Killer Frequency: An 80s Radio Slasher Starring the Whistling Man
(Image: team17.com)
Good evening listeners, and welcome to station 189.16 “The Scream”! Brought to you by Team17. You are tuning in to Killer Frequency a first person adventure game that is a narrative-based, comedy-horror style slasher set in 1980s middle America. You play as Forrest Nash, a former-big time radio show host, exiled to the small-town radio station of Gallow’s Creek, where he and his producer Peggy are not seeing eye to eye. But when an enigmatic serial killer known only as ‘The Whistling Man’ starts picking off the town’s residents, your role suddenly becomes much more crucial. With no one left to call, the residents of Gallow’s Creek turn to you to take on the role of dispatcher, every choice you make can mean life or death for the person on the other end of the line, as you advise them on what to do to evade the killer.
RADIO HOST KILLS THE VIDEOGAME STAR
What makes Killer Frequency stand out from traditional games is that instead of being in the midst of the action, you are playing the inactive role dictating the actions of others. Characters that are in danger are asking you for help and the outcome of that advice is what is driving the story forward. And you can’t see what is happening, you can only hear it.
The Game Devs mentioned that the game-style is influenced by games like Firewatch where your main contact with the outside world is through the radio.
Firewatch (Image: gamespot.com)
The more passive player role here to me also had parallels to games like Detroit: Become Human or the Dark Pictures Anthology series where you are making choices or dealing with quick time events to let the characters then tell the story rather than carrying out the majority of the actions yourself. These off-screen mission givers and advice providers like Hunnigan in Resident Evil 4 or ‘Atlas’ in Bioshock, are everywhere in gaming narratives but they are always on the side lines in a supportive role so it’s fun to have the perspective flipped and be in their shoes for a change.
Hunnigan from Resident Evil 4 (left) and Atlas from Bioshock (right) (Images: eurogamer.net, fandom.com)
I hope that through seeing a game in this reverse style executed so well, developers will start creating a bunch more where you are now the person being contacted on the radio. There are all sorts of isolated or post-apocalyptic settings where survivors are calling for help and players could easily be inserted into the helpline operator position rather than the typical action hero role.
You could be the CDC over the radio to potentially infected survivors in the Thing, the ranger’s station on the other end of the line to Wendy in the Overlook hotel in the Shining, the police officer over the radio to Bruce Willis in Die Hard, ‘Mother’ aboard the Nostromo in Alien…
Or imagine being one of the radio show hosts on GTA trying to coordinate criminals or police officers. Admittedly GTA roleplay servers do actually already let players act as dispatch operators, so this does exist in some form already!
I definitely want to see more games of this ilk with the flipped role perspective, there’s a lot of potential for comedy in it and it’s a more laid-back style of play that still lets you enjoy the story as it unfurls based on your choices. It is always cool to see extra variety being added to gameplay perspectives.
80S NOSTALGIA
I LOVE the 80s! The majority of my favourite films and music are from that period. So, Killer Frequency's 80s radio show host aesthetic was perfect. 80s nostalgia is universal, everyone seems to go starry eyed at the style and sound of the era. It was a time of neon lights, synthesisers, retro games, cassettes, heavy metal, VHS and the rise of the Slasher film…
Getting to play in game with old technology like tape players and turn tables which you barely see around anymore, as we live in this depressingly digital age, totally made me nostalgic. I miss things being more physical. Getting to spin records or clunk cassettes in, having to go to the video rental store or games arcade, just had more of a ‘feel’ to it.
And Millennials in particular have a sentimentality for that 80s slasher setting. Because as children they were the scary looking monsters whose cut outs we saw looming above us at the video store, lurking on posters or jumping out at us from adverts on the TV. Although terrifying, the fact that they were age restricted so forbidden for us to watch, added to their intrigue. Dark mysteries waiting to thrill us which we had to snatch glimpses of in secret so as not to get into trouble. Rated mature…oooooh!
Killer Frequency’s setting and storyline are definitely influenced by movies from that time period as well as by a bunch set in radio stations.
