Newest Horror Movies Based on Video Games

Not Playing Around

Video games have served as inspiration for the cinema for many years. The fantastical worlds created by game developers are intricate, wide, brimming with incredible creatures and heroes and villains. The video game industry holds a wealth of incredible stories written by some truly incredible minds, so it’s not surprising that this overflowing talent has spilled into Hollywood. Whether characters are playing in an online casino, heading off on search and rescue missions, or robbing a bank, games offer endless inspiration. While many genres have taken inspiration from the world of games, few have done so with such success as the horror genre. Let’s take a look at some of the newer horror movies that were inspired by video games.

Werewolves Within

Released in 2021, Werewolves Within is based on a game released by Ubisoft in 2016. Instead of being a straight-up scare-fest, Werewolves Within is a horror-comedy.

A snowstorm barrels into Beaverfield, a small town in the USA, causing havoc with the residents and forcing them to seek shelter in an old lodge when the power is knocked out. Strange things are happening: a resident’s dog is killed by an unknown entity, causing the tension to rise. When another resident loses his hand, one among the shelter-seekers deduces that the assailant must be a werewolf who is actually one of the townspeople. All the residents elect to head back to their homes as this seems safer since they still have no clue who the werewolf actually is. We won’t give away the ending, because then what use would there be in watching the film!

The film is more lighthearted than it sounds and uses the claustrophobic element of the blizzard, the fear of the unknown, and human beings’ instinctive distrust of one another to create its scares. There’s something to be said for developers and directors who use all elements of the characters’ personalities, the location, and the storyline to create the overall feeling of the film.

Monster Hunter

The original Monster Hunter game was released all the way back in 2004, followed up by Monster Hunter 2 in 2006, Monster Hunter Tri in 2009, Monster Hunter 4 in 2014, Monster Hunter World in 2018, and Monster Hunter Rise earlier this year.

The film version of Monster Hunter isn’t a horror in the true sense of the word; however, it does have horror elements. The one and only Milla Jovovich plays captain Natalie Artemis, a US Army Ranger out on a mission with her team. A vicious storm pulls them headlong into another world, where they find themselves face to face with the titular monsters. Her team is picked off one by one, and eventually, Artemis finds herself alone. She seeks safety and runs into the Monster Hunter. Initially, they lock horns, each convinced that the other intends to do them harm. Eventually, they realize they can work together, and the Hunter trains Artemis to defeat the Diablos (the biggest, baddest monster of them all) so that she can reach the tower that creates portals like the one she and her team traveled through and travel home. There are many jump scares in the movie and lots of monster action: horns and fangs and claws galore.

Pandorum

Pandorum the game was released in 2006 for iPhone and iPod touch just before the film came out in the same year.

This one is not for the squeamish, that’s for sure! There are definite Lovecraftian influences to be found in Pandorum if you know what to look for. In a time when humans have finally overpopulated the earth to the point of no return, humanity comes together to build the Elysium: a spaceship that will ferry 60,000 humans on a 123 year trip to a new planet where they might start again. Naturally, everything does not go according to plan. Some of the crew are woken unceremoniously from their hypersleep, leaving them half-awake with only half of their memories and a condition called Pandorum, which gives the sufferer psychosis under stress. The crew must stabilize an unstable nuclear reactor that could jeopardize their entire mission. On their search for the reactor, the crew finds the disemboweled remains of a human, and soon after, they find what left those remains behind. Things on the ship are far worse than they feared, with passengers having been awake for years and resorting to horrifying means of survival.

Land of the Dead

Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler’s Green is a first-person shooter (FPS) game that was released by Groove Games in 2005. The film version, often known as George A. Romer’s Land of the Dead, was released in the same year. This is part of the famous Night of the Living Dead film franchise that has been going strong since the 60s.

In a world where zombies are at the top of the food chain, the few humans that are left alive have banded together and set up safe outposts all across America. Outside of these safe zones, it’s every man for himself, and your chances of survival are very low. Out on a mission to scavenge for supplies, some of the “townspeople” notice zombies exhibiting intelligent behavior, which is cause for alarm. Things fall apart back in the safe zone as people resort to inhumane methods of entertainment. Tensions run high, and eventually, the situation explodes. The townspeople turn against each other, and utter chaos ensues. While things are falling to pieces inside the safe zone, the intelligent zombies have banded together to take on the human settlement…what more could go wrong?

Wrap Up

The list of great horror movies that came from video games is a long one. The movies we have highlighted here are just from recent years; why not check out the rest yourself? Remember, however real the scares may seem, a movie is just a movie…or is it?