Horror is an ever-evolving genre known for its range between schlocky, mindless violence, and incomprehensible psychological horrors. Assuming you enjoy being scared, the horror genre has the most variety—everyone can find something they enjoy.
Games and film media tend to lean into classic horror tropes—jumpscares, splitting up, possession, etc.—but most memorable horror titles tend to subvert these expectations somehow. However, the technique of subverting tropes differs depending on the media type.
Unlike other genres, horror must be conveyed differently between films and games. The key here is playability—in games, you, the player, make the decisions. If you go down the wrong path, die, or get a character killed, that is your fault. With horror films, you are merely a passive observer. If you get up to get more popcorn, the characters on the screen won’t care. You do not have any effect on that world.
As an avid horror fan (and, inconveniently, a jumpscare hater), I want to dive into the specifics of what classic horror tropes work in games and films and why it is often more difficult, in my opinion, to adapt horror games into films. I will be referencing moments from classic films and games, but I will avoid spoilers if possible and alert you to one before it comes up.
JUMPSCARES
Let’s begin with perhaps the most controversial horror trope: the jumpscare.
For those unaware, jumpscares are when something suddenly jumps out at you, often accompanied by loud music or sound effects. Most good jumpscares build tension in some way before the actual scare.
My opinion on jumpscares is simple—best used in moderation. If your game/film is littered with jumpscares, they will lose their impact every time they occur. However, if a jumpscare is carefully timed, it can be a very effective way of communicating horror.
Spoilers for the Film Se7en:
In the mystery-thriller Se7en, there is an excellently paced jumpscare scene when police officers have discovered a brutal murder. The camera creeps around the officers in the darkness, the flashlights illuminating hundreds of air fresheners on the wall and the sedatives on the ground. And then we see a dead man on the bed, his lips chapped, his arms and legs covered in needle marks. He’s clearly dead, having been chained to the bed for several months. Then the man coughs, startling everyone on screen and in the theater.
This scene is set up perfectly and has such a good payoff. The man was as good as dead, given the information conveyed in simple shots. For him to “come alive” so unexpectedly makes for a great jumpscare. Plus, there are few jumpscares in Se7en, making this moment extremely memorable.
Compare this excellent jumpscare setup to the well-known game series Five Nights at Freddy’s. In most of these games, every jumpscare you get will kill you, ending your run. The atmosphere in most Five Nights at Freddy’sgames creates the suspense and tension needed to produce a good jumpscare. But when these happen every time you fail, the horror will fade. To maximize the horror in either media type, jumpscares must be used sparingly.
UNSAFE ZONES
One trope used more in games than movies is the annihilation of the safe zone. A common theme in horror games is stumbling upon the occasional safe place to rest or save the game. Similarly, depending on the game, you might find an area used for crafting or upgrading items.
When games take advantage of the player’s trust in the safe room, it makes for some great horror moments, even in non-horror games.
Spoilers for Hollow Knight:
One of my favorite games, Hollow Knight, demonstrates this very well with its bench mechanic. You can rest and respawn on a bench after you die. After a grueling journey through Deepnest, a creepy maze of suffering, you finally find a bench surrounded by some villages urging you to sit and rest. After you do that, the villagers start slowly creeping towards you. After furiously mashing the arrow keys, you realize you are glued down to the bench by webs as the villagers draw nearer.
Creepy, right? And Hollow Knightisn’t even a horror game! But these tropes work wonders in freaking players out in non-horror games too.
Even though I am sure this trope has been used in films before, it will likely never be as startling to the viewer. Once again, the issue here is playability and expectation subversion. Every game lets you save, and every game has a safe zone. Thus, you feel so betrayed when these commonalities are removed. Though movies can create a safe space and have it infested with danger, it will never feel as impactful because youare not involved.
A screengrab from the horror game The Evil Within, known for playing Debussy’s classic piano solo Clair de Lune when the player is near a safe haven.
BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL
The fourth wall is such a fun concept to play with, and horror media that use it well are unforgettable. Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho comes to mind with the killer eventually staring directly at the camera and smiling. And the game Doki Doki Literature Club is an obvious choice for anyone familiar with that game, as (spoiler alert) it focuses entirely on an omniscient character falling in love with the player.
The reason why the fourth wall break can be so terrifying is because it, once again, subverts expectations. You thought you were safe in the theater? At your desk? On your couch shoveling popcorn in your mouth?
No. The characters are looking at you.
With the fourth wall break, I think either medium can do it effectively. I find it scarier in games, especially because I am in control, but movies can utilize the fourth wall break to its full potential, too.
The poster for the TV show The Last of Us, is based on a game with the same name and was well-regarded by critics and viewers alike.
ADAPTING GAMES INTO FILM
Everyone familiar with gaming knows about the failures of live-action video game adaptations. Only recently have we gotten decent film adaptations like Detective Pikachu, the Sonicfilms, The Last of UsTV show, the animated Super Mario Bros.,and the Five Nights at Freddy’smovie, among many others that were well-received.
But it took a long time to get to this point, and most of those films and TV shows listed had to make significant changes to the original games’ stories.
Going from game to film is difficult and much harder than the classic book-to-film pipeline. It is already difficult to condense multiple hours of gameplay into a 1.5-hour movie, and there’s the additional challenge of translating an interactive medium into a passive one.
Because of this challenge, I argue that video games are best adapted into TV shows rather than movies. Even though we already have The Last of Usand Fallout, I am very excited about a horror game TV show in the future!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Horror is a diverse genre, utilizing tropes to create tension, dread, and gut-wrenching fear. Tropes must be used carefully and sparingly, and their uses largely depend on the medium used to convey the horror. The core to a game’s horror elements is its interactability, and the key to a film’s horrific moments is subverting these tropes we come to expect. I love horror of all kinds, and I am so excited to see what is next for this genre.
