Summary
With the remakes ofSilent Hill 2andUntil Dawnreleasing, gamers continue to see how cinematic horror games have become since their rise in the 90s. Arguably, horror is one of the most cinematic genres in gaming thanks to certain games being influenced by famous horror movies.
Whether it’s through the evils that characters face or the aesthetic or even the story’s framing device, many horror games have tried to look and sound like watching a horror movie. Some even take it so far that they successfully become as famous as the movies they take inspiration from while providing a worthwhile gaming experience.
From the momentThe Evil Withinstarts, it looks and feels like a movie, even featuring a letterbox on the screen at all times to simulate the look of a movie in widescreen. Then there are the horrors that Detective Sebastian Castellanos endures, each feeling like a love letter to horror movies of the past, mixing sci-fi, supernatural, and psychological horror all into one.
The Evil Within emulates the vibe of many 2000s horror films, such as the fast-paced editing and gore of James Wan horror movies with enemies such as a chainsaw-wielding brute that hangs his victims on chains akin to Leatherface fromThe Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Combined with strong third-person shooter gameplay, The Evil Within quickly became a modern classic.
The Quarryisa title made by Supermassive Gameswho also madeUntil Dawn, where the player must make choices to guide characters along a horrifying story. The choices do matter and can lead to a happy ending or a bad ending for different characters, with some memorable death scenes that warrant replaying to find them all.
WhereUntil Dawnfelt like a modern horror movie,The Quarrygoes all out in replicating the old VHS movie quality look of the 80s. It even features multigenerational recognizable horror stars Lin Shaye, Ted Raimi, David Arquette, and Lance Henriksen as a bonus for horror movie fans.
Rather than simply outrunning killers and monsters,Dead By Daylightbecame a pinnacle of the asymmetrical horror genre, allowing one player to take control of a killer. With its unique lore,Dead By Daylightpays homage to many horror movies in the past, with The Trapper resembling Jason Voorhees and The Legion resembling Ghostface.
Each of their original killers is inspired by different movies of the past, which is half the fun in using them in online multiplayer matches. However, the fame and success ofDead By Daylighthas resulted in iconic movie characters joining the roster,including a playable Xenomorph, Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Hell Priest, and Leatherface, just to name a few.
One of the biggest inspirations for the originalSilent HillwasJacob’s Ladderas revealed by creator Akihiro Imamura, which also dealt with the main protagonist experiencing horrors created by trauma and regrets. The moviealso features multiple alternate endings, which has become one of the most famous aspects of theSilent Hillgames.
The mist enveloping the town inSilent Hillis reminiscent of John Carpenter’sThe Fogand the twisted yet gory Otherworld harks back to movies like Clive Barker’sHellraiser, with characters mutilated by barbed wire and monsters resembling the Cenobites and their chains. These horror movie elements would continue to be a staple in the games, including the latest remake ofSilent Hill 2.
With the premise of a group of people landing on a spaceship to fix it, only to be victims of an alien plague,Dead Spacetakes notes from multiple sci-fi horror movies. The dark and dreary ship design of the Ishimura feels like it was lifted from the Nostromo in Ridley Scott’sAlien,relying on atmosphere and sound designto torment the player as much as the monsters.
In many ways, the 2023 remake of Dead Space is superior. Isaac Clarke explores the ship, he has to contend with Necromorphs, corpses that are mutated into alien organisms, using claws and tendrils to attack their prey. They look and sound like they belong in John Carpenter’sThe Thingand the result is a survival horror game that brings together the best elements of the original trilogy.
There was a time when found footage horror movies were everywhere, fromBlair WitchtoAs Above So BelowandOutlastis arguably the best attempt to replicate that genre in video game form. A journalist sneaks into a mysterious asylum and becomes the victim of the monstrous inmates that now roam it.
The only tool at the player’s disposal is the camera, which has a night vision function. This helps with the immersion infeeling like a found footage movie, especially since there is no way to fight enemies. All that can be done is running and hiding, which makes for intense sequences that made the game so successful that it spawned an expansion DLC and two sequels.
After so manyAliengames tried to replicate James Cameron’sAliens,Alien: Isolationgoes back to the style of Ridley Scott’s originalAlien. The result is a game that is now an official sequel to the first movie, one that was as beautiful as it was haunting thanks to its nearly perfect visual replication of the film and the advanced artificial intelligence that made the Xenomorph learn.
That same feeling of claustrophobia and being trapped in a space station with the perfect organism made Alien: Isolation feel more like a sequel to Alien than the actual sequel. It would even bea major inspiration forAlien: Romulus, which borrowed many ideas and elements from the game.
Similar toThe Quarry,Until Dawnis an interactive horror drama thatforces players to make choicesthat could progress the story. However,Until Dawnand its 2024 remake started it all with its deceptively simple story and characters mixed with clever twists, beautiful visuals, and gory kills that gamers loved as a playable movie, so much so that it is becoming a live-action movie in 2025.
Until Dawnborrows from many horror movies, includingFriday The 13th,Saw, and even Stephen King stories. The characters became the gold standard for Supermassive Games' style, with even their best characters in other games struggling to matchUntil Dawndue to them being famous archetypes but with just enough of a twist to make them memorable.
