How Resident Evil Village Created the PERFECT Horror Sequence

In this video, I discuss RE8 and how it singlehandedly created what I view as being the greatest horror sequence from any horror game!

[emperorbubblegum]

13:26 I think another thing to note is that before the course of this game, Ethan just lost his infant daughter, so seeing that grotesque fetus monster must've had a personal kind of horror for him that the other monsters he's faced up until now haven't had. Makes his reaction much more genuine

[Kid_zyruh]

Another great part of this section is the fact Ethan DID have his weapons, but because of the hallucinations, he couldn't use them. It's also a scary but fascinating thought that Donna was hunted down and killed by a man who was so angry and lost in the hallucinations. The fear she felt must have been horrifying

[SamsarasArt]

Also I'd like to say while the baby monster is extremely disturbing, what makes it so scary is the meticulous buildup that starts off so subtle you aren't even aware of it. Even before I got to the house I was already creeped out and it just gets more and more disturbing as it goes on. So by the time the baby showed up, I was already consumed by dread and seeing that abomination scared me to my core.

[chexfan]

The House Beneviento sequence is a masterful example of set up->punchline in a horror context. the quiet, quaint, normal-feeling house after castle dimetrescu is unnerving because you know something’s gonna pop off, but also because the last time you were in a normal house was when you were holding rose. and then it just repeatedly drills down on one central thought never spoken but constantly implied: there’s something wrong with the baby.

[alymatronicdeeare]

But seriously re8 makes me stupid happy. It's the perfect mix of horror and goofy and you can tell the actors had fun with their characters AND the ending made me cry. It's perfect, to me.

[F_NerdShark]

I feel like the reason Ethan was so terrified of the Cetus was because he’s lost his own baby daughter. He probably can’t help but see the parallels of the baby and Rose, and it downright terrifies him.

[tonybippitykaye]

As somebody who was disturbed by the fetus in PT and has some slight fears about fatherhood, seeing that baby come down the hallway in the dark while playing the game too late at night was genuinely one of the most unsettling horror moments I had from a game in years. Add the fear of being eaten alive and my first death sequence caused me to just be catatonic for a good few minutes before continuing on.

[Grylken]

I have said it before an I feel like I'll be saying it forever. This portion of this game is genuinely the *ONLY* horror segment to ever truly make me uneasy. And for that I will always regard it extremely highly.

[CherryAnime]

The fetus sequence filled me with genuine, skin-tingling terror like no other horror game I played before. Even after leaving the basement, I was so disturbed by the experience that I became deathly quiet during the Donna fight. I could have sworn my face was pale lol

[morgue.dweller]

I really loved Donna as a character. I felt like she got overshadowed by Alcina. I appreciated the subtlety and psychological horror aspects of house Beneviento. Lady Dimitrescu is still a great character but her sequences feel more like survival horror than psychological horror. Personal preference I guess, but Donna and Angie deserve love as well.

[chatteringbox]

House Beneviento also adds onto the story of Ethan in a pretty horrifying way. Dude's been through a lot.
Years after facing a nasty encounter with the Bakers and the Mold, Ethan experiences his wife being shot repeatedly and his infant child taken away by someone who'd insure his family's protection, that being Chris Redfield. Shortly after that, he's left on his own to rescue his daughter by whatever third party has intervened between him and Chris.
He's left to fend off against monsters again, he fails to save (and possibly unintentionally led the deaths of) the remaining survivors of the once peaceful village, and after defeating Lady D, came to the gut-punch realization that his child, Rose, has been physically taken apart, put in flasks and are guarded by the four lords. No doubt this would all be emotionally grating to Ethan, and it comes to a climax in House Beneviento.
Like Pastra said, there are the dolls representing children, but then there are the challenges Donna inflicts on Ethan. The vague panicked whispers of Mia over the radio that possibly hint toward abortions, searching across the house for Angie representing losing a child in a vast group of them, and finally that twisted fetus monster portraying the potential anxiety of Ethan that Rose might've had some exposure to the Mold, mutating her into a vile beast.

[cruzcamel]

I think I hated the mannequin dolls from the dlc even more, but this is a masterclass in building up dread and tension, and then deliver. Some people complained Village was becoming too action oriented, but almost all of them asterisked it with a “except for the baby part”.

[CinfulArts]

I remember hearing someone point something out about the baby (probably superhorrorbro) The baby may be a hallucination of Ethans daughter Rose, a representation of what Ethan was scared she’d become when she was born due to the mold

[TristicularTorsion]

I love the idea that Ethan went barreling through House Benneviento, hunting Donna in her own home while hallucinating heavily and just giving her the Redfield Special every time he sees her

[TheCrazedLorry]

The layout of this game was so fun. It felt like a big mash-up of a bunch of different genres. Gothic survival horror, psychological horror, lovecraftian horror, mechanized body horror. Just all squashed together with an admittedly silly story but I had a blast playing though this entire game. Sometimes horror games can get stale towards the end because you become desensitized to what is being shown but Village did a great job of always keeping you on your toes. It also looked great graphically. Prolly the most fun RE since 4.

[HWjabber]

It’s great that a game which contains a lot more action (when compared to RE7) features a section which focuses solely on the horror.

[GameJunkyard]

I'm surprised you didn't mention how you can hear the baby crying as an ambient noise throughout the entire buildup to the encounter.
It's fantastic. The player would think they're about to rescue a helpless baby or at least they'd think that a baby wouldn't be a threat, only for the game to reveal that the baby is the threat.

[anthonyoliver]

I love how Pastra always looks at the brightest parts of games in order to ensure he covers what games do right, while showing the positives to show how in every game he likes, there is something that shows the devs had passion while making it

[Ofxzh]

As a little kid, I was scared of a lot of things. What scared me the most was the graveyard from Charlie Murder, and the god damn Wilikin from skylanders.

[crypticphobia]

i think my favourite part of this is the hallucination of mia before the house. with what we know afterwards, that donna can actively control hallucinations, it means shes been watching ethan and messing with him since before he even stepped foot in her house. donna is by far my favourite lord, shes much more passive than the others yet she seems much more cruel with how shes messing with him, taking from his specific fears. shes fascinating