PONTYPOOL
Mazzy in Pontypool (Image: Pontypool)
The setting is most strongly reminiscent of Pontypool, where they are literally fighting a killer frequency! In the form of certain words in the english language somehow carrying a cognitive virus, where once spoken, it takes hold and turns you into a violent killer.
Grant Mazzy is a down and out disc jockey whose fallen from fame to hosting a small-town radio station, where he and his producer are not seeing eye to eye (sound familiar?). Out of boredom he has his assistant tuning into the police radio station and listening out for 911s. When a zombie-like outbreak starts. Their 'Guy in the Sky' is giving them updates of the murderous events happening all over town. And almost the entire film is call based. Revolving around the developing relationship between Mazzy and his producer as they try to save people outside, and themselves barricaded within, from infection.
In Killer Frequency, the dynamic between Forrest (the Radio Show Host) and Peggy (his Producer) made me laugh because you definitely find yourself muttering things or yelling at her. She is constantly nagging at you and largely of no use whatsoever. Just ordering you to carry out seemingly impossible tasks and potentially risk your life wandering about whilst she is locked away safely in her booth...disturbingly accurately recreating the feeling of dealing with overbearing bosses! The real monsters in our nightmares!
The studios in Pontypool (top) and Killer Frequency (bottom) (Images: Pontypool and team17.com)
But Killer Frequency also made me think of John Carpenter's “The Fog”, Play Misty for Me, Wayne’s World, and a little of Airheads...
(Images: imdb.com)
JOHN CARPENTER'S "THE FOG"
Set in the the small coastal town of Antonio Bay, a mysterious, glowing fog rolls in that is filled with the ghosts of a leper colony seeking revenge against the descendants of those who killed them a hundred years earlier. One of the main characters, Stevie, runs her radio show from a lighthouse, allowing her to see where the fog is heading and shout directions to Jamie Lee Curtis and her character’s love interest to help them avoid it. This scenario is like one aspect of the gameplay in Killer Frequency, where you have to examine a map on the wall and try to plot the fastest or safest routes to direct callers to take, in order to rescue others or save themselves from the Whistling Man.
There is also a scene where Stevie is shouting down the phone to the weatherman and asking him what is happening as he gets torn apart by fog ghouls. And that is very much the sort of perspective we have in Killer Frequency, blind to what is happening, you have to see through what you hear.
Peggy even seems to have the same hair as the lighthouse radio host Stevie...
Stevie the Radio Show Host in John Carpenter’s “The Fog” (Images: The Fog)
PLAY MISTY FOR ME
Creepy stalker lady keeps calling in and requesting that Clint Eastwood, who is a radio show host, play 'Misty' for her because she is obsessed with him! Her weapon of choice is also a knife just like the Whistling Man’s.
Dave Garver (Clint Eastwood) worrying in his studio (left) and Evelyn Draper (Jessica Walter) calling him (right) (Images: Play Misty for Me)
WAYNE’S WORLD 2
Wayne’s World and Wayne’s World 2 are comedy films from the early 90s, that still have a very 80s feel. They are centred around the characters Wayne and Garth who host their own public access television show called ‘Wayne’s World’ on which they discuss rock and heavy metal music. They eventually rise in fame to a point where they are putting on a festival called Waynestock. In Wayne’s World 2, when they are advertising Waynestock, they go into a studio and encounter the rude radio show host ‘Handsome Dan’, who is not listening to anything that they are saying, as he arranges cassettes and twiddles about with nobs and dials before playing a sound effect to cut them off on cue. Which is very much what I found myself doing in Killer Frequency when trying to multitask or getting distracted wondering what noises different buttons made. Handsome Dan also has a co-star called ‘Mr Scream’ who has a signature scream that he lets out. In Killer Frequency the radioshow is called ‘The Scream’ and listeners have to call in to guess the scream.
Wayne and Garth in the studio with ‘Handsome Dan’, and ‘Mr Scream’ doing what he does best (Images: Wayne’s World 2)
Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler in Airheads (Image: Airheads)
AIRHEADS
Honestly just the barricaded inside a radio station vibe. Other than that it is the reverse situation to Killer Frequency as they have taken over the radio station to get their music played and are trying to keep everyone else out.
