Emesis Blue

I wasn't sure what to expect going into Emesis Blue, but I have to say, it's beyond incredible. In the past, I've considered Spy's Disguise to be my favorite SFM movie and a standout in quality and production value, yet this blows it out of the water.

The animation is realistic, with characters having a real depth to them. Ludwig and Doe are excellent protagonists, with badass moments and moments of human vulnerability. Even the side characters have hints at their own stories, with their distinct models and personalities helping them stand out in their own right. While the movie clearly has its basis in canon Team Fortress 2 lore, it also has plenty of its own twists and additions, with cool and memorable characters that you won't forget.

As a surreal horror/mystery thriller, Emesis Blue performs extremely well. The imagery is haunting, in no small part thanks to the cinematic look and feel of the whole movie. Every frame's a poster (in fact, Fortress Films did actually release hundreds of 4K posters on their Patreon). The voice acting is superb, much better than you'd expect from a fan project like this (calling it that feels like a disservice at this point).

I'm able to follow the main gist of the story, yet there's still a great deal left to interpretation. Some people feel that the story is too confusing - I'd say that you're really not supposed to understand everything on your first watch. That would defeat the point of the mystery, no? What's important is that you understand the premise, and you can follow the basic plot as it progresses. You don't need a Ph. D. to tell that some messed up stuff is happening in the Slaughterhouse.

This movie is free to watch on YouTube, but if I had to buy an actual ticket to watch it at a theatre, I would've done it in a heartbeat.

Plenty of mystery and intriguing ideas. It's subtle horror with few jumpscares because the focus is on the story and being eerie instead of bombastic. There's plenty of influence from other movies like "The shining" "Interstellar" and even "Pulp Fiction" but the references never overtake the story. And what's really impressive is that the entire movie seems to be made in SFM, an old animation tool with a steep learning curve and this movie goes above and beyond the limitations of the tool. It's safe to say that it's one of the best horror movies I've seen in years which is crazy because it's not even an official movie, it's just something made by passionate people and posted onto YouTube.

I've been a fan of TF2 for a long time now, with many hours spent in the game, but even more spent in the community watching SFM films. And as much as I love the classic takes on the TF2 world, any serious take on it especially grabs my attention, with Emesis Blue being the finest example of this. The plot is intriguing, the writing is sophisticated, and the animations and cinematography are subtle and striking. TF2 is a game that (even in the lore) fixates on the concept of cheating death, with the Mann brothers' Australium fueled life extension, the Respawn system, and even the Medic making a deal with the devil to prolong his death. But Emesis Blue is a serious examination of the mortality of the character's and how their moral actions bring about consequences. Will they persevere or will their minds fracture? Lastly, the film brilliantly understands how to use psychological horror, with its most chilling scenes not relying on music, or jumpscares, but merely on the silent facial expressions of the characters. We experience the scene as they do. It's a remarkably sophisticated film that pays homage to classic horror films, and keeps me thinking about it due to how rich the plot is. It's a masterpiece, and you should watch it.

Using Source Film Maker to make a feature length film is incredible enough on it's own. But due to the fantastic editing, acting, pacing, cinematography and sound design, it soars above any horror film released in recent years. It blew me away, and I can't believe it's even real. The premise on it's own is interesting enough, but you get elements from Fritz Lang's "M", and ideas similar to Interstellar, Resident Evil, Inception, and many more. The fact that when I watch it, looking at these TF2 characters, I'm not even thinking about the original game. I'm sucked into this world that is so intriguing that it hurts. I highly recommend checking it out if you love weird conceptual horror as much as I do.

Emesis Blue has one of the best concepts I have seen in a horror movie ever. Taking the most integral part of any multiplayer shooter, and turning it into the stuff of nightmares. This alone makes Emesis Blue a fantastically eerie time.

This movie definitely goes for a more eerie and strange approach, rather than a downright in your face scary way. Personally I really like this direction and really makes it stand out as a movie tonally. However I think the eerie feeling it was going for is a double edged sword, because at some points in the film it gets a little drawn out and boring while the mercs are walking around and exploring the building. For the most part however it worked wonderfully.

It does a very good job at giving this feeling of something isn't quite right with the lovable TF2 characters we all know and love. The animation itself is outstanding, and the visual shots in the movie are very impressive. Especially for Source Film Maker.

The story however, is extremely hard to follow. Emesis Blue really keeps its cards close, and doesn't tell you the story upfront. You kind of have to pay close attention to the film to get all the pieces to complete the puzzle, which can be seen as a negative or a positive.

What I'm saying is that I shouldn't have to watch a video to explain the story for me.

The voice acting reigns from decent to great, some of the actors do a great job of impersonating the TF2 mercs. While some do an alright, but serviceable job.

All in all, Emesis Blue is a great animated horror movie. Horror fans shouldn't sleep on this one just because it's animated or because it uses TF2 characters. Emesis Blue provides some of the greatest horror moments in a very long time.