10 Awesome Horror Video Games Inspired By Movies

As is the tradition in all creative mediums, video games are partial to pilfering ideas from the big screen, and vice versa. It’s an agreeable relationship — one that can help propel the whole horror genre’s core DNA forward in significant and meaningful ways. Like two blood-red shooting stars coalescing symphonically, these distinct art forms can help mould each other into something fresh and something new. These cultural cross-medium exchanges can lead to a commodity that's extremely invaluable: an unmistakably unique, beautifully freakish and wonderfully nail-biting experience, which is something us gore-hounds chomp at the bit to put through their horrifying paces. Sure, some attempts can be written off as eye-meltingly awful travesties — Gearbox’s Colonial Marines and VectorCell’s 28 Days Later-esque Amy spring to mind — however, there are some video games that transcend their heart-on-sleeve horror movie inspirations and use them in smart and clever ways, parlaying them into truly interesting experiences. Before I kick things off, it’s important to note that I’ve tried to keep things fairly modern here — a topic like this can easily veer off and get lost deep in the weeds, so to avoid this, I’ve decided to focus solely on games that have come out on the Xbox 360/PS3 era and onwards. Sorry Halloween (1983) on the old-school Atari 2600! With that out of the way, here are ten of the most memorable and most interesting modern horror games that were clearly inspired by the silver screen. As always, if you feel like we've left any of your favorites off, be sure to add them in via the comments section down below. 10) Slender: The Arrival (2013) Inspired by: The Blair Witch Project Thanks to 1999’s shoestring budget, supernatural horror phenomenon The Blair Witch Project, the found footage sub-genre received a ghostly kick in the ol’ derriere. It wasn’t just the cinema that felt these cultural reverberations either, but video games, too. Much like The Blair Witch Project’s eerily believable fictional legend, a huge part of the Slender mythos’s creepy antagonist, Slenderman, is that he too originated from a word-of-mouth internet phenomenon. A tall, contorted faceless man in a suit who stalks his victims in the woods before driving them insane and violently murdering them, Slenderman echoes a lot of themes, imagery and even the tone from the 1999 cinematic horror craze. The great thing is that the first release in the Slender series is a free PC download dubbed Slender: The Eight Pages, and it’s arguably just as shocking and creepy as its 2013 iteration. You really have no excuse not to check it out! Forever looming in the darkest corner of the woods and constantly hounding your every step, the Slenderman is the ultimate definition of “nope,” but in the best way possible. He. Will. Get. You. 9) Aliens Vs. Predator (2010) Inspired by: Alien Vs. Predator series, Aliens Okay, so this here’s a controversial one, but before you sharpen your pitchforks and request my head to be stuck atop a spike, please hear me out. The developers behind the classic 1994 and 1999’s iterations of the iconic game/movie/comic franchise made a third attempt at re-capturing the hollywood magic of the legendary sci-fi series and honestly, it’s a surprisingly solid Aliens Vs. Predator title. The most notable aspect is the game’s multiplayer offerings, which are a ton of fun. A few modes in particular stand out, such as Infestation, Survival and Species Team Deathmatch. Infestation is an asymmetrical slice of multiplayer goodness, which tasks a team of marines to fend off a sole xenomorph threat (controlled by another player). When a marine falls in battle, they become an alien, and so forth, until the last man is standing with his back to the wall spraying and praying in a concert of pulse rifles, smart guns and acid blood. It’s a mode that really captures those nail-biting action scenes from Aliens, with aplomb. Survival is your typical horde-mode with a xenomorph-shaped lick of paint, while Species Team Deathmatch sees three distinct teams (aliens, predators and marines) pitted against one another in all out war. Admittedly, it can be a little buggy (pun unintended) and a wee bit rough around the edges, but its atmosphere, audio design and attention to detail remains an authentic AvP experience. With a few mates in tow, Rebellion’s AvP can simply be a blast to play. THEY’RE COMIN’ OUTTA THE GOD DAMN WALLS! 8) Condemned: Criminal Origins (2005) Inspired by: The Silence Of The Lambs, Se7en A launch title on the Xbox 360, Condemned: Criminal Origins is a wonderful (read: horrible) amalgam of Jonathan Demme’s horror-thriller and David Fincher’s neo-noir chiller. Mechanically, it’s a first-person survival horror experience that cribs liberally from the aforementioned 90s flicks in tone, aesthetics and style. What’s really cool about Condemned is that it eschews the traditional first-person run-and-gun action of similar games and supplants it with a focus on taut melee combat and bullet counting endurance. That’s not all, either. Another string to Condemned’s bloodstained bow are the creepily eerie casing segments. Here, you’re tasked with analyzing the crime scenes of a variety of murder victims using an assortment of forensic tools. Footprints, fibres, fluids, particles, documents and blood must be contextually analyzed in order for you to put the various garish jigsaw pieces together and figure out what went down. Though it’s over 15 years old, Condemned still remains one of the most interesting modern horror games that’s clearly been influenced by cinema. 