House Rules for Video Games.

I have previously talked about my No Hit Runs in the Sniper Elite games. I have completed SE5 and SE Resistance (though not the DLC's for that game yet) and I'm currently working on SE4. Being forced to restart a level if I take any damage from any source adds a lot of tension and is really fun, except when you are almost done with a massive level and make a mistake, but such are the rules.

I have also previously posted about the FailRace channel on Youtube and their super cool Survive the Hunt videos in GTA Online, where one person has to remain incognito while doing tasks and all the others are hunting him. Very tense stuff.

The reason why I mention this again is that yesterday I found a Cyberpunk 2077 Geoguessr video. The host has a bunch of screenshots which he posts on Discord and the last player to take an in-game photo of themselves at that location is eliminated. I'll embed that video below.

The video got me thinking about what are essentially house rules but for video games. Anyone who has played Monopoly with their family has probably played with house rules even if they didn't know it. Likewise, most tabletop RPG Gamemasters and their players make use of house rules. If a rule feels dumb or not fun, you can change it, simple as that.

But when it comes to video games, house rules are not quite as easy, as that would require changing the games code which makes it a mod and not a rule. You can of course use mods to make your challenge work, but as the examples I mentioned above show, you can make up new rules for a video game with only a bit of ingenuity. Of course you can't apply any challenge or house rule to any game, that won't work. I don't think it would be possible to play Cyberpunk 2077 as a No Hit Run, you'd get nowhere fast, but the Geoguessr video proves that there are options for even as complex a game as Cyberpunk.

Some games include pre-made challenges like how you can play through Dishonored 2 with no supernatural powers. The achievement list is a great place to start if this sounds like fun to you.

I guess I don't really have much of a point to this, except to point out that a house rule challenge can be a great way to revitalize a well loved game that is starting to feel a bit stale. If you have a game you love but can't really justify playing it yet again, have a think and see if you can't come up with a challenge or house rule for yourself. You might be surprised at how much fun it is. You don't have to worry about being original either, my Sniper Elite No Hit Runs were inspired by a guy (don't remember his name) who played all the Soulsborne games in a row without taking any damage, so happy gaming!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

What a title...

Continuing on my current journey of lesser known vampire movies, I watched:

The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman (1971).

Also known as La Noche de Walpurgis, Walpurgis Night, Shadow of the Werewolf and Werewolf Shadow amongst many other aliases, this Spanish horror movie is generally regarded as the film that kicked the Spanish horror boom of the 70's into high gear.

Straight off the bat, I need to say that this movie is a bigger mess than last week's entry. The picture quality of the version I watched was awful, so a few dark scenes were impossible to make out. I saw a mention online of nudity, but the version I saw had none, so be aware of that. As for blood, there is more gore in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so no worries there if that isn't your thing.

The story more or less is this: Elvira (Gaby Fuchs) and her friend Genevieve (Barbara Capell) are writing their final university thesis. They call it an essay, but it's implied to be much bigger. The subject is Witchcraft and Satanism in medieval France, and they know of an obscure figure, Countess Wandessa Darvula de Nadasdy (Patty Shepard), a satanist who became a vampire to preserve her youth. Together they go off into the French countryside to find her tomb, but they get lost, run out of gas and meet Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy), who we already know is a werewolf, or to be pedantic, a wolf man. Think Lon Chaney Jr. He is also looking for the tomb, but the enourmous amount of ruins in the area makes it difficult. They accidentally revive Wandessa (of course) and the struggle to survive is on.

The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman is the fifth movie in the Waldemar Daninsky saga, a series of werewolf movies whose continuity makes little to no sense. That only matters if you intend to watch them all. As for this movie, the script is unfortunately a mess, but some blame may lay on the various alternative cuts. Things are rushed beyond credibility and certain events make no sense. All of this is really frustrating because at its core The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman is a good movie.

