Embrace the Horror as 3 new VR Experiences are Coming to Dark Corner

Los Angeles-based virtual reality (VR) studio Dark Corner has been producing horror experiences for quite sometime now, with director and founder, Guy Shelmerdine creating films like Catatonic and Night Night. October 2017 saw the studio release its first VR app, combining all of its projects in one place. In the next few weeks the Dark Corner app library will be expanded further with three new experiences.

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First on the list is the long-awaited release of Mule, a point-of-view (POV) experience that first premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2016 before heading to several other festivals in 2017. Mule is a dark, emotional, fast-paced ride that catapults the viewer through the frantic last moments of one very unfortunate man’s life and beyond, with Shelmerdine promising it will be “bigger, more immersive, and more terrifying” than Catatonic.

Then there’s Deerbrook, an acclaimed mystery thriller that launched at AFI Fest last year, featuring a cast including Ari Miller (Orphan Black) and Nicholas Campbell (Black Mirror). Directed by Grayson Moore, Jon Riera, Aidan Shipley and Connor Illsle, Deerbrook involves two strangers showing up at a family’s cottage claiming to have spent their childhood summers there, but their behaviour seems to be driven by something more sinister than nostalgia.

The last 360-degree film is Spacewalker, an immersive adventure tied to the new feature from producer Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Hardcore Henry), which invites you to step into the void alongside the first Russian cosmonaut to ever perform an external space walk in 1965.

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Alongside the three new films will be an exclusive 360-degree trailer for Campfire Creepers, Alexandre Aja’s throwback anthology series starring Robert Englund (a.k.a. Freddie Krueger himself) which will world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next month. “When the kids at Camp Coyote are forced on a brutal midnight march by their sadistic counselors, one boy reaches his breaking point,” notes the official description. “He turns the tables on the bullies, revealing a surprising secret about himself in the process.”

The new films are due to be released on March 28th 2018. Featuring both free and paid content from Dark Corner Studio as well as other filmmakers, the Dark Corner app, is available for iOS, Android, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, and Oculus Rift. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

A World of Terror Awaits as Dark Corner Launches VR Horror App

Last month VRFocus reported on Los Angeles-based virtual reality (VR) studio Dark Corner announcing its latest horror film Night Night as well as the official unveiling of its dedicated VR horror app. Now in the run up to Halloween and for fans of all things scary, the studio has now launched the app publicly.

Initially featuring eight immersive experiences that are both cinematic and hair-raising, the Dark Corner app, built using Vusr by Secret Location, will include Catatonic, Knives, Sonar, The Invisible Man, Burlap, The Peeler, Mule and 1157, with Night Night available on 19th October.

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“Dark Corner is the new destination for thrilling experiences helmed by some of the most innovative filmmakers working in VR today,” said director and founder, Guy Shelmerdine. “While most entertainment VR apps offer a mixed bag of content, our goal is to deliver a highly curated selection of exhilarating experiences to a specific audience that loves genre in all its forms.”

Featuring both free and paid content from Dark Corner Studio as well as other filmakers, the Dark Corner app, is available for iOS, Android, Samsung Gear VR, Google Daydream, and Oculus Rift.

“We don’t claim to have all the answers about the future of VR, but we do know that people love to be terrified when they put on a headset,” added Teal Greyhavens, Head of Content for Dark Corner. “Our model is about providing a consistent stream of cinematic experiences that emphasize storytelling and suspense, while remaining accessible and engaging for mainstream audiences.”

As further content is added to the Dark Corner app, VRFocus will let you know.

The ‘Mule’ 360 Video Project Could Be VR’s Darkest Corner

The ‘Mule’ 360 Video Project Could Be VR’s Darkest Corner

At the Hollywood-focused conference this week, VR on the Lot, I sat in a coffin to try out the latest project from Dark Corner Studios, a company which bills itself “The Darkest Part of Virtual Reality.”

“Buried or cremated?” I was asked as I took a seat in the plush coffin.

I chose buried and put the headset on. Now from here on out I’m going to spoil pretty much the entire plot, because I think it represents a new kind of intimate horror worth discussing, and I’m not sure how many people are going to get the chance to see the project, or how many will actually want to see it. Both Dark Corner’s predecessor Catatonic and the one I experienced, Mule, are directed by Guy Shelmerdine, founder of the studio. Dark Corner pitches itself as specializing “in crafting experiences that transport the viewer to places they could never visit in real life — or wouldn’t dare to.” I think that’s a fair description.

So, SPOILER ALERT: Inside Mule I found myself naked with a woman in what looked like a cheap hotel. Then I had a heroin overdose, passed out, and was discovered by the hotel housekeeper. I died at the hospital, went to the afterlife and then the autopsy table, where drug dealers gutted me to find the drugs I’d apparently been carrying in my stomach. Then they had a funeral for me and I was buried, per my choice earlier.

I found myself laughing, my body tensing and arms folding across my stomach during the horrifying morgue/autopsy table scene. Being seated in the coffin is by design, propping my upper body up in a rough approximation of the ill-fated person I would become for a few minutes. I’ve used “I” to describe the first-hand experience so far, but that doesn’t accurately describe the feeling of being inside this headset and seeing this particular piece of content.

It was more like I was seeing through someone else’s eyes, knowing I’m not in huge danger and that in a few minutes I would return to the world I knew outside. In this mindset, I got a first-person ticket to this man’s sad, helpless and horrifying end. I couldn’t decide whether I should sympathize, empathize, judge harshly or just look away — and I found myself escaping via laughter. This was a very personal, fast-paced kind of horror I’d not experienced before.

Mule was filmed with a custom 360-degree camera rig featuring Sony A7Sii cameras, created in partnership with Radiant Images in Los Angeles. Visual effects were added by The Mill in Los Angeles.