7) The Evil Within 2 (2016) Inspired by: The Cell, Ringu, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Both The Evil Within games are terrific, balls to the wall scare-fests, though Tango Gameworks’ sophomore effort arguably edges the series’ debut with its stronger and more personal story, and striking visual horror imagery. Blending The Cell-esque mind-bending symbolism with the haunting bug-eyed atmosphere of Ringu, The Evil Within 2 is a deft balance of Western and Japanese aesthetics and tones, with a not-so-subtle Tobe Hooper B-movie slasher flavour as icing. It’s a shame that the second part to Shinji Mikami’s monstrous third-person action horror IP didn’t meet sales expectations — to the point where a third sequel is rumoured to be off the cards — nevertheless, we’ve always got this top-notch duo of exhilarating survival horror to scratch that old-school Resident Evil itch. Plus, it’s also got some pretty decent DLC expansions, to boot. 6) Outlast (2013) Inspired by: REC, The Shining, Session 9 There’s something inherently unsettling about Red Barrels’ debut first-person psychological scare-‘em-up. Sneaking around in the dead of night with your camera’s night-vision as your only means of lighting your way through a derelict insane asylum is enough to give anyone the willies, but throw in a handful of mad, murderous schizophrenics hellbent on seeing what your insides look like, and you’ve got the fail-safe recipe for an instant horror classic. With an emphasis on tense psychological terror, as well as a pinch of good ol’ fashioned jump scares, Outlast is that rare experience that strips the player of any meaningful defence and sets you free in a terrifying maze brimming with madness, blood and guts. Yikes. Not for the faint of heart. 5) Dead By Daylight (2016) Inspired by: Halloween, Saw, A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Fans of Dead By Daylight have been treated to a wide variety of playable iconic killers from various cinematic properties, that have been drip-fed into the game over the course of its first year on the market. From Halloween’s Michael Myers, to A Nightmare On Elm Street’s Freddy, to Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to even Saw’s very own Pighead (breathe!), it’s clear that Behaviour Interactive is trying to inject some classic cinematic nostalgia into their asymmetric 4v1 hunt-em-up. And why the heck not? With a playable character roster that's this recognizable and unequivocally (in)famous, it’s hard to not at least admire how the slasher horror experience has evolved into what it is today. 4) Friday The 13th: The Game (2017) Inspired by: Friday The 13th series Similar to the aforementioned Dead By Deadlight, Gun Media and Illfonic’s Friday The 13th: The Game is a night and day difference compared to the somewhat uneven experience that was first released. Constantly evolving the core experience with a multitude of free updates, Friday The 13th: The Game’s 7v1 asymmetric murder-‘em-up is maturing nicely. With a deadlier Jason, a fresh-faced killer and A New Beginning map, a ton of balancing tweaks, new single-player missions and an engine upgrade on the way, it’s a great example of a game putting things right and listening closely to its rabid fanbase. In regards to the title’s authenticity, OG Jason Voorhees actor Kane Hodder (from the movies Part VII, VIII, IX and X) did motion-capture and 3D modelling for Jason, while esteemed original composer Harry Manfredini contributed to the eerie soundtrack. In the words of Friday The 13th’s crazy Ralph: “You’re doomed! You’re all doomed!” 3) Alien: Isolation (2014) Inspired by: Alien Though this is the second time I’ve included H.R. Giger’s seminal space monster on this list, I believe Creative Assembly’s first-person survival horror experience is a different enough beast to Rebellion’s more action-focused effort to warrant a noteworthy top three entry. By eschewing the iconic action-horror of James Cameron’s Aliens in favour of Ridley Scott’s slow-burn cat-and-mouse 1979 classic, Alien: Isolation opts for an authentically crafted love-letter to the heart-pounding sci-fi horror of the uber influential original film. Not only is the game’s crackling audio design, faithful aesthetics, solid story and stealth-focused gameplay a highlight, but it also cleverly captures the unpredictable predatory AI of a sole xenomorph threat and builds a captivating heart in mouth rollercoaster thrill-ride around it. This is undoubtedly an essential for any Alien fans out there. 2) Dead Space (2008) Inspired by: The Thing, Event Horizon, Alien Whether you’re a fan of John Carpenter’s bonafide classic The Thing or Paul W.S. Anderson’s critically maligned Event Horizon, it’s clear that Visceral Games’ 2008 survival horror masterpiece is a glorious reanimated Frankestein-esque monstrosity that owes many of its debts to a plethora of sci-fi pics on the silver screen. From the nightmarish monster designs of the deadly necromorphs, to the dark, haunting hallways of the USG Ishimura, to the top-notch writing, audio design and voice work, there’s a myriad of cinematic influences that permeate throughout the core moment-to-moment action-horror of Isaac Clark’s arduous space journey. From top to bottom, Dead Space is an undisputed survival horror classic and, like all those gruesome reanimated necromorphs that stalk you on your terrifying adventure, it deserves to be resurrected in some shape or form on current generation consoles. Come on, EA — sort it out! 1) The Last Of Us (2013) Inspired by: 28 Days Later, The Road, The Day Of The Triffids To say that The Last Of Us was solely influenced by film would do the game a disservice, as its fungi-based pandemic was also clearly inspired by a very real-life disease known as cordyceps (look it up, it’s super creepy). Nevertheless, it’s fair to say that a number of important movies helped shape its narrative-focused survival horror opus in a multitude of ways. Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel and film adaptation The Road helped to infuse Naughty Dog’s masterpiece with its bleak, heart-rending tone, while Danny Boyle’s infection flick 28 Days Later and Steve Sekely’s 1962 cinematic interpretation of John Wyndham’s plants-on-the-rampage sci-fi horror novel helped gift the game with a gritty and realistic threat that is surprisingly believable. Ultimately, there’s just so much to love about Naughty Dog’s cinematic masterpiece. From its nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat gameplay, where you’re forced to carefully approach each horrific combat encounter with your mind as well as your brawn, akin to a blood-splattered Rubik’s cube. To its beautiful yet bone-crushingly bleak narrative that gives way to some truly disturbing and harrowing reflections on the darkness of the human condition. However, most of all, it’s the game’s phenomenal storytelling, realistic characters, along with their complex relationships that really sweeten the icing on this post-apocalyptic confection. The Last Of Us is an essential for fans of both fantastic cinema and fantastic video games. And it's one of the finest gaming experiences crafted yet.