Greetings, and welcome back to October Horror Fest! Today, we venture into the world of one of my personal favorite series of all time, regardless of it being horror. As you guys know, I LOVE my big budget horror films, but sometimes it’s good to step back, and look at the community those films create. Just like the OG Horror Fest, I’m taking a step into the world of online horror. Without further ado, sit back, relax, turn off the lights, grab some Candy and Popcorn, and let’s review…
The Mandela Catalogue – Overthrone & Vol.1 (Restored Edition)
Overthrone is one of the first uploads in the series, both in continuity AND in upload order. This story is VERY important to the overarching series, and I HIGHLY recommend checking the series out. Our episode shows an animation of the biblical story of the Angel Gabriel. In the Bible, Gabriel brought the news of Jesus Christ being born to Mary and Joseph. In the animation, we see Gabriel, telling the people of Nazareth that Christ will be born. However, NOT everything is as it seems. Immediately, the tape begins to glitch, which caused me to JUMP the first time I watched this series.
Our tape continues, as a VERY robotic voice tells the story of Mary. Gabriel once again appears to Mary, and his face HORRIFICALLY glitches. His face is then covered by a black box, and as Mary asks what the good news is, Gabriel begins to speak in a distorted tongue. If you have your captions on YouTube while watching this, we see Gabriel give a string of binary code. (One of the things I fanboy about when it comes to this show is that the creator, Alex Kister, is SO good at using YouTube to his advantage). Once translated, the binary reads as follows. “I am the one true savior. I must reverse the delusion. Joseph is next.” In the next scene, it is the dead of night. Joseph is sleeping in bed, as Gabriel appears in the window. He speaks, in his hushed, horrific voice, saying that he will fool the shepherds. He will discover their greatest fear, and he repeatedly tells Joseph to WAKE UP…
In one of our closing shots of the video, things really begin to ramp up. The film becomes completely black and white, with distortion playing in the background. Two shepherds gaze up at the sky, to see Gabriel. His face is completely blacked out, as he gives one of the most haunting speeches in analog horror history. “Do not be afraid, my dear shepherds. I have great news. I am your true savior. I know everything about what makes you human. I know what you love. I know what you dread…”. Gabriel’s face glitches ONCE again, into a completely distorted monster… In the next scene, we hear soft crying, as the image of a barren desert appears on screen, completely devoid of color. In one of my FAVORITE details from the entire series, if you have your captions on as the scene transitions to the desert, an excerpt from Dante’s inferno appears. In the excerpt, Dante expresses his horror at being face to face with the Devil himself…
Big, BOLD red text appears in the sky, as it seems Gabriel (dubbed the “False Gabriel” by the Mandela Catalogue fanbase), speaks. He says that he fooled the weak minds of the shepherds, and deceived them. After the text is over, white text appears, completely in lowercase. The unnamed narrator says that he is bound by chains, and is forced to walk the endless abyss. He calls out for God, asking for help…
THAT IS THE END OF OVERTHRONE! Now, you may be asking, what in the WORLD just happened? Being an avid fan of the series, I have my own theories. I HEAVILY recommend watching the series for yourself, or the analysis videos uploaded by one of my favorite YouTubers, Wendigoon. They are amazing! The most important thing to come out of this episode, which sets up the entire series, is this. Most likely, the Mandela Catalogue takes place in a world where Jesus Christ has been “overthrone”, prompting the Devil to control the world. How he does this, THAT will be explained shortly… (I also understand why anyone would be put off the series because of views of “sacrilege”. I understand this totally, as a Catholic myself. However, as the series goes on, the religious aspect is used as a backdrop for the horrors taking place outside of it. I highly recommend formulating your own opinion!)
Now we head into The Mandela Catalogue Volume 1, Restored Edition! (The Restored edition is the canonical remake, which took the place of the original volume 1. The original V1 is now viewed as an alternate timeline of events) (Also, heads up, Volume 1 is split into four tapes, all equally important!)
Volume 1 begins with a short clip from the 1925 Phantom of the Opera movie, where a woman asks “Monsieur, who are you?” The man smiles, as our video cuts out, and brings us to Tape 1! We begin with the logo of the United States Department of Temporal Phenomena, a fictitious department that was made by Alex for the Mandela Catalogue. However, it is one of the COOLEST things ever. The screen lights up with text and music, as a digitized voice talks about a threat called “alternates” (AKA one of the most influential and famous online monsters). The voice says to stay home and stay safe, and says that an alternate looks JUST LIKE YOU. In any scenario, if they look “wrong” (body parts missing, all the good stuff), RUN. The voice says that the Alternates use psychological warfare as well. But, if you are in trouble, follow the “THINK” principle.
