Three Horror Video Games That Made it to the Silver Screen

It is not uncommon for developers to create video games based on movies. The video games industry is worth more than the film and music industries combined, so creating a hit title from a successful film makes sense financially. Over the years, we have seen video game adaptations of Aliens, Blair Witch, Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and Saw, among others, but it is relatively rare to see the reverse happen and a horror-themed video game get turned into a movie.

It is challenging for film directors to create a good movie from a video game. The structure of storytelling is poles apart for a start. Films need to be no longer than three hours long, but video games last anywhere from 15-60 hours, unveiling their story at a more leisurely pace and relying heavily on action or exploring the game’s world to plug the gaps. However, a trio of top-tier video games have successfully transferred to movie theatres and our TV screens. These are those games.

The Last Of Us

Technically, The Last Of Us is not a movie but rather a television series, but no horror game-based article would be complete without mentioning Naughty Dog’s epic adventure. The original Last Of Us video game launched in 2013 as a PlayStation exclusive. It is regarded as one of the best survival-horror games ever, partly due to its incredible story and how it delivers the script. Fast forward to today, and the HBO drama of the same name has people clambering to use their sportsbook bonus to back The Last Of Us to win every television award in 2023.

The television premiere had 4.7 million viewers in the United States on its first night, making it the second-largest debut for HBO since 2010; only House of the Dragon beats it. Within 12 days, some 22 million people had watched the debut episode! At the time of writing, only three of the scheduled nine episodes have aired, but each has been better than the previous one, leading to many critics already considering post-apocalyptic The Last Of Us to be some of the greatest television of all time.

Resident Evil

The Resident Evil video game series is one of the best-selling video game franchises ever, one that has been around since the original landed on the original PlayStation in March 1996. Take into account spinoffs and remakes, and there are around 30 Resident Evil games today.

The game lends itself perfectly to the cinema. There are zombies and genetically mutated monsters, conspiracies, lots of guns and explosions, a basic story that can be told over the course of a couple of hours and that can be told over a series of sequels. Indeed, there have been six Resident Evil movies to date.

While the Resident Evil films have received mixed reviews from critics, they are a huge commercial success. It was once the highest-grossing horror film series, the highest-grossing zombie series, and the highest-grossing film series based on a video game, thanks to $1.28 billion worth of worldwide box office sales!

Silent Hill

Ask any horror-loving gamer what their favourite game is, and it will be almost unanimously Silent Hill 2. The game is a masterpiece, a term we don’t use lightly. It has everything from a fantastic story to the ability to create suspense and then explosive, terrifying action. Honestly, play Silent Hill 2 if you ever have the opportunity.

Christophe Gans directed the Silent Hill film, which hit screens worldwide in April 2006. The psychological and sometimes brutal horror film did not live up to expectations, achieving a rating of 6.5/10 on IMDB. However, fans of the game gave the movie more favorable reviews; such is their love and adoration of the former.