The Cursed Tapes[1] is the seventeenth episode of Season 12 of the SMG4 series, the five hundred and sixty-fourth within the SMG4 series, and the seven hundred and twenty-first video overall to be uploaded on the SMG4 channel.
It's the final episode where Lizzie Freeman voices Meggy. The video was uploaded on May 14, 2022.
One night at Peach's Castle, Mario was calling out for Luigi, where he was nowhere to be found. He found a VHS tape on the table and played it on a VCR. The tape, which belonged to the Cool VHSs store, was an instructional video on how to play a VHS tape on a VCR. But when the third rule appeared, it warned to "BE CAREFUL, HE IS ALREADY HERE". When Mario assumed that it was another one of SMG4's memes, he decided to look for the remote control to watch TV. But upon finding the remote, he found a mummy behind the TV. Mario was spooked, and ran away from the mummy. He tried to hide in the basement, but the mummy caught up to him and tried to choke him. Mario was able to break free by sneezing on him, and ran to the room to Hazy Maze Cave, passing Meggy, who was trying to find the suitable color to paint her apartment.
As Mario locked the room, he found another VHS tape on the floor, and played it with a portable VCR player he brought along with him. The second tape showed a promotional video for Cool VHSs, until it glitched out, causing Gabe Newell's face to look frightening and the cashier having a similar face to the mummy chasing Mario. The mummy then started banging on the locked door, introducing himself as Phillip and trying to "have a little chat" with Mario. While Mario tried to prevent him from getting in, Phillip did eventually break down the door. However, Meggy arrived to kick Phillip into the portal to Hazy Mazy Cave. As Meggy was checking on Mario, Phillip escapes from Hazy Mazy Cave and smashed the main electric panel, causing the castle to blackout.
With no lights, Mario and Meggy were forced to get out of the castle. During this they encountered Toadsworth wearing a princess outfit, a radio and a scary picture. Beside the scary picture they found Luigi's cap; underneath it contained another VHS tape, which was played on the portable VCR again. The third tape showed footage from the basement's CCTV, showing SMG4 chasing a sentient bowling pin with his bowling ball and Mario doing the Club Penguin dance at 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. respectively. It was until 4 a.m. that Luigi was spotted with a Philips CD-i in his hands and then disappearing; Phillip then appeared. Phillip once again appeared behind the two again, causing Meggy to kick him into a wall. When Mario asked about Luigi, Phillip ran away causing Meggy to chase after him while Mario proceeded to shoot footage on a VHS from behind.
Upon cornering Phillip, Mario and Meggy interrogated him until he gave them another VHS tape. The fourth tape was an audio transcript of a telephone conversation of Luigi calling Cool VHSs about his Philips CD-i that he bought, which was not working. As the store employee gave him some technical support, they told him to look behind, where Luigi was heard screaming. Meggy assumed that he got attacked, which Phillip confirmed that he came to Luigi because he had bought his cursed CD-i by accident from another salesman. When they heard rumbling from the courtyard, they went and found Luigi with the CD-i, apparently being possessed by the player. When they confronted him, the CD-i transformed Luigi into a VHS monster.
The monster began attacking Mario and Meggy by shooting out VHS tapes from its mouth, and captured Meggy. To save Meggy, Mario jumped on the monster's head and inserted a VHS tape of the 1993 Super Mario Bros. film in its mouth. Its Goomba scenes caused the monster to explode, returning both Luigi and Meggy. When Meggy asked about why Luigi bought the CD-i, he states that he was told that it would change his life by the salesman. The salesman in question is revealed to be Morshu, who was hiding from them. With Phillip getting his CD-i back, everything went back to normal as the four enjoyed themselves playing Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon on the CD-i as depicted in the final tape. The tape then abruptly shifted to the four looking at the viewer while the TV went static. After that, the ending abruptly shifted to Toadsworth, still dressed as a princess from before, threatening to shoot the viewers with his revolver if his secret of crossdressing were to go out and gives a warning that they "might have to answer their front door". The tape cuts to black, and knocking is then heard.
SMG4: If Mario Was In... Splatoon: Meggy standing in front of the paint cans in the basement with the orange paint din is a callback to this episode, where Meggy had been accidentally caught in a paint can in the castle basement when she made her debut in the series.
SMG4: AREA 64: Mario defeats the main villain of the episode using the Super Mario Bros Movie like he did to Sarge in this episode.
Toadsworth breaks the fourth wall in this episode when he threatens the viewer that he "might answer their front door" if they tell anyone about his secret, which is immediately followed by the sound of a knock on a door.
This episode is a parody of the "analog horror" genre, which involves classic media like VHS tapes documenting scary events.
This is the second episode where Meggy and Mario are alone in the core action as a duo. The first one is Little Penguin Lost.
This is the first non-arc horror video to be uploaded after Revelations Arc has ended.
Luigi gives his name as "Luigi Luigi" in spite of previous episodes giving his name as "Luigi Mario" as it is in the continuity of the American Mario cartoons. It’s possible he is lying due to taking a pause before sharing his last name.
This is the last episode where Meggy is voiced by Lizzie Freeman before she stepped down from the role and Elsie Lovelock take over starting from SMG4: DO NOT ENTER onward.
Despite this, Freeman's stock voice clips would be used periodically in later videos.
Mario catching Meggy was adlibbed, and received praise for revitalizing their friendship.
MediExcalibur2012 revealed in a video that the scene were Mario catches Meggy was adlibbed, as the script didn't mention her when Luigi returns to normal.
Earlier ideas included having Meggy professionally escape or slam into the wall. These were scrapped as to not fuel fan beliefs that she's a "golden child" and to get Mario more involved, respectively.
One of the goals of this episode was to show Meggy and Mario in a better light. Many fans praised their interactions and lots of fanart followed, indicating that it worked. This would allow for more positive interactions between them in future videos, especially within the Mario Does Things series, of which MediExcalibur2012 mainly edits.
Ring: This episode is a parody of this Japanese mystery horror novel by Koji Suzuki.
Ring: It also serves as an obvious parody of this 1998 film adaptation directed by Hideo Nakata, starring Nanako Matsushima and Hiroyuki Sanada, produced by Ringu/Rasen Production Committee and distributed by Toho.
The Mandela Catalogue: The character behind Mario seen in the thumbnail is 6, also known as The Intruder, a character from the analog horror webseries The Mandela Catalogue.
SMG4 Season 15 Video 946 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 947 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 948 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 949 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 950 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 951 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 952 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 953 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 954 · SMG4 Season 15 Video 955
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