While Lucasfilm are rightly associated most closely with magical action and adventure, there have been plenty of darker moments littered across their illustrious half century history, and the official Lucasfilm website delves into this as we ride the ghost train towards Halloween.
Genre-borrowing abounds in many other stories. Radioland Murders (1994) is a fast-paced whodunit set in a 1930s radio studio where a mysterious, disembodied voice forebodes the death of multiple cast and crew members. Jim Henson’s Labyrinth (1986) is a modern fairy tale, full of dark and threatening obstacles for its central heroine, Sarah (Jennifer Connolly). For the Lucasfilm Games classic Maniac Mansion (1987), creators Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick were inspired by horror flicks like Stephen King’s Creepshow (1982) and The Fly (1986) when devising their story of a group of a teenagers exploring a creepy house full of bizarre, sometimes violent denizens. That was only the beginning of fun-filled, horror-inspired Lucasfilm Games adventures, from the pirate ghosts of The Secret of Monkey Island (1990) to lesser-known adventures like early console games Zombies Ate My Neighbors (1993) and Ghoul Patrol (1994).
Years later, Lucasfilm Animation would release “Lair of Grievous” in the first season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008-20). The tension-filled story takes Jedi Kit Fisto, his former Padawan Nahdar Vebb, and a group of clone troopers on a perilous journey through General Grievous’ remote hideout (even resulting in the ultimate death of one of the Jedi). The following season of The Clone Wars included “Legacy of Terror” and “Brain Invaders,” a memorable adaptation of the popular zombie sub-genre where Padawan Barriss Offee and many clone troopers are infected by the Geonosians.
