By JT Koch / Spill Editor
Popular content creator Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) has recently made a record-breaking movie called “Iron Lung,” based off of the indie game developed by David Szymanski. The movie, directed by Fischbach, released on Jan. 30 and became the number two movie in North America in its opening weekend.
The film roughly spent a day in the number one spot, before briefly being removed from the listings entirely.
The film was budgeted at 3 million dollars and broke the record for the most fake blood in a horror film. The previous record holder, with 70,000 gallons, was the 2013 “Evil Dead” remake. However, “Iron Lung” now holds the record with 80,000 gallons. The record accurately fits the film, since the movie famously takes place in an ocean of blood.
The plot of the movie managed to be very intriguing, even with little knowledge about the game itself. It takes place during an event called the “quiet rapture,” which is a black void that’s slowly expanding across galaxies dimming and extinguishing stars.
Cut off from the rest of the galaxy, a group looks for answers to the rapture on this moon’s blood ocean. Due to the blood, they can only send a submarine into the ocean to find answers.
Inside that sub, named SM-13, is the convict, known as Simon. His mission is to go into the blood ocean and search for anything interesting, using the submarine’s camera to take pictures. If Simon finds something deemed interesting by the captain, then he’ll be rewarded with his freedom.
The movie works well with using the unknown as its element of horror. For the majority of the film, the camera is inside the sub, only showing that interior and intentionally leaving a lot of questions about what is going on outside. The movie has a small callback to the original game by having Simon search around on a map and photographing certain points. Weird-looking plants and rocks are really all viewers see until Simon spots a skeleton.
After Simon found the skeleton, one of the most interesting parts of the early movie happens: Simon finds out the camera is actually a very powerful X-ray. The movie only addressed the X-ray through Simon’s guilt of harming the crew and leaves the horrific realization to the audience.
The best part about it is that it makes sense: it is not possible to see through blood regularly. However, X-rays are commonly used in medical applications to see bones. Putting two and two together, the audience begins to ask if the bones may have once belonged to a living creature.
Subtle unknown questions like this added to the alien tension of the blood ocean. Another example was Simon’s hallucination he suffered after the attack. The confusion of the speaker being broken but still playing sounds, blood filling and dripping in, liquid build up on the sides of the submarine, weird notes in the submarine, a hidden computer and supplies stash—the speaker specifically plays into the isolation of Simon’s situation.
He’s stuck at the bottom of the blood ocean, cut off from his captors that treated him like a criminal, in an alien space that threatens his life, all while understanding that he is running out of oxygen and will surely die in that submarine. It was great writing to see from two small creators in such a massive industry.
The designs of everything were perfect, creating a mix between the game and real life. The set of the SM-13 was reminiscent of “In Space With Markiplier,” but managed to feel elevated enough to belong in a movie theater. Certain shots managed to show the level of care and creativity Fischbach put into this film. The change in the design of the monster really added to the creepy vibe of the pictures that Simon managed to take.
Overall, the movie was made for Markiplier fans and those willing to watch a smaller-budgeted indie horror movie. Without spoiling the movie, there is still so much more to talk about with Simon’s crime, Eden and SM-8. However, all of that is better left to personal interpretation, in the end it was a fun use of two hours.
