Phantasmagoria

1995 · Point-and-Click Adventure · PC

Overview

Phantasmagoria (1995) is Roberta Williams's seven-disc horror adventure, filmed with 25 actors and Sierra's first game to sell a million copies.

Deep Dive

Victoria Morsell plays the heroine, Adrienne Delaney, and Robert Miano plays Zoltan "Carno" Carnovasch. The actors were filmed in front of a blue screen and set into more than 1,000 rendered 3D backgrounds. A password-protected option blurs the violence.

Developer Story

Williams designed and co-wrote it, and Sierra built a $1.5 million studio in Oakhurst, California, to film about 600 scenes over four months. The budget grew from $800,000 to about $4.5 million. It took about $12 million in its first weekend and was the ninth best-selling game of 1995.

Did You Know?

Australia refused to classify it, effectively banning it, and the retailer CompUSA would not stock it.
The script ran to about 550 pages, around four times a typical Hollywood screenplay.