THE SLASHER FILM PHENOMENON
Slasher films starring Serial Killers are also a phenomenon that took off in the 80s, although admittedly the founding fathers of the genre came in the decades before that. The first slasher I saw and my personal favourite, John Carpenter's Halloween, was released in 1978. With the main killer Michael Myers being masked with a knife, the Whistling Man gave me Myers kinda vibes. And although he came about in the 90s, 'Ghost Face' from the Scream franchise seems like another major influence for the game, as the movies are based around a killer phoning his victims to let them know that he is watching them or often to let them hear their friends die. And again wears a mask and predominantly kills with a knife.
In Killer Frequency, the map of the town in the studio has a lot of 80s horror or slasher film-based names. The top that I spotted were:
Ponty’s Pizza – Pontypool (2008) as described earlier is definitely a big influence.
Craven Street – Wez Craven, the director of Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street.
Romero Street – George R. Romero the father of the zombie genre.
Hooper Street – Tobe Hooper, whose filmography is very long and insanely impressive. He directed Poltergeist (1982), he co-wrote The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) and directed the 1979 miniseries of Salem’s Lot, based on a Stephen King book about a town full of vampires.
The Barker Public Library – Perhaps Clive Barker? One of my favourite writers. He wrote and directed Hellraiser with the iconic ‘Pinhead’, killing without mercy once released from Hell by unwitting victims who solve ‘LeMarchand’s Puzzlebox. He has such sights to show you!
Carpenter Avenue – John Carpenter, the man, the myth, the legend! The director of so many of my favourite 80s films and composer of endless soundtracks to die for. He wrote and directed Halloween, The Thing, Escape from New York, They Live, Ghosts of Mars (with a soundtrack by Anthrax, Buckethead, Steve Vai and Carpenter) and of course The Fog. I may be a tad biased if you hadn’t noticed, I adore this man!
Haddonfield Road – The name of the town Halloween is set in and Adam Green’s band’s namesake too, the director of the Hatchet slasher films.
Myers Lane – Michael Myers the antagonist for the Halloween films. Dressed up as ‘The Shape’ we all know so well in his deformed William Shatner mask and overalls, armed with a kitchen knife.
Mac’s Diner & Macready Street - Macready, the pilot played by Kurt Russel in The Thing. Trapped in an isolated research station in the Antarctic trying to fend off an alien who can disguise itself as one of the team. Radio contact is their only hope of escape.
Weyland Road – Weyland Industries and Weyland-Yutani megacorporation, technology corporations in the Alien film franchise whose founder Charles Bishop Weyland also pops up in various guises. The ‘Alien’ films are based around people trying to escape and defeat the eusocial xenomorph that is ‘Alien’. A creature feature but with an organism with the intelligence of a serial killer. Both stalk their prey. And in the original Alien film ‘Mother’ the computer gives the crew of the Nostromo orders which determine whether the alien kills them or is itself killed. I suppose in Killer Frequency we are playing the role of ‘Mother’.
Ripley Records – Ripley from Alien.
Jones Road - Jonesy the cat from Alien? Or wishful thinking ha.
Doc’s Pharmacy – Could be a reference to anything but Danny’s nickname is this in the Shining (1980), based on a Stephen King book where a writer, Jack Torrence, and his family are acting as caretakers for the Overlook Hotel before Jack goes insane and starts trying to kill everyone with an axe. Isolated in a blizzard, once again there only contact with the outside world is over the radio.
Christine’s Gas & Repair – Christine, a film about a possessed car going on a killing spree, based on another Stephen King book. And with another film and car radio score by, the one and only, John Carpenter.
Little Shop of Flowers – The Little Shop of Horrors, a musical horror comedy about a mutant plant who eats people.
