throughout, and the conclusion is both chilling and heroic in a strange way.  Its probably one of the oldest examples of survival horror, and its very grounded.

The Kingdom (Movie): Its not a great movie, really, but the depiction of people isolated in an alien culture who end up in a life struggle with implacable foes means it has at least one toe in the survival horror genre. Replace "terrorist" with "monster" and you have some idea of how this could parallel the action in Fragile; investigation, terrible consequences, and lots of shooting.

Night of the Living Dead (Movie): The original black and white movie George Romero made in 1968 (40 years ago!) is probably the single biggest influence on the survival horror genre at large. Cheaply produced but still very effective - perhaps because of its low budget rather than despite it - it was the first film to really posit a scenario with walking dead and a small group of survivors holding out against the unexplained (a theory is raised, but never confirmed) outbreak. The ending is brutal and particularly pointed in its social overtones. You owe it to yourself to see it, even if you're normally the kind of person who doesn't like "old" movies.

Rainbow Six Vegas (Video Games): Take the first person tactical shooter genre, then crank up the action to over-the-top levels, and you have some idea of what this game is like. Featuring a ridiculously expansive terrorist attack on Sin City (where do these guys get all their reinforcements?), its mainly an excuse to rappel, sneak, or crash into flashy urban hot zones and shoot a whole lot of bad guys while your cover gets shot to Hell. Aside from being a cross between tactical and purely action shooters, its setting is particularly relevant to that of Fragile.

Resident Evil (Video Games): Capcom coined the term "survival horror" with this famous series. While the translation and voice acting got better as the series progressed, the stories also got more and more outrageous. In any case, the gameplay set a much imitated prototype, with a lonely hero surrounded by monsters and zombies, having to navigate puzzles and deathtraps while also collecting the occasional ammo, weapon, or health boost between sparse save points. I haven't seen the movies, but I assume they have at least some resemblance to this premise. 

[REC] (Movie): A Spanish horror movie, the premise is that its found footage of a newscaster and her camera man as they follow some firemen responding to a seemingly routine call-out. What they find in a quarantined apartment building leads to a lot of screaming and running around as a saliva-based infection rapidly spreads. Its much more effective than it sounds, particularly because of the shift in the last twenty or so minutes. Inevitably, they've made what sounds like a shot-for-shot American remake called "Quarantine", but see the original if you can manage it. 

Silent Hill (Video Games): A survival horror game series about the titular American town where the barriers between our world and a nightmare universe overlap. The protagonists are always relatively Average Joes and Janes, and the emphasis is mostly on subtly disturbing you with psychological horror rather than simple monster bashing. There's a movie that I've not seen (I'm suspicious in general of video game-to-movie translations), but I doubt its quite as effective as the games. The first one really creeped me out.

SWAT 4 (PC Game): Sierra had tried to do a SWAT game a few times before they hit a good one, SWAT 3, a tactical shooter that focused on police rather than military action. SWAT 4 was even better, and featured more options based on real world SWAT methods and scenarios. There's a particular mission involving a doomsday cult that is probably the main inspiration for Fragile, and which you'll see clear parallels to if you've played the game. If you want to learn more about SWAT tactics and like slower-paced, more deliberate shooters, you should consider tracking down a copy.

The Thing (Movie, Video Game): A semi-remake of a 50's science fiction film (The Thing from Another World), John Carpenter's 1982 horror film was originally panned by the critics as too gory. Nowadays, it seems relatively tame, though the special effects are still grotesque and jaw-dropping. The Arctic setting is about as isolated as you can get, and while there is some action here and there, its mostly about the paranoia the outpost personnel feel as a shape shifting and personality absorbing alien infiltrates their camp. Its great visually, and its really quite bleak. The console game that came out some years back is a pretty fun game on its own right and improves a great deal if you're a fan of Carpenter's movie. Its got much more shooting and a variety of incarnations of the monster of the title to wrangle with.