10 Horror Video Games That Deserve a Movie Adaptation

Horror video games have gained huge traction in recent years. With the advancement of programming software and the video game medium as a whole, there is a lot that can be done with games that couldn't otherwise be done with movies.

However, that doesn't mean movies shouldn't be pursued. Many horror games contain all the necessary ingredients for a spectacular Hollywood horror movie but just haven't been given the chance yet to make the leap to the big screen. But perhaps they should.

'The Forest' (2018)

In The Forest, players take control of widowed survival expert Eric LeBlanc. He is on a plane home from New York with his son, Timmy, when the plane suddenly crash lands on an uncharted peninsula. When Eric awakens, he finds that all the other passengers, including Timmy, are missing. Using his survival skills, he begins the weeks-long search to find his son. This is when Eric realizes that the peninsula is inhabited by a tribe of mutant cannibals. And that there are even more sinister things lurking beneath the peninsula's surface.

The game is a survival game primarily, where the player can build structures, farm resources, and find food and water to survive. With a unique and intriguing plotline, frightening adversaries, and lots of terrifying places, a film adaptation for this game would definitely work, especially with a planned sequel on the way.

'Soma' (2015)

Soma is a somewhat-overlooked sci-fi horror game which sees players assume the role of a young man named Simon Jarrett who volunteers for a neurological experiment. He is sedated during the experiment, and when he wakes up, he is a hundred years in the future, in an abandoned laboratory beneath the ocean, and has a brand new robot body.

Thrown into the deep end (both literally and figuratively), Simon must piece together how in the world he ended up in his position. But he is not alone. Other robots roam the facility, most of which have been infected by a strange and unknown substance, which causes them to immediately turn hostile. Like The Forest, the plot is unique, and even a little heartbreaking. Plus, the setting and the monsters in question are very rarely seen in horror movies, which would help a Soma movie stand out among the other horror films.

'Oxenfree' (2016)

Oxenfree features a group of five high school seniors who travel to a small island village for an overnight stay. There is a legend that bringing a radio to the island and tuning into certain frequencies can trigger some pretty bizarre results. The friends decide to test the myth for themselves, and accidentally tear open a hole in the space-time continuum, which unleashes otherworldly beings beyond their understanding.

With a stellar cast of characters bearing distinct and relatable personalities, as well as a touching plot, Oxenfree would be a great teen horror film. This game also has a sequel in development, set to be released in 2023.

'F.E.A.R.' (2005)

F.E.A.R. is a classic horror game that many consider being one of the scariest of all time. The story concerns an elite military special forces unit called F.E.A.R., which stands for "First Encounter Assault Recon." They're a unit dispatched whenever some sort of paranormal threat presents itself to the American public.

During a routine mission, a F.E.A.R. unit encounters a little ghost girl named Alma, who has a murderous mindset and a lust for revenge. Despite the fact that the player has weapons at their disposal, the game is still terrifying. With the game being as popular as it is, especially at the time, and being nearly twenty years old, it's amazing that it hasn't been adapted into a movie yet.

'Outlast' (2013)

Outlast is another immensely popular horror game. Despite not having a very original plot, it certainly delivers on the fear factor. You play as Miles Upshur, a journalist sent to investigate the Mount Massive Mental Hospital one night. However, as the prequel DLC, Whistleblower, shows, everything at Mount Massive has gone horribly wrong, and the patients have escaped.

Though most of the escaped patients are perfectly harmless, there is a handful of them who are incredibly violent. The game features a wide cast of adversaries, from a deranged doctor, to a man who is unhealthily obsessed with turning the player into his bride. As the plot progresses, however, Miles discovers that the asylum is more than meets the eye. It's the visuals that really make the game a masterpiece. The brutality of the antagonists combined with the terrifying environment makes it a non-stop scarefest from start to finish. It's the perfect formula for a Hollywood horror movie.

'Alien: Isolation' (2014)

Alien: Isolation is a sequel to the wildly-popular Alien movie franchise. Whilst the Alien movies star Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, Alien: Isolation features Ellen's daughter, Amanda, fifteen years after the movies, who goes in search of her missing mother.

Naturally, just as her mother did, she encounters the Xenomorphs, an alien species that is the apex predator. What it lacks in sight it makes up for in superior hearing and smell. Once the player first sees the Xenomorph, the hunt is on, and it does not end until the game does. Amanda does find the iconic Alien flamethrower about halfway through, but it isn't much help. Players are never safe in this game, which is what makes it so profoundly terrifying. It was a perfect homage to the original Alien movie, and with the recent movie installments being somewhat lackluster, the franchise could really do with a fresh revival.

'Until Dawn' (2015)

Until Dawn is a visual novel game similar to Oxenfree in several ways. For one, it features an incredibly diverse cast of characters, each of whom comes to life in their own way with their outstanding personalities. The game features a group of friends who travel to their friend Josh's (who is voiced by Rami Malek, by the way) ski lodge for a winter getaway. Unfortunately, there is a killer lurking in the shadows.

It sounds like your standard Hollywood slasher flick, but it winds up becoming totally different, as the killer proves to be nothing in comparison to the much larger threat the young adults face. The woods are inhabited by the Wendigo, a cannibalistic creature from Indigenous folklore who are out for blood.

'SCP: Containment Breach' (2012)

If you're not familiar with the SCP Foundation, it's a fictional government agency that is tasked with keeping hold of paranormal objects and entities. There is an entire database of thousands of horror stories in relation to these SCPs (Secure, Contain, Protect), which range from killer vending machines to some truly terrifying creatures. Perhaps the most famous of these creatures is SCP-173. SCP-173 appears as a giant doll or statue of some sort, but it is anything but. Similar to the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who, the creature can only move when no one is looking at it.

The game focuses on a disaster in the SCP headquarters where the power momentarily shuts down. With the darkness obscuring everyone's vision, SCP-173 breaks loose and begins to kill the people within the facility. With such a wide variety of horror stories and so much untapped potential, it's a wonder that there hasn't been a single SCP movie made for Hollywood yet. But if they were to do it, this would be the place to start.

'Amnesia: The Dark Descent' (2010)

Amnesia is another popular series of survival horror that comes from the same developer as Soma. The story takes place in 19th-Century Prussia and is told from the perspective of a man named Daniel, who wakes up in a castle with no memory. What he does remember is that something is hunting him.

This mysterious entity, known as "The Shadow," pursues Daniel constantly, and slowly, but surely, Daniel begins to lose his sanity. The only instruction Daniel has is that he must descend into the inner sanctum of the castle and kill its baron, which is where, like many horror games, it is revealed that nothing is as it seems.

'The Evil Within' (2014)

As it turns out, there's already a movie called The Evil Within (2017), but luckily, it has no relation whatsoever to the video game series. What starts as a standard slasher eventually evolves into some pretty gruesome body horror. Like Outlast, this game takes place in a mental hospital. However, the plot becomes much less straightforward as it progresses.

The game goes from chainsaw killers to mutant creatures, and though the protagonist, Sebastian, is capable of fighting, it doesn't make it any less frightening. The aesthetic alone is enough to warrant a breakout into Hollywood horror.