Unfortunately, her pod, an organic gaming device that contains the only copy of the eXistenZ game program, is damaged. To inspect it, she needs to play the game with someone friendly causing Ted and herself to be sucked into a world where reality and fantasy are impossible to distinguish from one and another in the Sci-fi / Horror hybrid "eXistenZ" directed by David Cronenberg.
As a gamer I was always sucked into watching any film that blended both horror and gaming culture, two of my favorites off the top of my head being "Brainscan" and of course the classic "eXistenZ". It had been many years since I had viewed this film up until just a few moments ago, going in I only remembered that I did like this movie when it first came out. It didn't take long for me to remember all the reasons why this title stuck with me or to prove to me that it deserves to be at the top of the short list of rare gaming related horror films that were actually done well and not simply a mash up of gamer and horror clichés.
Unlike other movies of this nature "eXistenZ" really makes you sit down and think about the future of gaming and how each technological generation that passes the wall between reality and virtual reality becomes thinner each time we up the ante and release into the world the next best thing with the most realistic graphics and convincing life like AI. One has to start to wonder can this be a glimpse into our future? One day will we be plugging the console directly into our bodies and immersing ourselves into our favorite game worlds in ways before unimaginable? Both an exciting and scary thought when you really sit down and add up the pros and cons of such a breakthrough in entertainment, after all who would want to go back to their dull everyday lives if they could plug in, boot up, and suddenly be unaware of their real life woes and be in the shoes of anyone they want.
David Cronenberg's "eXistenZ" is a perfect example of using every day issues to create mass hysteria in viewers who suddenly panic at the thought of how real the scenario unfolding in front of them could really be if the right chain of events occur in the real world they currently live in. I remember walking away from this movie the first time I viewed it thinking "I can't wait for the day that is a reality" now fast forward to today and part of me hopes it never gets that good because it could very well be the end of "real" life as we know it, then again maybe it would be a rebirth of life a literal upgrade to our current "human" interface.
On behalf of The Liberal Dead I give "eXistenZ" a 9 out of 10 and award for most through provoking game related film ever.
9/10
- Ted "Ritualistic" Brown
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