children of the forest Might not come with a grainy VHS filter (yet), but it’s clear the moment you turn it on Steam Early Access Survival games have one foot into the 80s. The menu theme sounds like it could have been pulled straight from a mid-range VHS movie, the kind made to satisfy rent-hungry video owners.
However, its impact is more specific than the general ’80s shock. The forest, and the children of the forest, owe a lot to shocking events of the ’80s, such as the infamous cannibal massacre. Oh, and Disney – but we’ll talk about that later.So let’s delve into the five movies confirmed by the developer all nightwould not exist without the Children of the Forest.
cannibal massacre (1980, directed by Ruggero Deodato)
The infamous video hoax, Cannibal Holocaust, was one of the first film reels to be found that messed with reality long ago The Blair Witch Project. It tells the story of four filmmakers who travel to the Amazon rainforest to make a documentary about cannibal tribes. They never came back, but footage of them was found, and it doesn’t tell a pretty story.
However, while that might sound like a thread for a Photographer vs. Cannibals story, the story of Cannibal Holocaust is slightly more complicated than that. It’s clear that all but one of the filmmakers have done some pretty horrible things to make what they call a documentary. In turn, this led to their brutal demise.
Director Ruggero Deodato even had the film’s stars disappear from public view. He was later arrested for the murder but released after it was proved that the actor was alive. However, the film does involve the actual torture and slaughter of animals, which has rightly been removed in some current releases. And, at the time, it was banned in several countries.
In Children of the Forest, you may not have a camera, but you are a very aggressive person. As Endnight’s Ben Falcone said, “You’re invading their forest, you’re murdering them, you’re cutting down all their trees. Maybe they just want to survive in this forest. Maybe you’re the bad guy.”
Compatible with: Amazon, Shudder
There are eyes in the mountains (1977, directed by Wes Craven)
Wes Craven’s 1977 film was another inspiration for Endnight, and the protagonists suffer the same misfortune as Sons of the Forest. They’re stranded in the Mojave Desert (Nellis Air Force Base will be familiar to anyone who’s played Fallout: New Vegas), and are rescued by a group of cannibal hillbillies. They eventually fought back, but by then the body count was already pretty high.
It’s not quite as creepy as Cannibal Holocaust, but it’s otherwise vicious and brutal. Like the movie, Children of the Forest emphasizes that no matter how well armed you are, this isn’t your place. While the jury is still out on whether the game’s cannibals qualify as mutants, some of them are as imposing as Michael Berryman’s towering counterpart, Pluto.
Works with: Amazon, Screambox, Shudder
i spit on your grave (1978, directed by Meir Zarchi)
“Spit On Your Grave” isn’t banned in as many countries as “Cannibal Holocaust,” but in the ’80s this exploitation film was widely considered a bawdy film. Film critic Roger Ebert called it “.. a vile bag of trash.. a film so sick, reprehensible and despicable, I can’t believe it’s going to be shown in decent theaters .”
is he right Let’s just say it’s a solid watch even today. It has an extended sexual assault sequence that, while it drives the heroine to seek bloody revenge, is still hard to justify. The Forest begins with the kidnapping of your son, so the drive for revenge is heavily featured in the game.
You’re just someone in Children of the Forest so its effects are less pronounced there. But the game does echo the rudeness and brutality of Spit In Your Grave to the point where you feel genuinely uncomfortable after arguably defending yourself.
Available on: Amazon
Bambi (1942. Produced by David Hand)
No, you didn’t click through to another article. Granted, Endnight may not have specifically checked Bambi’s name, but they cite the Disney movie as a major influence. Creative director Ben Falcone explained in an interview on this site:
“The Disney stuff was inspired by daytime in the forest. There’s god rays from the sky everywhere, butterflies and areas that generally look cute. One thing I don’t like about horror games is that they’re all the same hue when They’re always dark and depressing times.”
Indeed, the world of Children of the Forest does look downright gorgeous, at least during the day. There are even cute touches, like a butterfly landing on your axe, or a bird perched on a skull. You can almost go on vacation without cannibals, mutants, and helicopter wrecks.
Available on: Disney Plus, Amazon
descendants (2005, directed by Neil Marshall)
Bloodlines isn’t an ’80s movie by any stretch of the imagination, but its influence on The Forest and Children of the Forest is palpable. It’s as pretty as jumping over trees and jumping over streams, but it’s another thing in the dark.
The film sees a group of spelunkers enter a previously unknown cave system, only to discover that it is home to a group of blind, carnivorous man-animals. Things are going as well as you can imagine, and you’ll get a similar reception if you head underground in Children of the Forest.
You’ll run into mutants out in the open, but at least, you have somewhere to escape. With no automatic map and very little light, you could end up fumbling for your life. And, given that some of the game’s more useful items are hidden underground, you’ll have to decide if it’s worth the risk.
Available on: Amazon
Endnight also borrows from other works. I Am Legend (the book, not Will Smith’s film) is another influence, and besides Cannibal Holocaust, Endnight was also inspired by other Italian cannibal/zombie films of the era. But if you want to experience the films that shaped the Children of the Forest, there are plenty of places to feast your eyes on.
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