“Hollywood Is Horrific”: Abubakar Salim Talks Blending Opulence and Horror in Dead Take

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Title by Surgent Studios, “Dead Take,” immerses players into an ominous, deserted Hollywood Hills manor where they seek out missing actor Vinny Monroe, who vanished enigmatically after a party. The mansion, though sinister and unsettling, boasts opulence and remnants of Tinseltown’s past glamour. The peculiar mansion embodies the harmonious blend of beauty and terror, a delicate balance that Creative Director Abubakar Salim found surprisingly achievable.

Dead Take’s Mansion Is A Liminal Space Blending The Permanent And The Fleeting

At a gathering where Game Rant was present, Salim talked about how the team behind Dead Take visualized the mansion setting as a transitional or threshold area, often associated with a sense of mystery and unease. While gameplay incorporates escape room-style riddles and blending real-life footage, the house layout itself introduces a Metroidvania-like quality to Dead Take, Salim noted. “Doors and paths open up as you delve deeper,” he elaborated, “revealing secrets, aspects, and hidden nooks that you weren’t aware of before.

Salim shared that the house depicted in “Dead Take” was partially inspired by actual mansions he had come across in his life, which have a peculiar quality: they appear modest from the exterior but are expansive on the inside. He believes this deceptive aspect contributes to the chilling ambiance of “Dead Take,” as it can be disconcerting to discover something is significantly larger on the inside. In essence, he finds this element quite terrifying and eerie as well.

The Mansion’s Design Represents The Nature Of Hollywood And Film

The “awesome magnitude” of Dead Take’s mansion mirrors the game’s central ideas: the ruthless competition in Hollywood, the ability of film and recorded media to both disclose and conceal truth, and the chilling reality that once something is filmed, it remains unchanged for eternity. Salim modeled the game’s narrative on his personal encounters in the industry, as well as those of the game’s characters such as Jane Perry, Ben Starr, Neil Newbon, and others. He detailed how the house’s architecture complements the thematic essence of Dead Take:

There’s something captivating about grandeur and opulence, a kind of spotless elegance and vastness that can be overwhelming. It towers over you. The thought – captured through films and recordings – that it persists eternally, is at once breathtakingly beautiful and terrifying because it stays with you forever.

In “Dead Take,” players engage with the remnants of classic Hollywood by solving mystery-filled escape room challenges spread throughout the mansion. These riddles open fresh areas and uncover concealed mysteries as players inch towards discovering what befell Vinny Monroe (Ben Starr), and why he vanished while pursuing his dream role.

Yet, unveiling the mansion’s hidden mysteries and riddles is just one aspect of the tale; throughout their journey, players will uncover USB drives containing snippets from movies, interviews, audition tapes, and more, reminiscent of the 2022 interactive movie game Immortality. With an application named SPLAICE, they can assemble these clips to unearth fresh insights about Vinny’s disappearance and his fierce competition with Chase Lowry (Neil Newbon) for a pivotal role that both coveted deeply.

In the game’s peculiar mansion design, which is both lavish and chilling, as well as the scattered clips within it, we find a central idea in “Dead Take”: what is once captured on film never truly fades away, but persists and may haunt those connected to it forever. The allure of Hollywood can be captivating, glamorous even, but it can also transform into a dreadful nightmare that tests one’s resilience and forces hidden truths to surface for public scrutiny.

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2025-07-25 12:35