There are several scenes that are excellent and some of the ideas are really cool, but that all drowns in the chaos of the messy script. The general cinematography is good, and the actors are likewise solid. The special effects are lovely but the sound in the version I watched was abysmal, with sound effects drowning out dialogue and a nasty static buzzing filling in the silence.

But on the flip side, the vampires are awesome, the wolf man makeup is pretty good even though at times he sounds like a pirate trying to sound like a werewolf. The Spanish landscape is interesting but I don't get why they pretend to be in France as it makes no difference to the story. Maybe it's one of those things where it feels more sophisticated to be in a foreign country?

So, do I recommend this movie? I want to, I really do, but unless you have a good reason to watch it, find a better movie. At its heart The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman is a good movie, but it is burdened with so many other problems that the final result falls flat. I hope and wish someone would remake it and do it right.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Blood Spattered Bride

I saw a video on Youtube about lesser known vampire movies and so I sat down and watched:

The Blood Spattered Bride (1972).

This Spanish retelling of Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu was also turned into film by Hammer Horror in 1970 with The Vampire Lovers, but both movies are very different.

A newly wed couple arrives at a hotel, but the bride, Susan (Maribel Martin) has a horrible vision and begs to leave immediately. The husband (no name given, played by veteran actor Simon Andreu) agrees and they travel to his massive old mansion. There Susan meets the groundskeeper, his wife the housekeeper, and their strange young daughter Carol. Soon enough, Susan starts to both see and dream about a beautiful blonde woman with piercing eyes. The dreams are very disturbing and Susan becomes increasingly unstable. Husband calls a doctor, the blonde, Carmilla, arrives in person and things spiral into violence and madness.

I need to be honest here. The Blood Spattered Bride is a mess of a movie. There are scenes that make no sense, and there are scenes that should go on but are cut short. When it was released in Spain in '72 it was savaged by the censors due to both the blood and the nudity, so this might be why. The nudity itself is apparently historic. If it is true, and I have no evidence to the contrary, then The Blood Spattered Bride is the first Spanish movie to feature full frontal nudity. It is also worth nothing that the nude body in question (Susan's) is probably not that of Maribel Martin as she was 17 during filming and therefore a minor. This is reinforced by the fact that you never see her face when the clothes come off. The camera either stays south of the neck or her hair falls strategically across her face.

To be fair, there isn't really that much blood, but what there is is pretty good. By keeping the amount of violent scenes low they are all the stronger. Nothing remarkable, but solid.

Besides some truly bizarre ideas, my biggest gripe is the personality of the husband, because he is also all over the place. Most of the time he is very caring and loving, but as an example, there is a scene where he apparently just for fun grabs his wife by the hair and starts to haul her up on a large rock, all the while laughing. Scenes like that make him pretty unlikable and as he is the closest thing we get to a hero, it makes it hard to sympathize with him against the vampire.

Carmilla is interesting though. Like the source material she is lesbian, but unlike Hammer's version who is more tragic, this Carmilla is pretty feral and an absolute man hater. I'm not reading between the lines just to be clear, she straight up says it. What I really liked about the Spanish Carmilla are her rings. She wears jeweled rings on each finger but she has them turned inwards with the gems to the palm. This small detail makes it clear that something is wrong with her without being too overt. An interesting little detail in my opinion. Oh, and it's worth noting that Carmilla can go out in the sun, that is also in the source material, so it isn't the movie being sloppy.

So, do I recommend this film? Yes and no. The Blood Spattered Bride is by no means a bad movie, but it is hard to call it good either. If you only want to watch one film version of Carmilla, watch The Vampire Lovers, but if you have no Hammer Horror left and are itching for a Gothic 70's vampire fix you can do a lot worse than The Blood Spattered Bride. Just keep the kids out of the room.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Göbleki Tepe

With Midnight, the next expansion for World of Warcraft around the corner, I've been too busy to watch a movie, but I have an interesting documentary for you.

