Summary
- Horror games draw inspiration from classic movie monsters like vampires and mummies for terrifying enemies.
- Games like Forewarned and Resident Evil Village feature iconic creatures from horror cinema history.
- Alien: Isolation pays homage to the Alien franchise, creating a retro-futuristic horror experience with an iconic monster.
Horror video games have produced some genuinely iconic monsters. From the Gatherers in Amnesia: The Dark Descent to the Clickers of The Last of Us, gaming has its fair share of legendary enemies. However, some horror video games have included creatures that are more widely established.
Movie monsters have been scaring audiences since the 1920s when Count Orlock first appeared in the classic silent horror movie, Nosferatu. These iconic creatures have become a part of the culture, from the tragic Frankenstein’s Monster, to blood-hungry vampires, to rabid werewolves. Many developers have been influenced by these classic movie monsters and brought these terrifying creatures to their immersive game worlds.
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Players often have to rely on their fight-or-flight instincts to survive in these games where ammo is sparse or non-existent.
8 Forewarned
Mummies & Other Horrors of Ancient Civilizations
Forewarned
- Released
- September 10, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
This fun co-op survival horror game allows up to four players to delve into an ancient Egyptian ruin. Players take on the role of a rchaeologists as they explore the dark depths, discovering hidden secrets and lost histories, while escaping the monstrous mummies that are awakened. Forewarned is a fantastic game to play with friends, with the iconic imagery and horror of Ancient Egypt adding to the mystery of the game world.
Ancient Egypt has long been a source of inspiration in horror cinema, with the most famous depictions of the monster played by Boris Karloff in The Mummy (1932) and then later by Christopher Lee in The Mummy (1959). Forewarned uses this status in popular culture to its advantage, creating a tense horror co-op experience.
7 Amenti
Delving Into a Cursed Tomb
- Platform: Microsoft Windows
- Released: 2025
- Developers: DarkPhobia Games
- Genre: Survival Horror
Amenti is another survival horror game that uses ancient Egyptian mythology as its inspiration. As mentioned above, The Mummy is one of the icons of horror cinema and was part of the Universal Monsters franchise. This classic series of movies brought creatures from horror literature to life, including Frankenstein’s Monster, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide, Dracula, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Amenti is a fun and tense continuation of this trend. In the game, players control a photographer who breaks into a tomb at night to get a picture of Pharaoh Rudamon’s remains. Soon after entering, players discover they have unleashed a terrible curse and awakened an ancient mummy.
6 The Quarry
An Immersive Tale of Werewolves
The Quarry
- Released
- June 10, 2022
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Supermassive Games
- Platform(s)
- PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Werewolves have long been a part of human folklore. Creatures that appear human but transform into bestial monsters on the full moon have been featured in literature, movies, and video games for as long as people have been telling stories. Werewolves represent humanity's inner beast. They force us to confront our animalistic natures that can too easily turn to violence.
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The Quarry is the latest in a long line of werewolf video games. This interactive narrative horror game puts players in control of a group of camp counselors at the end of the season. Stuck at camp, while trying to go home, they are hunted by something large and hungry. The Quarry uses quick-time events, where any character can be killed in numerous ways. The goal is to keep every character alive until the end. With many divergent paths, the game boasts 186 different endings.
5 Still Wakes The Deep
An Immersive, Memorable Body Horror Game
Still Wakes the Deep
- Released
- June 18, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- The Chinese Room
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Set in the 1970s, Still Wakes The Deep follows a shady electrician, Cameron "Caz" McLeary, as he hides out on an oil rig, after fleeing the police. As strange monsters appear from the deep ocean, the player must use stealth and solve puzzles to escape the unleashed horrors.
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Still Wakes The Deep is an homage to the body horror classics of the 1980s, most notably John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). In the movie, a group of scientists in Antarctica are cut off from the outside world and are hunted by a monstrous life-form that mimics its victims' appearance. Still Wakes the Deep takes the isolation, paranoia, and gory body horror of the film, creating a memorable narrative horror experience.
4 Resident Evil Village
Bringing Classic Monsters to the Established Franchise
Resident Evil Village
- Released
- May 7, 2021
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR2, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Resident Evil series is arguably the most famous video game horror franchise in history. Known for its zombie enemies in previous games, Resident Evil Village took a different turn, with many of its monsters inspired by classic movie creatures. From the wolfman-like Urias to the vampiric Dimitrescu Daughters, Resident Evil Village continues many Hollywood horror traditions.
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Most famously played by Lon Chaney Jr. In The Wolf Man (1941), the iconic monster influenced many of the Lycan enemies and the boss, Urias, in the game. Meanwhile, the Dimitrescu Daughters are very reminiscent of Dracula’s Brides, famously depicted in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
3 Fatal Frame
An Unnerving Haunted House Game
Fatal Frame
- Released
- December 13, 2001
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Koei Tecmo
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation (Original), PC, Nintendo Switch
Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) made an instant impact on the movie-going public. Their haunting visions of tortured vengeful spirits were genuinely unnerving and stand as some of the scariest movies ever made.
In 2002, the Fatal Frame series brought the imagery of Japanese horror to the video game world, with its subsequent sequences becoming classics of the genre. Fatal Frame follows Miku Hinasaki as she explores the haunted Himuro Mansion in search of her brother. The game is considered one of the scariest of all time, with ghosts such as Crawling Girl and Girl in the Well being inspired by Sadako from Ringu.
2 Resident Evil 2
Run From the Unstoppable Monster
Resident Evil 2
- Released
- January 25, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Capcom
- Genre(s)
- Horror
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
While Resident Evil is most known for its zombie enemies, the series takes influence from numerous horror sources. In Resident Evil 2, players are soon chased by the unstoppable monster, Mr. X, whose appearance is highly inspired by the classic monster from Frankenstein.
First depicted on-screen by Boris Karloff in Frankenstein (1931), the huge, slow-moving monster instantly became an icon of cinema. Later, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh, Robert De Niro plays the tragic monster, whose appearance seems a major inspiration for Mr. X.
1 Alien: Isolation
A Perfect Companion to a Horror Classic
Alien: Isolation
- Released
- October 7, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
The Alien franchise featires one of the most iconic movie monsters in horror history. First appearing in Alien (1979), this strange biomechanical-looking creature terrified audiences around the world.
Alien: Isolation follows the original movie, with players controlling Ellen Ripley’s daughter, Amanda, as she searches for her lost mother. Arriving at the space station Sevastopol, Amanda is soon hunted by an unstoppable monster. The game lovingly recreates the retro-futuristic aesthetic and claustrophobic terror of the original movie. Players must use stealth and crafted items to avoid the monster that actively hunts the player throughout. Alien: Isolation is one of the best survival horror games available, and is a must-play for fans of the genre.
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