I grew up playing survival horror video games and being disappointed by most of their film adaptations. However, that hasn’t stopped me from getting excited about Until Dawn heading to the big screen. I doubt anything will live up to the experience of the beloved game co-written by Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick. However, I am eager to see what this movie retains from the game. With all of this in mind, I set out to do something different with this week’s streaming guide. Instead of me spitting horror game adaptations that I love at you, I decided to check in with Rotten Tomatoes.
The site has a list of the 55 highest-rated video game adaptations, and I was a little surprised by the top five. I was even more blown away by where one of my favorite two horror adaptations on the list landed. We’ll get to that soon enough. This streaming guide goes out to all of my gamers who grew up playing nightmare fuel and are still waiting to see some of those stories on the big screen. Grab your staticky walkie-talkie and follow me to this weird, foggy town. I promise it will turn out fine…probably.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (dir. Johannes Roberts)
Where You Can Watch: Starz
This origin story explores the secrets of Raccoon City and the Spencer Mansion. This film dropped in 2021 but throws the plot back to 1998. It also serves as a reboot of the franchise that aimed to stay closer to the source material. This might explain why it ranks higher with the audience than the critics on Rotten Tomatoes. After all, we’ve begged for years to give us something that gets why the Resident Evil games remain that girl. So, while it’s sad to see Milla Jovovich’s Alice leave, it was awesome to finally get Leon, Claire, Chris, Jill, Ada, and even the dastardly Wesker in Raccoon City together. We can argue all day about whether this action horror video game adaptation belongs in this top five list. However, I’m just glad someone remembered the gamers when writing this one.
Silent Hill (dir. Christophe Gans)
Where You Can Watch: Pluto TV
A woman takes her adopted daughter Sharon to the town of Silent Hill, hoping to cure her of a mysterious illness. However, on their way to the strange town, they get into a violent car crash that separates them and forces the woman to fight her way through strange creatures and cultists as she searches for Sharon. As someone who played every Silent Hill game available on the PlayStation 1 – 3 consoles, I live for this adaptation. It captures the purgatory vibes, sense of dread, and confusing mystery perfectly. It made me feel like I was watching a demo of the next video game instead a film. So, I am beyond happy that Christophe Gans has returned for Return to Silent Hill. If it is half as twisted as the first film, then it will be worth the long wait. It’s one of the movies I am still looking forward to this year because I miss this freaky little world.
Five Nights at Freddy’s (dir. Emma Tammi)
Where You Can Watch: VOD
A security guard with a secret agenda starts working at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. However, during his five nights on the job, he discovers the eerie truth about the pizzeria and its animatronics. This PG-13 adaptation of a wildly popular video game had all the makings of a cool film. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop gave us the coolest big-screen iteration of these creatures we could ask for. We had the joy of seeing Matthew Lillard back in our genre and even dropping a nod at Scream. However, I feel like I watched a different version of Five Nights at Freddy’s than everyone else did. I respect what it did at the box office, and I know nostalgia is a powerful drug, but I do not know what the people get from this one. It is a strong reminder that every movie has an audience, which is pretty cool.
Resident Evil (dir. Paul W. S. Anderson)
Where You Can Watch: Starz
A special military unit must fight a supercomputer and hundreds of zombies after a laboratory incident goes wrong. We should all love that this became an action horror franchise led by a woman. Milla Jovovich is awesome and deserves all the flowers for leading six films in this deadly universe. However, as someone who played these video games while still a fetus and saw this movie barely out of diapers, I was salty about this adaptation. Now that I have healed, I appreciate that my friends who did not religiously play all the Resident Evil games enjoy this one. That’s why I’m shocked it’s in the top five on the Rotten Tomatoes list. I’m even more surprised that it took the number two spot.
Werewolves Within (dir. Josh Ruben)
Where You Can Watch: AMC+ and Shudder
A new park ranger arrives in a small town right as the paranoid townsfolk start to suspect there’s a werewolf among them. As a lover of werewolf films, I know how rare it is to get one that’s this damn good. This Mishna Wolff script, directed by Josh Ruben, was also the first time many of us FINALLY saw Sam Richardson in a leading role. It is pure cinema, from the chaotically fun ensemble cast to the gnarly deaths. This clever video game adaptation stands out from the rest of the pack at every turn. I wholeheartedly agree that Werewolves Within deserves the top spot. This werewolf-murder-mystery-whodunnit-horror-comedy is one of my comfort movies. This film is easily one of the best to leap to the big screen. I have never played the actual game, but I fear that when I do play, it won’t be as fun.
Until Dawn creeps into theaters on April 25, 2025.
Did you also grow up playing horror video games like it was a full-time job? Do you also have strong opinions about film adaptations of those games? Then we should chat on Bluesky.
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