Splatterhouse

1001 Video Games

The Arcade version of Splatterhouse appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Hell Mask

The "Hell Mask", (also known as the "Terror Mask" or simply "The Mask") despite looking like a hockey mask, is intended to be an Aztec sacrificial mask, like the one in the anime/manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Milestone

The arcade version of Splatterhouse, released in 1988, holds the distinction of being the first game to have a parental advisory disclaimer put on it (before id Software's Wolfenstein).

References

Supposedly the mansion in the original Splatterhouse is the mansion of Dr. Herbert West, from H.P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator.

Version differences

There are a few noticeable differences between the TurboGrafx-16 version of Splatterhouse released in the US and the original arcade (and the Japanese port). In the American version, some of the minor animations of the monsters have been removed (i.e. the severed hands no longer beckon or give the middle finger to the player, and the zombies leap out of pits instead of slowly crawling out). Also an upside-down cross that was originally a stage boss was removed. Another difference involved Rick's Terror Mask being red instead of white. This change was made possibly to avoid connections with Jason Vorhees from the Friday the 13th movies.

Information also contributed by Guy Chapman and Zovni