Back in the early 90’s, point-and-click adventure computer games were all the rage. Games like Monkey Island, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Grim Fandango were highlights of an era that has come and since gone. Still, some of those games have gotten second lives with HD remakes or rereleases with updated software.

In that time, there were several horror games that were absolutely fantastic. Games like The 7th Guest, The 11th Hour, Clandestine, Gabriel Knight, and more tickled the fancy of those who wanted something as eerie as it was puzzling. One of the games during that time that many people overlooked was Sierra’s Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh.

The game followed Curtis, an employee at a pharmaceutical company whose co-workers are killed off one-by-one. More a psychological venture into Curtis’ mind, where he confronts the abuse he suffered from his mother, his conflicting feelings about his sexuality, and his foray into the world of BDSM, Phantasmagoria was WAY ahead of its time! Featuring nudity, gore, full sets, disturbing imagery, and more, it was very controversial upon release and still, to this day, will raise some eyebrows.

The actual gameplay style was very simple: you click on an object and a short FMV (full motion video) movie plays. As it turns out, if you cut all the FMVs from the game – of which there are a LOT – and splice them together, you can create a relatively coherent feature-length movie! That’s precisely what Pierce Dirks over at Vimeo did. The final product can be watched below!

If you decide that you want to try the game, it’s really cheap over at GOG.

Synopsis:

Written and designed by horror writer Lorelei Shannon, Phantasmagoria 2: A PUZZLE OF FLESH is a narratively unrelated follow-up to the best-selling title by graphical adventure pioneer Roberta WIlliams (King’s Quest). Notorious for its “obscene content” that saw the game heavily censored or outright banned in several countries, Puzzle of Flesh had the player help the introverted Curtis Craig navigate a psychological breakdown while working at a predictably sinister pharmaceutical company. Dark secrets, sexual exploration and inter-dimensional twists abound!