RPG Maker is the most unlikely tool when it comes to horror video games; originally designed to allow developers to create their own late-era NES/early SNES style role-playing games, it has instead found itself at the heart of a burgeoning and endlessly creative independent horror renaissance that has proved so significant (largely thanks to the exposure provided by YouTube “Let's Players” such as Markpiler et al), it has begun to influence mainstream markets.
 
Limited by technological restraint, lack of budget and simple time, many RPG horror titles seek to distinguish themselves via clever mechanics or high invention; by dint of their art design, stories or atmosphere. Titles such as Yume Nikki, The Witch's House, Undertale and The Crooked Man have all seen some measure of cult success, Undertale and Yume Nikki in particular courting attention far beyond mere cult or artistic circles; becoming significant titles in their own rights.
 

The turning point for the modern Mexican horror genre occurred in 1993, when a certain Guillermo Del Toro burst onto the scene with his inventive and brilliantly creepy film Cronos. Del Toro, along with the likes of Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro G Iñárritu, went on to carve out careers in Hollywood, the latter two directing acclaimed Oscar-winning films The Revenant and Gravity, and pushed open the doors for a new wave of young Mexican directors. Cuarón and Iñárritu, no less, have given plaudits We are the Flesh , the extraordinary and unsettling debut film from Emiliano Rocha Minter.
 
It’s about a young brother and sister in an apocalyptic city, who take refuge in the dilapidated lair of a strange hermit. Welcoming at first, it soon becomes apparent he is on a curious mission, and lures the pair on a sexually-charged, nightmarish journey into an other-worldy dimension. Minter’s film is intense, erotic, outrageously explicit and deeply disturbing. Here are half a dozen equally weird and wonderful Mexican new wave terrors that have put Mexico at the cutting edge of the horror genre…

WE ARE THE FLESH (18) is released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 13, by Arrow Video

Read our review of We are the Flesh here 

​​​​​I'm aware that this is somewhat breaking the theme of previous articles in this series; for the most part, the toy lines I've explored have been notable for ther targetting of child markets, yet consisting of profoundly graphic or horrific subjects.
 
This particular range was technically never marketed to children, though I will provide some anectdotal evidence that it certainly shared shelf-space with those that were: I recall first coming across these figures as an adolescent-verging-on-teenager, while I was still an enthusiastic collector of the likes of Transformers and various other toy franchises: they began to pop up along with a number of other Todd McFarlane-produced ranges in local toy stores (including the incredible Dragons range), as well as a number of video-game inspired figures aimed at older children and teenage markets.