Campfire Creepers is a live-action, 360 anthology series inspired by iconic 1980s horror shows Tales from the Crypt (1989), Creepshow (1982), and the creations of Wes Craven. The first two episodes are now available for both Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR.
The first two episodes of Campfire Creepers—’Midnight March’ and ‘The Skull of Sam’—make their debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this week, and are also now available via the Dark Corner app for Rift and Gear VR. The Dark Corner app is free, and promises to deliver horror, suspense, and sci-fi content “from some of the world’s most visionary filmmakers.”
Campfire Creepers was co-created by Oculus and Future Lighthouse, and directed by famous horror director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes, High Tension, Horns). Robert Englund of Freddy Krueger fame stars as the antagonist in the first episode ‘The Skull of Sam’.
Director Alexandre Aja says in a recent Oculus blog post that Englund “brought this kind of mentorship, where he kind of blessed us with his presence. He brought that flavor of classic horror that we like so much. Beyond the fact that he was perfect for the part, he really brought something else—like a post-modern feel to the piece that created that effect that I wanted that I loved so much growing up watching Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. For my first VR piece, I couldn’t imagine someone better than Robert.”
The first two episodes of Campfire Creepers are free, and clock in around 10-15 minutes a piece. As early steps into the 360 medium, they suffer some technical issues such as low bit rate, relatively low resolution, and some conflicts with how the 3D objects are presented in near-field scenes. The quality of the writing and classic ’80s feel are definitely on point, and there are also some genuinely innovative ways Aja directs action to the user, making it an overall enjoyable experience – video quality notwithstanding.
Aja has already started a non-VR feature film, although he “really want[s] to come back to VR because we can improve so much—because there is so much to be invented.” It’s uncertain how many episodes are left in the show’s first season, or if Aja will be returning for more episodes in the future.