The Man of Medan and the Ourang Medan

You rang?

Supermassive games have finally dropped their next 'Life is Strange, but horror' experience. These games are always something of an event when they come out as you see every influencer rush to play it first. It's rather interesting for a viewer, if you have the time, as you really get a good idea of how branching these games can be. This new game, The Man of Medan, seems to borrow from the 'butterfly effect' angle of the first game by implementing results and consequences that spiral out from the smallest decisions in a manner that seems to border on random. (Seems that they have found their distinctive flair on the interactive cinematic trend.)

Although the game starts out in a manner that many consider 'stiff', (In acting and storytelling) once the spooks start up you'll easily find yourself swept away in a spectacle similar to, but much more mind bending than, Until Dawn. One of the things that sets this game apart from any of Supermassive's other experiences, however, is the fact that this particular spooky event is based on the real-life mystery of the Ourang Medan. That's right folks, we're talking about a story surrounding a genuine ghost ship. Strap in!

I always find it more interesting when we get a story that is either based on or inspired by true events. With such a foundation comes a certain air of verisimilitude that engrosses the audience with the story, this works especially well in horror settings. Just look at 1979's Amityville Horror, it's a decent movie in it's own right (if horror is your thing.) but once you learn that the featured 'haunted' house is real, along with the gruesome murder that allegedly cursed the place, things become so much more interesting. Perhaps as a consequence of the movie, the mystery of the, seemingly motiveless, 1974 murders has haunted the psyche of conspiracy theorist for decades. I've found theories that blame everything for supernatural ghosts to a secret mind-control experiment instituted by the CIA. Both the fictional movie and the real life event are propelled into 'urban legend' status due to their connection, and I feel the same may happen with The Man of Medan and the Ourang Medan.

"Enough stalling, what happened to the Ourang Medan?" Well, me, that is the question that has been on everyone's lips for the past seventy years. In the year of 1947, (Or was it 1948, or 1940? Conflicting news reports point everywhere.)  the SS Ourang Medan called into the coastguard with a distressing message in Morse. They reported the death of their Captain, their skipper and requested help to be sent their way. Before anymore details could be sent, however, the Medan went radio silent after issuing one final, chilling, message: "I die."

Obviously, such a clear call for help couldn't just be ignored, and so the coast guard called in for any nearby ships to investigate what was going on. Nearby, a small vessel known as the Silver Star took up the rescue operation and followed directions to the Medan. They found her miles off-course from the shipping lanes and drifting on the Indian ocean, seemingly unpiloted. Several attempts were made to contact the crew, but no one responded. After some maneuvering, the Silver Star's crew managed to hook up to the Medan and board the vessel, and they found the last thing that any rescue crew hopes to see, all the crew dead.

Although, that wasn't the most distressing part, that honor went to the bodies themselves. You see, none of the Medan's crew seemed to have any marks to indicate how they died, and yet all looked angry or terrified, as though in the act of fighting something off. Even the ship's dog had died with it's teeth bared, ready to pounce. And, as if to cap it all off, the entire ship stank as the bodies had already started to decompose, much sooner than they reasonably should. If ever there was a prime candidate for a story about a ghost ship, the Ourang Medan was it.

The Silver Star's crew decided that the best course of action would be to guide the ship back into land, so that the bodies could be identified, and so they roped the ships together and began guiding the Medan back to port. None of the crew wanted to stay on the Medan (Who could blame them) and so they all sat on their own ship for the process. This turned out to be a most fortuitous turn of events, however, because one sailor soon spotted a torrent of smoke rising from the Medan's hold. Thinking quick, the captain ordered for the tow to be cut and they drifted away from the Medan just before the ship exploded and then sank. Down to the depths of the Indian ocean, taking all evidence of the crew's fate down with it.

You may have noticed a little something about that tale, how much it sounds like an old sea shanty, for instance. That is because much of what happened to the Ourang Medan is shrouded in mystery and heresay, you'd be hard pressed to find any account that could be considered 'definitive'. Critics call the story into doubt over several details, most prominently of which being the fact that there never was a registration for a ship called the Ourang Medan. This is countered, however, by those who claim that the ship was part of a smuggling ring, hence why they were so far off-course. This would also help explain why the ship exploded, if it was carrying contraband, such as unsecured nitroglycerin, then they would need to need to stay clear of registration officers and/or change the name of their ship often.

But none of this goes to explain what happened to the crew itself. It seems like some sort of supernatural entity went wild on the ship, in fact, the CIA expressed interest in such a possibility in the 50's. (Which we know due to unclassified correspondence released in 2002) But the more popular theories tend to be more... scientific, to borrow Supermassive's words. (From here on I will be delving into spoilers for The Man of Medan, so abandon blog those who care!) Just like in the game, the real reason for the death's of the Medan's crew could be due to some sort of chemical leakage. The twisted faces of the crew seem to indicate that they suffered the effects of some war-era Neuro-toxin leakage, perhaps due to sea water getting into the hold. That would also make any present Nitroglycerin highly volatile and unstable.

For my money that is the best explanation for this ghost story, but with the ship itself currently residing neatly inside of Davy Jone's Locker, I suppose we will never find out. Supermassive games have pulled from an infuriatingly unsolvable mystery to kick off their 'Dark Picture Anthology', and it honestly makes me incredibly excited to see where their games will take us next. When it comes to B-Movie horror, they have been able to run rings around Hollywood, and they will only get better as long as they keep up their clever stories and mind warping narratives. Oh, and I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't cap this post off with this little tidbit: The word Ourang is Malay for "Man" or "Person", making the translation of the ship's name something akin to: "Man from Medan". Very cute, Supermassive.