The horror genre has seen many transformations over the past 100 years, andhorror movies of the 21st centurycontinue to alter the genre. In addition, pop culture continues to be shaped by scary films, new and old, including the gaming industry.
Many of the most beloved and appreciated franchises, likeResident EvilandSilent Hill,would not be the game-changers they are without the inspiration of classic horror films supporting them. So while these horror games are their own entity, it’s fascinating to see how they take the best bits from their silver screen ancestors and adapt them into a brand-new format.
6Resident Evil: Inspired By Sweet Home
Known in Japan asBiohazard,Resident Evilis often cited as the first survival horror game. Created by Shinji Mikami and Tokuro Fujiwara, the franchise centers around the antagonistic Umbrella Corporation, who develop the T-virus as part of their bioweapons research. This virus inadvertently leaks into the world, infecting humans and turning them into zombies. But theiconicResident Evilfranchisewouldn’t be what it is today without a little-known Japanese horror,Sweet Home.
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Released in 1989 and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa,Sweet Homefollows a film crew exploring an abandoned mansion haunted by a poltergeist. The spirit terrorizes the team, using its shadow to burn and dissolve bodies. A video game of the film developed by Capcom was released around the same time, designed by Fujiawara. Four years after the game’s release, Sony and Capcom were thinking about a game to bring to the PlayStation console. “Conversation turned towards the idea of launching an original franchise,” Fujiwara toldDen of Geek. “The basic premise was that I’d be able to do the things that I wasn’t able to include inSweet Home.” The game was initially designed to be a remake of theSweet Homegame, but morphed into whatResident Evilis known today, replacing poltergeists with zombies.
5Silent Hill: Inspired by Jacob’s Ladder
Silent Hillis a survival horror anthology series created by Keiichiro Toyama, with each installment following a different character. The first, released in 1999, follows Henry Mason, who comes across a cult while trying to find his adopted daughter. The 2001 followup,Silent Hill 2,follows James Sunderland, who is searching for his missing wife in the town of Silent Hill.
There are more games in the franchise, but these two games solidified the gameplay, art style, and world-building thatSilent Hillis known for. Both use psychological horror as an inspiration, particularly the filmJacob’s Ladder.InSilent Hill 2, James Sutherland is based on Jacob Singer, a veteran dealing with PTSD from the Vietnam War in the film.Jacob’s Ladderwas a significant inspiration for the game’s creator andSilent Hill’slead programmer Akihiro Imamura. They even recreated the movie scene whenJacob is transported on a gurneyand can’t distinguish reality through James inSilent Hill 2.
4Outlast: Inspired By Quarantine
Released in 2013,Outlastis one of themost immersive horror games. Gamers play as Miles Upshur, an investigative journalist exploring a psychiatric hospital full of patients out to kill.Outlastis played from a first-person perspective, with no health bar or means of attack. Set entirely in the dark, players have to rely on the night vision of Miles’ camcorder, creating a creepy found footage effect like its film influencesRECandQuarantine.
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RECis a Spanish found footage horror film, as is its American remake,Quarantine.Both stories follow a reporter, cameraman, and firefighters entering a building whose occupants are infected with a virus that bears a violent resemblance to rabies.
3Little Nightmares: Inspired by Spirited Away
The platforming horror gameLittle Nightmaressees players control Six, a nine-year-old girl wearing a yellow raincoat. The player explores tries to escape The Maw, an iron, submarine-like vessel. InLittle Nightmares, Six comes across frightening creatures that she can’t attack and must sneak past, much likeOutlast. The Maw is designed to be a “dream of where all the worst things in the world could be left to rot,” as Tarsier Studio’s Dave Mervik toldGamingBolt.
Little Nightmareswouldn’t be the game it is withoutthe timeless classicStudio Ghibli’sSpirited Away. The film was one of the main inspirations behind the game, as lead designer Dennis Talajic toldThe Hollywood Reporter.Studio Ghibli’sSpirited Awayhas a similar vibe toLittle Nightmares, sharingmany visual comparisonsand story beats. Instead of trying to escape The Maw, ten-year-old Chihiro finds herself trapped in the spirit world of a bathhouse which she must escape to save her parents.
2The Evil Within: Inspired By Inception
The Evil Withinis aphoto-realistic horror gamereleased in 2014, directed by one ofResident Evil’screators, Shinji Mikami. Gamers play as Sebastian Castellanos, a police detective sergeant investigating a mass murder at a hospital with his partner Joseph Oda, police officer Oscar Connelly, and junior detective Juli Kidman. After hearing a high-pitched noise at the hospital, the four find themselves trapped in a nightmare world and have to find a way to escape by battling disfigured creatures in an ever-increasingly confusing (and terrifying) world.
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Of the many films thatThe Evil Withinwas inspired by, Mikami toldIGNthatInceptionplayed a major role in the development of the first game. “For the first game, we were greatly inspired byInception. I wanted the backgrounds to fold in on themselves drastically like they do in the film,” he explained. “But the background team felt that the idea was too hard to implement, so we dropped it.” However, players can still feel its influence in the confusion and mind-bending reality that the characters are presented within the game.
1Until Dawn: Inspired By Psycho
Released in 2015,Until Dawnis different because the game lets players take control of eight characters stranded on a mountain. The goal ofUntil Dawnis to survive the night until they’re rescued at sunrise. It’s an interactive game where the player must make life-or-death choices that result inmany gut-wrenching moments.
Until Dawntakes inspiration from various horror films to create a slasher movie in game format. By using a multitude of horror tropes and other ideas, the game’s director Will Byles and the development team were able to construct a playable slasher flick. A lot of the tropes explored in horror films andUntil Dawncame from Alfred Hitchcock’sPsycho, which Byles argues as being the film “where modern horror began.” Byles considersPsychoto be “an early proto-slasher with many of the subsequent genre tropes being born here,” as he toldPlayStation Blog.
