8 Video Game Fan Films That Deserve Mainstream Recognition
7. ROT
Maybe it's cheating to include a short film made by Corridor Digital, a production studio who have recently seen major success through YouTube and have a great deal more backing than many on this list, but the quality of ROT is such that it simply can't be ignored. It shows an understanding of the world of Silent Hill better than even many of the later video games.
A man wakes, bloodied and dazed, in a wrecked car. What follows is a nightmarish time-loop, getting darker and more terrifying and confusing with each reset. The nature of the man's presence in Silent Hill is kept vague throughout, but an increasingly tragic picture is gradually pieced together as to why he may be in such a hellish loop.
What is most striking and admirable is the filmmakers' grasp of psychological horror and how the Silent Hill universe works. Silent Hill serves as a personal hell for whoever inhabits it, and each experience is different. Rather than commit Christophe Gans' sin of recycling the previous games' imagery and monsters into a hodgepodge that lacks any real symbolism or meaning, ROT's protagonist is hounded by unique horrors and visions that relate to him personally.
The film is packed to the brim with easter eggs, hidden ciphers and horrific metaphors, and its 8-minute runtime tells an exceptional story of tragedy and guilt. No doge ending though so, on reflection, 1 star.