T – Tell an authority figure about your encounter.
H – Hinder the Alternate’s movement.
I – Identify the threat level.
N – Neutralize the Alternate (if safe to do so).
K – Know your place in reality.
The screen then flashes to several images of distorted humans (SO CREEPY), and Tape 1 ends.
We begin Tape 2 with a call between two friends, Cesar Torres and Mark Heathcliff. Cesar says that his mom may have “seen something” in their house, and she fell. Cesar is rushing her to the hospital, and asks Mark to come to his house to turn on his security cameras. Mark is VERY creeped out about the idea, but decides to do his friend a solid anyway. We see a flash on the screen saying that the CCTV footage was taken for “evidence”, as we spent a solid but absolutely horrific two minutes just staring at various cameras around the house, ALL pitch black. We see a face appear on the shed outside, and once the camera pans back to the hallway, we see the door wide open. As the door opens, a face obscures the camera’s view, as we cut away…
We see our next piece of “evidence” on screen, being a notebook titled “Reassurances”. In the book, Mark writes the following. “It followed me home, Cesar. I do not want to see what is on the other side. But it has been days, and nobody has come to help me.” In the next scene, we see the absolute torture Mark has been put through. Mark records through his camcorder, as an Alternate is inside of his home, trying to coax him to come outside of his room. The voice of the Alternate glitching terrifyingly, as Mark finally has enough. He opens the door, and the Alternate appears, maniacally laughing at Mark from the dark. Mark screams at the creature, and shoots himself in the head, ending his life. In one of the darkest, most horrific scenes in analog horror EVER, the date of “Sep 15 92” in the bottom left corner changes into the words, “Bad Decision Mark”. We see the Alternate in the back begin to change shape, as we see Mark’s face, covered in shadow, staring at the camera…
The next tape begins, as we hear an educational tape from the Mandela County Police department. The first three procedures the Department goes over are very simple, Law Enforcement Emergencies, Fire Emergencies, and Medical Emergencies. However, EVERY vibe of calm is erased from the video as we get to procedure four, known as an “encounter”. The text states the following. “Do not help a caller reporting a home intrusion. No matter how frantic their screams are. Calmly “reassure” the caller that help is on the way. End the call when they stop responding.” Our tape continues with a medical examination of “M.A.D”, also known as Metaphysical Awareness Disorder. It is on the rise by 95%, and is classified as “exposure to verbal information that is not desired to be known”. The rate of suicide of M.A.D patients is a disgusting 97%. However, the remaining 3% are able to “reverse the delusion”. A way to prevent M.A.D is to avoid religion (hmmmmmm, where have we seen this before?”)
With just five minutes to go in this masterpiece’s first episode, we enter into tape 4, which becomes one of the most important tapes in the entire series. On a T.V., we see the “Toddler Stress Assessment Video”. The tape instructs parents to place their child before the screen, and monitor their reactions to various stimuli. The first module is simple, with birds chirping, babies crying, and a lullaby. However, the second module, the second module is VERY, VERY different. It begins with a clip from the original Nosferatu movie, and since it is so old, it is VERY creepy. The second clip is from a classic T.V. show. However, the third clip is where it gets REAL. It is a childhood picture book written by a four year old MARK HEATHCLIFF. It is titled “the scary night”. The young Mark recalls being scared at night, and trying to get to his mom’s room. However, before he can, he sees a “scary room”, filled with darkness, and a “scary knocking”. Mark illustrates this as well as a child can, before he says one of the most chilling lines in the episode. “Almost at Mommy’s room, then I saw the man in the corner”. Mark illustrates the man, depicting a smiling man inside of a dark hoodie. Mark finishes the book as all children do, with exclamation points, as we see one more clip…
The clip is from the 1929 Mickey Mouse cartoon, The Haunted House. (Yes, this cartoon is VERY real, and VERY unsettling at times.) A cloaked, dark ghostly figure jumps into Mickey’s room. Mickey begins to back away, and the figure puts a spindly hand on their hood. The SECOND before they remove it, we hear a knocking on the door. On the screen, is a horrific 3D illustration of the cloaked man Mark described. Next to him are the words, “an intruder”…
THAT WAS THE FIRST TWO EPISODES OF THE MANDELA CATALOGUE! Guys, I know these were VERY confusing to follow at times, but that’s why I think diving head first into the FREE series on YouTube is an amazing idea! It is SO good, and has so many diverging plotlines. It is also diverse! The story we tackled in “overthrone” is NOTHING like “vol.1”, and that is what makes it amazing! It evolves so quickly, and I recommend giving it a watch. I hope you all enjoyed! And remember, ALWAYS REMEMBER, know your place in reality…
