Fear the Spotlight review – lo-fi horror that's light on scares but big on heart
Why is it that games don’t draw more often from the realms of musical theatre? I’d argue they’re just as much a part of our cultural fabric as films and TV shows, but for whatever reason they very rarely manage to get a look in. Sure, they might not be the first thing that 30-something-year-old white men look for on their tapestry of pop culture references, but for a sub-section of the gaming population, a dialogue exchange riffing on the lyrics of Les Misérables, say (shout out to Subsurface Circular), is just as likely to elicit a delighted fist pump from me than yet another Twin Peaks reference in something like Alan Wake, for example.
Fear the Spotlight reviewDeveloper: Cozy Game PalsPublisher: Blumhouse GamesPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam), Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One, PS4/PS5, and Nintendo Switch
I mention all this because Fear the Spotlight, the first game to be published by horror film company Blumhouse’s new games division, directly riffs on Phantom of the Opera – a realisation that brought me so much joy that it was almost enough to smooth over its slightly rougher edges elsewhere. I Phantom of the Opera. It is one of my favourite things outside of games, and I cannot tell you how heartening it is to see it crop up in this very gentle tale of a spooky high school séance gone wrong.
Again, I realise that not everyone will react the same way to seeing broken mirrors open up to reveal hidden passageways or, indeed, peeling back plush, red velvet curtains only to find the most 90s school boiler room lair instead of a candlelit opera house grotto. But as a repeat offender of watching Phantom at the theatre, as well as the 2004 film about ten times more than is really necessary (not to mention reading the book on which it’s based), I will always have a soft spot for anything that plays with its themes of longing and secret desires – especially when the phantom figure himself gets a honking great spotlight for a head, and whose piercing gaze will cause shy teen Vivian to wheeze and become short of breath if she gets trapped inside its blinding light. Honestly, pyramid heads are last season here.
Fear the Spotlight – Launch Trailer | PS5 & PS4 Games Watch on YouTube
It’s a fitting conceit for Vivian’s underlying struggle to expose and express her deeper feelings toward her best friend Amy, but steering clear of this wandering stage bulb is also how Fear the Spotlight keeps players on their toes between its brilliantly constructed Resident Evil-style puzzle segments. It’s never particularly scary – tables and overturned desks provide plenty of cover for Vivian to crouch and hide behind during the fixed and predetermined moments he shows up, and once you’ve reached a door to enter another room, you can always breathe easy. This isn’t a threat that will constantly pursue you like Mr. X, for example, and even if you do get caught, I was able to quite easily outrun him and make my escape.
1 of 3 Caption Attribution Vivian passed the point of no return when she agreed to break into the school library and steal the spirit board from their Halloween display so she could have a scary night out with her mate Amy.
It’s very generous in that sense, even if it does take the bite out of its overall horror somewhat. It’s hard to feel any lingering sense of danger when you can just put a lid on a game’s main threat like that, and it’s very easy for it to lose any kind of suspense when there’s precious little else here working to keep up the tension. Fear the Spotlight doesn’t do jump scares, you see (unless you count the creepy little gremlin lads that sometimes blink at you and shuffle about in the shadows), which will no doubt be great news for some, but it does also drain the game of any sense of dread or challenge anytime the phantom’s not on screen. It’s a horror game for people that don’t do horror games, in other words, and will likely be a bit too safe and simple for anyone else.
