Thanks for replying! I actually went back an hour later and realized the game ended two frames after where I had died in my best run, so you're right about it being short enough that the FMV's don't overstay their welcome too much. I think it was more frustrating early game because exit frames weren't marked and I felt I didn't have the time to explore a frame to find the exit points without dying (And you hide the cursor during FMV so I couldn't even prepare my cursor in advance), so I died a lot (and watched the intro sequence each time as well since I didn't realize ESC skipped the intro, since it didnt work on the others). But honestly that might be the experience you want to sell, and it was overall good so I guess these are just some thoughts heh ^_^
I think you could basically leave the game unchanged by simple putting a watched/unwatched flag on each FMV and let the player jump to the next idle frame only if they've watched it AND died (including the death scene for that location).Then pixel hunting the exits is fine, and dying is just part of it, because you can quickly make up your lost progress. I know you want the game to be longer but I think the player would get more satisfaction out of expanded gameplay itself and not artifically inflating it with inconvenince. Since it's all already been shot, simply having more items per room to interact with would be a neat idea, provided I can skip to idle, since this would increase the fenetic pace by looking for the right one. Giving in game achievements for finding every death is another idea, because then at least you feel like you're still moving toward the end of the game even in death.
But the other option if skipping to idle is a no go, is to clear up the exit sweet spots (maybe just make them a little larger) and extend the idle (I'd consider adding enough time to hit each item and sweet spot at least once if you know where they are, plus a little bonus inventory time, before death state fires - that way if the player comes in to a frame fresh, they can use that inventory time for more exploration, and if they know what they're after, they have enough time to mix). You might have already done this but some players are slower than others so extending a little can help, just knowing you might overstay your welcome and hit the death state is enough to keep that pace up, even if it's a little more chill in how quickly it fires. For me an extra second would have made a huge difference, at least reflectivly that's how it feels, but it's hard to say. You could also have the first death fire at the same rate and each additional death scene/ location takes a little longer, so the player still feels like IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY MOMENT. Another idea is for every death each death idle extends by a second, so that the game curves you down to finish it, the longer you player. The illusion of random times would also increase the panic.
With the internal monologues, I misinterprete both sections because of it - I did actually get an item from the darkened area but didn't realize because there isnt any player feedback on it (that I remember) so maybe just adding a rolldown effect on the inventory after you get an item, so the player can see they've picked up something, would be good. Also, with the door FMV I'd just do a dumb 'it's locked' msg which I think fits the homage angle and also lets the player know what they're looking for to finish the game. I was kind of just stumbling blind even with the final item, thinking maybe I'd use the kitchen item by clicking during the death state xD
Sorry for the essay, I really dig the game and look forward to potentially more in the same vein, playing some good horror FMV games sounds like a dream come true ^_^