Like That Horror Game? Watch This Horror Movie!

By Mark Delaney,

We're deep into the month of October now, which means more and more people are getting into the Halloween spirit. With that comes a renewed focus on horror movies. If you're stuck scanning your Netflix queue over and over or staring at the rentals on the Apple store not knowing which horror movie to watch, let us be your guide through the macabre, the dark, the spooky, and the creepy — not necessarily in that order. Below you'll find a list of horror video games and the movies that accompany them quite nicely, like candy corn and the garbage can. If you have more horror movie or game suggestions, be sure to clue us in too!

If you liked playing Silent Hill, watch Jacob's Ladder

If you know a lot about the creation of Silent Hill, you probably know this 1990 psychological thriller was a key inspiration for it, and though the stories ultimately play out quite differently, there's enough in common, particularly with some imagery and themes, to warrant a look from any longtime fan of Konami's likely dead horror series. One scene in particular is famous for having inspired the video game series according to the original dev team. If you appreciate Silent Hill's murky and mysterious setting, Jacob's Ladder will feel right at home.

If you liked playing Dead Rising, watch Dawn of the Dead

This is the most obvious connection on the list. Whereas with other games we could've drawn more obvious parallels to various films, we didn't, but in this case we had to. That's because Dead Rising is basically the video game adaptation of Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead, which is a zombie movie from the seventies about a group of survivors trying to outlast the plague in a mall. There's no Frank West, though it does start in a newsroom. If you prefer a movie a bit more contemporary, the film was remade 15 years ago by Zack Snyder and it's widely regarded as one of the better remakes ever done. A lot is different between the two, but the classic zombies-in-a-mall setup remains there.

If you liked playing Dead by Daylight, watch The House of the Devil

We could've gone in many directions with this one, but we decided to appeal to the bygone era of horror movies from the seventies and eighties in a way Dead By Daylight does too. The game is full of famous slashers as DLC, but they all stem from decades ago. The House of the Devil, by renowned horror director Ti West, is a modern movie made to feel especially old and the crew does a hell of a job to that end. From set design to camera grain to dialogue, it all feels authentically from the past, much like the Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, et al optional villains in Behaviour's 4v1 horror slasher.

If you liked playing Remothered: Tormented Fathers, watch The Silence of the Lambs

This suggestion comes less on the basis of plot and more because Remothered's protagonist looks oddly identical to Jodie Foster, who of course starred in the all-time classic Silence of the Lambs. This suggestion could maybe work the other way even better. As most genre fans have surely seen Hannibal Lecter's finest hour, maybe it's time to check out a recent under the radar horror game this Halloween.

If you liked playing Outlast, watch V/H/S

Found footage horror was invented by the likes if The Blair Witch Project, but it's been one of the leading styles in the genre ever since Paranormal Activity. Outlast even borrows that style for its modern classic horror series, and if you like that, you should check out V/H/S. It's a series of short stories, all told through found footage style, and each one is uniquely different from the rest. One of them flips the usual sexual predator role on its head while another deals with a vacationing couple who is being invaded at night. They're all quite harrowing and if you've become tired of the style, this might be the one to breathe new life into found footage horror for you.

If you liked playing Left 4 Dead, watch 28 Days Later

It's missing the light humor of Bill, Zoey, Francis, and Louis, but in many other ways 28 Days Later is the peanut butter to L4D's jelly. They both feature the new era zombies that can sprint and it's obvious L4D was inspired by the Cillian Murphy movie from a few years before. It's a bit of a modern classic in its own right, so maybe you've seen it already, but if you're lacking the co-op partners to jump into Left 4 Dead, this movie is a good replacement.

If you liked playing Friday The 13th: The Game, watch It Follows

Paying homage to the unstoppable slashers of old while deftly conveying a theme worth exploring (that we won't spoil), It Follows is one of the best horror movies of the past decade (Editor's note: it is my number one favorite, in fact). If you appreciate the way Jason Voorhees and other masked killers like him just never seem to relent or stay down, It Follows takes that trope and turns it into something poignant without sacrificing the scare factor.

If you liked playing Alan Wake, watch Mr. Jones

The connections here are hard to state as overall Mr. Jones just has the same mood as Alan Wake, so it's something you kid of have to see for yourself. It helps that the main characters sort of look like Alan and Alice too, and a whole bunch of the movie takes place in the woods. We know Alan Wake has long been a fan favorite on TA, so we wanted to be sure to include this one as it's much more underappreciated than pretty much anything else on this list.

If you liked playing Dead Space, watch Event Horizon

This is another one where the connection is quite clear. Similar to how Jacob's Ladder often gets cited when people talk about Silent Hill inspirations, the same is true for Visceral's space horror and Event Horizon. A desolate spaceship full of dark corners and people losing their minds, what more can we say without spoiling it? Not much, but trust us that if you liked Dead Space, Event Horizon should be right up your alley.

If you liked playing OXENFREE, watch Honeymoon

Young people realizing something really weird is going on is a common trope in the genre, but both OXENFREE and Honeymoon slow-play their plots in ways that are very satisfying and where they end leaves you with more questions than answers. Such a proposition is often seen as annoying, but if you're among those who like to let the mystery linger as it does in OXENFREE, Honeymoon is a great watch.

If you liked playing Amnesia: The Dark Descent, watch The Others

The first few hours of the original Amnesia are drenched in truly fantastic ghost story vibes. While the story there eventually goes in another direction, The Others makes for a great viewing if you are still chasing the early atmosphere of The Dark Descent. This Nicole Kidman vehicle got a lot of buzz when it was new, but it's since faded into the background. We watched it recently and think it still holds up, especially if you love the candlelit creepiness of Amnesia.

Be sure to suggest more horror movies — or games for that matter — to the rest of the community!

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Written by Mark Delaney

Mark is a Boston native now living in Portland, Oregon. He has written for GameSkinny, Gamesradar and the Official Xbox Magazine. He runs the family-oriented gaming site Game Together.