Rogers Avenue – Maybe obscure but episode 101 of Mr Rogers’ Neighborhood, a very music oriented retro children’s show is called ‘All about whistles’. Coincidence? It’s weird that it’s 101, like room 101 in the book/film 1984, in which case whistling would be some form of torture. And although it is supposed to be wholesome there’s something decidedly sinister to me about Mr Rogers.
Then there are the more obvious play on word names like Axe-Down Lane, Chalupacabras, Price Slashers Supermarket, Grilling Spree, Giblet Field and Helland Falls. I am sure that there are others that I have missed but all in all the placenames made me ponder and laugh and were a great detail that you could tell the game devs had a lot of fun with. They are also just a nice hat tip of respect to the amazing directors and films of the slasher genre.
(From left to right) Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, Pinhead, and Ben Willis ‘The Fisherman’ (Images: MIKE and fandom.com)
THE KILLER LOOK AND ‘HOOK’
The formula for a serial killer in a slasher pretty much always involves a signature look and 'hook' of some kind. Michael Myers from Halloween’s deformed William Shatner mask and knife. Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elmstreet’s striped sweatshirt and metal claws. Jason Vorhees from Friday the 13th’s hockey mask and machete. Ghostface from Scream’s screaming mask, black robes and knife. Pinhead from Hellraiser’s pins and chains and the fisherman in I Know What You Did Last Summer’s black oilskins and literal hook. But for a radio based serial killer their 'hook' of course needs to be a sound so whistling makes perfect sense! It is almost worse when you can just hear them coming, the anxious anticipation before the kill is what we expect in any good slasher.
SOUND SIGNALS DEATH
There are so many films where specific sounds or music are associated with the killer. Either actually happening within the fictional universe as diegetic sound or within the soundtrack that the audience alone hear. A bunch popped into my head:
In the Hellraiser franchise, the bell tolling from Hell whenever Pinhead is about to appear.
In the Japanese version of the Ring (a film I sneakily watched as a child) there is that horrible mosquito noise that comes out of the phone after someone has watched the cursed video. After that it became what I was afraid of hearing any time the phone rang! In general, picking up a phone to hear a voice or sound that signals imminent death is horrifying.
Jeepers Creepers where the song ‘Jeepers Creepers’ starts playing on the radio whenever ‘the Creeper’ is near.
Fallen (1998) starring Denzel Washington, where the ghost of a killer is possessing people and the only tell that they give is that they start singing ‘Time Is on My Side’ by Jerry Ragovoy. It’s oddly haunting.
In Striking Distance (1992) with Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker, they play officers trying to track down a killer, who is taunting the police department by calling them and playing a recording of ‘Li’l Red Riding Hood’ (by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs), as they hear the screams of his next victim.
Games make major use of sounds as signals too. The static in Silent Hill indicating that a monster is close or the air raid siren warning you that the darkness is coming, and angry metallic banging music then kicking in when you transition into the other dimension and Pyramid Head starts chasing you…it definitely cumulatively builds so much tension that would not be there without all of that sound.
And most games have specific calls that ghosts or monsters have which mean that they are near or stalking you. Left 4 Dead comes to mind, god…hearing the Witch crying and trying to avoid her or having the music start blasting when the Tank is loose, was heart pounding stuff!
And with dynamic audio now changing depending on how you play, sound is being used more effectively than ever to enhance the atmosphere of a game.
In Killer Frequency you can really tell that they put a lot of thought into the sound throughout. You distinctly hear the clicks, clunks and whirring as you use equipment. You can hear electrical buzzing and ambient sounds very clearly. Alongside very well thought out voice acting, noises from the caller’s environment, followed by whistling and screaming!
