There’s a video game for everyone, literally, and horror movie fans are no exception. With game developers working 24/7 to keep up with demand, we’re seeing iconic horror cinema mined for ideas. From Hitchcock’s Psycho and Romero’s Day of the Dead to Nightmare on Elm Street and The Invisible Man, the genre has found a new platform to thrill and entertain.
Horror films getting into bed with the gaming industry is not a new relationship. Fans of Alien and Aliens might remember games based on those movies being released as far back as the early 1990s for arcade machines and the tape-loading Commodore 64. There was even a Friday the 13th-inspired action-adventure for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum released in 1985. Two years later, for the same platforms, Frankenstein got an outing too.
Jump forward to 21st-century gaming and you’ve got some huge favourites throughout the 2000s when Nintendo and Sony duelled for supremacy. More recently, Friday The 13th: The Game and Alien: Isolation were among Den of Geek’s top 25 horror games based on scary movies, which you can read here.
Even alternative options such as casino gaming have followed this lead. Inspired by the popularity of movie-to-game titles such as Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4, which was 2018’s best-seller with Sony shifting 3.3 million copies within three days of release, developers have sought to recreate movie thrills within their online slot titles, which enjoy instant recognisability.
NextGen’s Psycho, for example, which is one of a huge range of slots available at major online casino WinningRoom, can send chills down your spine just at the sight of the Bates Motel. Click here to experience undoubtedly one of the best examples of casino gaming being inspired by a horror movie. Its success is, in part, thanks to the use of footage and sounds from the original movie. This enhances the effective visuals that offer unique thrills as you play.
Others that have gained popularity include the five-reel, 30-pay line slot game based on A Nightmare on Elm Street. Aliens also continues its love affair with the gaming industry with its own version of classic slots, while old black-and-white favourites The Invisible Man and The Mummy can also be found at many online casinos.
Keeping people coming back to gaming requires innovation and imagination. But it also needs familiarity – people want to know their expectations are going to be met. With mainstream gaming titles and online slots based on familiar pop culture like horror movies, these games not only stand out, but are likely to be remembered and returned to as well.
Horror movies might not always get the critical acclaim they deserve, but there isn’t a genre out there that can boast such an enthusiastic or dedicated fanbase. Jordan Peele’s Get Out reminded us quite recently – with its Academy Award nomination, which you can read more about here – that horror has plenty to offer both as art and entertainment. Therefore, it’s no surprise to see the genre transcending the silver screen to feature in some of our favourite games.
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