Göbleki Tepe, or Göblekitepe, is an archeological site that was occupied around 8000 BCE in Upper Mesopotamia, what is today the Republic of Türkiye. It amongst other things sports advanced stone work that was presumed to not be possible at that time. 

Göbleki Tepe is one of those sites that threaten to upend what we think we know about the past and challenges generally accepted history and archaeology. So please enjoy.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

Warhammer Music.

Today I want to share a fun Youtube channel I tripped over by chance:

Adeptus Anthemicus

This is a music channel apparently run by one person from the UK. All the songs are Warhammer themed, both 40K and Fantasy, with a large portion being parodies on famous songs and some being originals in different styles such as folk and even death metal.

I haven't had the time to listen to all of them, but the dozen or so I've heard are amazing. I'll embed a few below. So, if you're in the mood, go and have a listen, the music is awesome and deserves more views. (Disclaimer: I do not know the creator at all.)

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

    

 

Nuremberg

Today we're looking at:

Nuremberg (2025).

This movie about the first Nuremberg trial is based on the 2013 book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist by Jack El-Hai. The script is written by the director James Vanderbilt who also directed the rather good Suspiria remake in 2018.

We open the movie with Hermann Göring (Russell Crowe) surrendering to American soldiers. Next we meet US Army major and psychiatrist Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) who has been tasked with assessing the mental health and competency of the surviving top Nazis, particularly whether they are a suicide risk. Dr. Kelley is assisted by Sergeant Howie Triest (Leo Woodall) who speaks fluent german. Kelley is immediately fascinated by Göring who is highly intelligent and completely charming, and starts planning a future book.

At the same time, US Supreme Court Associate Justice Robert Jackson (Michael Shannon) is pushing to set up the Nuremberg trials, arguing that they can't just kill the top Nazis without a trial. He encounters severe opposition from several directions, as there is not only no legal framework for prosecuting foreign nationals but a real fear of losing such a trial and thereby legitimizing the Nazis. It is no spoiler to state the trials do go ahead, and Jackson is aided by the British barrister Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (Richard E. Grant).

The real focus of this movie are the actors. They are all amazing. Malek is good, but it is Crowe and Woodall that really shine for me. Russell Crowe especially does a great job going from affable and charming to monstrous and cold in a heartbeat. He goes from pleasant old Hermann to Reichsmarshall Göring in a blink and it is quite spooky.

Production wise, the movie is also really good. Nothing feels fake or out of place. Uniforms, sets, hairstyles and everything else all look and feel fine.

However Nuremberg has a big balance problem. Clocking in at a massive 148 minutes it still manages to rush through important parts while focusing on other less relevant bits. The big gotcha moment in court falls completely flat, I think it needed a lot more build up. At the same time we are treated to Kelley's arguments with fellow psychiatrist Dr. Gilbert (Colin Hanks) along with other scenes we don't need at all. Scenes of Kelley drinking in a bar do nothing except show he has a drinking problem, which isn't relevant either and leads to one of the biggest events that didn't happen in real life. (No spoilers).

The whole “can we even have a trial” part is really interesting and deserves further exploration in my opinion. Likewise, the discussions between Göring and Kelley are fascinating and we deserve more. We get practically nothing from the other Nazis which could have been used for Kelley's investigation into whether the Nazis were different somehow. It is all somehow rushed through with other bits crammed in that don't add anything worthwhile to the movie.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, ultimately I do think Nuremberg is worth watching at least once. As I said, it is very well made and the actors are wonderful but be aware of its flaws. Oh, and a warning: during the trial scene, they show real footage from the extermination camps, and while this is important in order to hammer home the full horror of the Holocaust, some viewers might not be able to handle it.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

It is a mystery.

Hello and welcome to more Eccentric Spheres!

Today I want to share a documentary about historical mysteries. Every now and then I like to watch stuff like this as it tickles the imagination. Whether these are actual mysteries or creative fiction, I leave up to you. I'm keeping it short as my brain is still at leaking out of my nose. Stupid winter flu....

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week! 

Direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0aK1P-MpWM