Markiplier's Iron Lung Proves How To Finally Adapt Harlan Ellison's AI Sci-Fi Classic

I don't keep up with YouTube stars, I'll freely admit. Still, even I knew who Mark "Markiplier" Fischbach was, well before he announced that he'd star in and direct an adaptation of "Iron Lung," David Szymanski's excellent 2022 indie horror game." And I definitely didn't foresee what happened next: As we all know now, Markiplier's "Iron Lung" grossed over $51 million at the worldwide box office against a production budget of $3 million, depending on the source.  That type of insane return on investment is the sort of thing that shifts all of Hollywood into a listening position — so we should not just hope, but expect, for studios to be digging around for the next big, nihilistic sci-fi horror story that can be adapted with pocket money budget. 

Well, I can save them some work and provide exactly the right title: Harlan Ellison's classic AI vs. humanity-themed 1967 short story, "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," previously adapted into a cult classic computer game in 1995.

Like "Iron Lung," the narrative of "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is apocalyptic in scope, but small in scale. Ellison's story follows a handful of human survivors living in an incomprehensibly bleak apocalyptic scenario, and given its popularity (and its disturbing relevance to today's world), it'd be surprising that it hasn't become a movie yet ... except for the fact that (1) a film adaptation that fully adapts the story would seemingly require tentpole movie money, but also (2) any studio that provided said money would then never allow the movie to be as ruthless and despairing as it has to be. What if that budget wasn't necessary, though? Because on closer inspection, Markiplier's "Iron Lung" has paved the way to finally adapt Ellison's story affordably and effectively. 

"Iron Lung," for those who haven't played the game or seen the movie yet, features a universe where the stars have disappeared from the sky, and the space-faring remnants of humanity are fending off near-certain extinction. In this hellscape, a young convict (played by Markiplier in the film) is given a mission of dubious certainty, wherein he's brought to a moon covered in an ocean of blood, welded into a death trap submarine, and dropped down within the scarlet murkiness, hoping for the best. Spoiler: There's not a whole lot of "best" in store for him.

The first time I played the video game version of "Iron Lung," I was impressed by how almost incomprehensibly grim it all is. What's more, the game's minimalist approach doesn't hinder the sense of being completely alone in a hostile reality — it enhances it. Locked in that tiny sub and peeping into the abyss with the worst camera humanity's remnants could possibly find, I fully bought into the utter hopelessness of it all. While not a Harlan Ellison tale, "Iron Lung" absolutely captures many of the same vibes in the writer's darkest works.

On paper, the film version of "Iron Lung" might have seemed like a video game movie destined to become a box office bomb. Yet, Markiplier embraced all the themes and desperation of the game, and used the low budget as a tool for creativity rather than a limitation. And here's the thing — when you stop and reread "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," it's surprising to realize just how easily it could work with a minimal budget. 

Harlan Ellison's "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" tells the tale of a malevolent AI supercomputer called AM, which has extinguished all of humanity ... except for four men and one woman. The AI keeps these five alive in a gigantic underground complex, where it toys with them in the most horrifying ways you can imagine — and a fair few ways that you probably couldn't think up if you had a dozen guesses. The end of the story is horrifying, epic, and fully explains the story's disturbing title. 

Sound expensive? If adapted straight for the source, yes: The setting of "I Have No Mouth ..." is considerably larger than the single submarine of "Iron Lung," and Ellison's tale contains elements like giant storm-making birds, vast ice caves, dream visions, earthquakes, and unimaginable body horror. 

But maybe it doesn't have to include those things. Because the actual storyline here is set way after the apocalypse has happened, and is simply about the five survivors trapped within AM, desperately searching for food. The core of "I Have No Mouth ..." isn't about epic action. It's ultimately a philosophical, terror-tinted examination of technology gone wrong, as well as human resilience, desperation, and sacrifice. As such, an adaptation that's faithful to the spirit of "I Have No Mouth ..." doesn't have to break the bank if it simply scales back the complexities of AM's grander torments. Instead of the inside of AM's underground complex being this giant CGI creation, imagine it being a smaller set of a repetitive sets — à la 1997's "Cube" — and it focusing on the terror of the protagonists while bigger-budget elements are locked outside, as demonstrated by "Iron Lung."

So, we're off to a good start here: Strip down the more expensive scenes of "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" to zoom in on the central narrative of five humans trapped inside a malevolent supercomputer desperate to torture them. Keep the body horror, keep the suspense, keep the plot the same. But what will it all look like on film? 

Well, similar to how "Iron Lung" simply ported over the look and feel of the game, this Harlan Ellison adaptation could bring over the aesthetic and characterizations from the Cyberdreams-produced point-and-click version of  "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream," released in 1995.Note that this game was approved by Ellison himself — so very approved that he actually cowrote it and even played the voice of AM. 

The game's surreal atmosphere and aesthetic is elaborate, but not expensive. Some of the creatures or wilder sets introduced by the game would be too expensive for this approach, but again, those elements aren't key to the plot. The game's overall grungy aesthetic is virtually movie-ready, easily executed on a tight budget, and very enticing for any prospective filmmaker looking to bring the story to screen.

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is the AI apocalypse film we need right now, and producing it on the cheap would allow the core themes to remain as nihilistic as they're meant to be. By using the game as a stylistic guide and approaching the story with the sense of confinement embodied by "Iron Lung," a great movie is very achievable here. 

Casting is key, of course. So is writing. The interaction between AM's voice and the five victims is central to the plot, and the movie really needs to drive home the dual aspects of the AI computer: AM is both a merciless, vengeful, Old Testament-style god and a frustrated, tormented entity who's trapped in its own computer shell despite its omnipotence. Nail these things, then get the right aesthetic, and the more budget-consuming parts of the plot can easily be replaced by less expensive set dressing. 

"I Have No Mouth ...," just like "Iron Lung," is ultimately a story about people in an impossible situation who are at their absolute wits' end. Granted, adapting this story will take a truly bold filmmaker who can work with a small budget. But "Iron Lung" proved that it's possible.