Peter Lorre in ‘M’ (Image: ‘M’)
THE WHISTLING MAN
The killer that 'The Whistling Man' most made me think of was actually Peter Lorre's character in 'M' which was made all of the way back in 1931! In which he plays a serial killer preying on children, who whistles Edvard Grieg's 'In the Hall of the Mountain King' as he stalks them. Then of course there’s the memorable Kill Bill tune whistled by Daryl Hannah walking the corridors of a hospital as her character goes to assassinate Uma Thurman (the song was originally from a 1960s psychological thriller called Twisted Nerve). And a whistling killer also weirdly made me think of ‘Hannibal’ because he merrily whistles ‘Rock a Bye Baby’ as he pushes senor Pazzi to the balcony before the infamous “Bowels in? Or Bowels out?” scene. That was a film I genuinely peered through a hole in the wall to sneak a peek at as a child when I was supposed to be in bed, so it left a lasting impression on me! And it really sent a chill up my spine when the bad guy in Killer Frequency turned out to be a creepy whistler too!
I guess what makes it so disturbing is that it’s a signal of how much of a psychopath someone is because their emotional response to what they are doing is totally out of whack. People whistle when they are happy or zoned out. So, whistling merrily as you are about to slaughter someone is not okay!
Hannibal whistling as he is about to disembowel Inspector Pazzi and Elle Driver whistling as she is heading to kill Beatrix. (Images: Hannibal and Kill Bill: Volume 1)
SINISTER WHISTLERS IN FOLKTALES
(Image: New Scientist)
The eeriness of whistling is something that’s seemingly been engrained in our subconscious across generations and cultures because there’s a tonne of folklore to do with sinister whistlers! Whistling at night in particular is thought to attract all sorts of demons and ghosts. And many believe that if you hear them whistle back then you are doomed to die.
Presumably these myths all actually originated because of owls. I know from experience that you can very easily lure them over by imitating their calls, as they think you’re a potential mate or competition that they need to chase off. It would be hilarious to call an owl ‘The Whistling Man’! That aside, disembodied whistling at night can indeed be very creepy, especially when you think you are alone. And Killer Frequency harness this fear in full, in the form of ‘The Whistling Man’.
THE POWER OF SOUND
Overall Killer Frequency offers a healthy reminder of the power of words alone, and shows that sound is as, if not more, important than visuals! And can actually be a lot more fun. The voice acting in the game is really well done and the camp humour and imbecilic mishaps, although cringeworthy at times, actually made the characters more endearingly reminiscent of horror B movies. Plus, I am ALWAYS thrilled by 80s themed content especially of the comedy slasher variety.
And so, listeners this is EJ signing off. Thank you for tuning in. I hope that you check out Killer Frequency and remember to sleep with one ear open, gripping your pillow tight, because there could be a ‘Whistling Man’ out there tonight!
References
Killer Frequency. (2023). PC/Mac [Game]. Team 17 and Fireshine Games.
IMDb. (2023). Available at: https://www.imdb.com/ (Accessed 8 August 2023)
‘Killer Frequency Dev Blog - Origins of a Slasher’. Steam. 16 March 2023. Available at: (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1903620/view/3698063796884170439?l=english) (Accessed 8 August 2023)
‘Killer Frequency Dev Blog - Designing a Narrative’. Steam. 24 April 2023. Available at: (https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1903620/view/3711569526468093106?l=english) (Accessed 8 August 2023)
Pontypool. (2008). [DVD]. Directed by Bruce McDonald. Canada: Ponty Up Pictures and Shadow Shows .
The Fog. (1980). [DVD]. Directed by John Carpenter. United States: Debra Hill Productions.
Play Misty For Me. (1971). [DVD]. Directed by Clint Eastwood. United States: The Malpaso Company.
Wayne’s World 2. (1993). [DVD]. Directed by Stephen Surjik. United States: NBC Films.
Airheads. (1994). [DVD]. Directed by Michael Lehmann. United States: Island World and Robert Simonds Productions.
M. (1931). [DVD]. Directed by Fritz Lang. Germany: Nero-Film A.G.
Hannibal. (2001). [DVD]. Directed by Ridley Scott. United States and United Kingdom: Universal Pictures, Dino De Laurentiis Company and Scott Free Productions.
Kill Bill: Volume 1. (2003) [DVD]. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. United States: A Band Apart.
WHISTLEproject (2019) The mythology of Whistle. Available at: (http://www.whistletheproject.com/2019/08/whistling-mythology.html) (Accessed: 8 August 2023)
