Vile: Exhumed is a voyeuristic horror that explores the darkest parts of the human condition. It’s uncomfortable and brutal, sickening and terrifying. You begin to uncover the story of shock gore actress Candy Copse and those who obsess over her. The line between appreciation and obsession is blurred as you step inside the mind of a truly horrifying individual. It is this kind of horror that doesn’t shy away from the dangers of the internet or the depravity found on the hard drives of those that do their best to keep it hidden.
The world is a scary place. People you pass in the streets have secrets to gruesome to share in public. Everyone has kinks to some extent, but when it borders on illegal or criminal, especially involving degradation and violence, there’s always a place for it online. In Vile: Exhumed, you explore the computer of some guy who is obsessed with adult actor Candy Corpse. She makes video nasties that explore the unstable balance between horror and sex. Stepping into the mind of this individual is awkward and unsettling.
Everyone has secrets
Through various emails, you’ll uncover aspects of his psyche, known as ‘shootthedog,’ that leave you scared for what might have happened to Candy. Various interactions with women where he talks about wanting to see them covered in cuts, helpless and in danger for the sake of “art” are there for you to read. Conversations with others that share his love of snuff movies; images from his own attempt at a film; and clips that show how his enjoyment begins to border on criminal, stalking someone called Eleanor.
Vile: Exhumed isn’t for those who are sensitive to this kind of story. Granted, many will see it on a surface level, but Final Girl Games is telling a much deeper story about the dangers of man’s obsession with celebrity. It shows an actress who is making specialist porn films who is treated no better in real life than she is in the movies she’s making. How actors are seen one way in their films and are expected to just bend over for their fans. There’s a deeper message here, and it’s one that comes at a high price.
In terms of gameplay, you’re clicking from emails to messenger; visiting perfume websites to the Video Nasty Store where listings of all these snuff and gory movies can be swapped and purchased. Working out passwords to get into new applications of watch content need to be found through clues in emails and other places on the computer. While it takes a bit of time to get used to at first, there’re some smart ways in order to get the information you need. It’s just whether you’re willing to go further down the rabbit hole.
The mind is a dangerous place
It goes without saying that Vile: Exhumed is graphic. Not necessarily in the images or videos, but in the text you uncover on the computer. It’s descriptive at times, and does give you that feeling you should not be on this computer. However, the drive to work out what happened to Candy is akin to that need to find out about the disappearance of Marissa Marcel in Immortality. It’s excellent in its approach, drawing you in and drip-feeding you with little details that begin to build a bigger picture.
You’ll find secrets in the strangest of places. Playing with the calculator might lead you to new images, or a simple web page about perfumes offers up important story beats. It’s always dragging you deeper into this dark web of secrets that you can’t stop staring at. Final Girl Games has chosen humanity’s darkest desires as its basis for the horrors in Vile: Exhumed. It’s going to upset those sensitive to its subject matter, but it’s so much deeper and smarter that it appears on a surface level.
Depending on your threshold for violence and sensitive subject matter involving domestic violence and rape, many will struggle with Vile: Exhumed. It’s not a game that comes along every day, but there’s so much more to it. It doesn’t glorify the horror, but opens your eye to a bigger message that needs to be paid attention to. People need to be held accountable for how they treat both celebrities and women, and while it is based in fiction, Final Girl Games has done something important here, and it needs to be played to be truly understood.
