Emesis Blue

Such an amazing atmosphere with beautiful and disturbing imagery. I can't get it out of my mind even though I saw it yesterday. I love the mystery, the ambiguity. The use of music and the sounds. It's honestly one of the creepiest things I've ever seen and it's a goddamn SFM movie about funny TF2 characters. Seriously, you do NOT need to be a TF2 fan to enjoy it. It's crazy that something like this could work, given how goofy and comedic TF2 is. It contains some very, very, VERY disturbing imagery. Everything about it is just perfect, and it's available for free on YouTube! Fortress Films are a blessing.

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.

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.

The premise of the movie is downright comical - a serious horror film about team fortress 2 characters, the same ones who use literal rockets for jumping around and say quirky one liners after manslaughter. Not only is it extremely true to the original canon, it incorporates it perfectly into the psychological horror narrative and is terrifying. The graphics, despite mainly using models from 2007, look good and have spectacular animation and lightning. The voice acting and sound design is on point and sounds professional. The story, while intentionally confusing and fractured, is extremely engaging and will leave you thinking about it even after the movie ends.

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.