5 Classic Horror Properties That Deserve the Hellraiser: Revival Treatment
Nothing takes me back to my formative years quite like a campy yet deliciously disturbing horror film. The 80s and 90s were filled with incredible horror properties that captured our imaginations and brought legendary monsters to life through the increasingly lost art of practical effects. Surprisingly, the popularity of decades-old horror films hasn’t waned. Fans are still hungry for the original hair-raising films that traumatized Gen Xers and Millennials. Some of these franchises are still appearing on big screens to this day. Just a couple of months ago, Evil Dead, a franchise that began in 1981, returned in all of its gruesome glory with Evil Dead Burn. Michael Myers stabbed and slashed his way through a modern trilogy, and Leatherface is going to step back into the spotlight with a new feature film from Obsession director Curry Barker.
Many of these decades-old horror franchises have made their way to the current generation of gaming hardware through asymmetrical multiplayer affairs. Evil Dead: The Game, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Friday the 13: The Game, Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and most recently, Halloween: The Game have all given players a taste of 80s nostalgia in a virtual environment. But the truly unfortunate aspect of each of these titles is that they will not outlive the servers. With little to no single-player components, the life of these games has a ticking clock. Friday the 13: The Game has already met its metaphorical demise due to an expired license. This year, Saber Interactive, the developer behind Evil Dead: The Game, changed the script and unleashed Hellraiser: Revival, an entirely single-player adventure set in the torturous, labyrinthine dimension of its namesake. It’s a title that faithfully realizes the world fans of the film series are familiar with. It makes me wonder what other classic horror properties could follow in Hellraiser: Revival’s footsteps. Let’s look at a few prime selections.
5. Maximum Overdrive
In 1986, Stephen King decided enough was enough. Why let other filmmakers adapt his written work into feature films when he can do the job himself? Maximum Overdrive is a film written and directed by the famed horror novelist based on his short story “Trucks.” It was also his only directorial project. Following this incredibly ridiculous film, King must’ve decided he’d better stick to what he’s best at. That didn’t stop the film from eventually garnering a cult following over the years. Starring Emilio Estevez (The Breakfast Club, The Mighty Ducks), the movie follows a handful of survivors at a truck stop who find themselves trapped after a passing comet brings all machines to life; that includes a horrifically aggressive semi-truck with a Green Goblin face on its hood. Violent machinery coming to life didn’t stop with automobiles; everything you can imagine, including vending machines, became lethal sentient beings bent on human extermination.
If a game centered around this absurd premise sounds bonkers to you, then I must point to Killer Klowns from Outer Space, an equally ridiculous premise that garnered the attention of a development studio. Besides, there are plenty of stories and gameplay that can be explored with a single-player experience set in the world of Maximum Overdrive. Stephen King’s name would only serve to boost the game’s notoriety. Imagine a Mr. X Resident Evil 2 scenario where you’re relentlessly stalked by a killer automobile. It could be a real thrill-ride, no pun intended.
4. Tremors
Some of you might be old enough to remember Kevin Bacon’s tangle with the wild subterranean species known as the Graboids in the 1990 film Tremors. These unscrupulous monsters made for one solid creature feature that spawned six sequels and a single-season television series on the Syfy network in 2003. Sure, a handful of these sequels were the dreaded “direct-to-video” B-movie slop of the 90s and early 00’s, and the television series wasn’t much better. But it stands to reason that Tremors was a notable franchise with many fans who still hold the original film in high regard to this day. The series features ordinary folks in a desert setting who must contend with these vicious worm-like monsters. Do they come from space? Are they mutants? No. They’re native to planet Earth. After being dormant for millions of years, they chose modern times to emerge and bask in the sun while snacking on a few humans.
A video game is almost a no-brainer here. These monsters are perfect antagonists for a survival horror, single-player adventure. Though, due to the nature of the films, a co-op experience would be welcome as well. Throughout the course of the franchise, the lore behind the Graboids has expanded, leaving plenty of room for a game to explore this series with a new generation of horror fans.
3. Fright Night
Jerry Dandridge is watching, and he might very well be your vampiric neighbor. In 1985, Fright Night presented a seemingly ordinary teen, Charley Brewster, with the possibility that not only is his neighbor evil, but quite possibly a vampire. The film was given a killer remake in 2011, with Colin Farrell starring as the intimidating neighbor in a modern setting. Jerry seeks to rock Charley’s world after figuring out that the teen is on to him and knows that he is behind sudden disappearances in the neighborhood.
Both films hint at a larger world of vampiric activity that could be explored in an original video game. Jerry turns many of Charley’s friends and neighbors into vampire allies, making him a force to be reckoned with. Over the years, we’ve had plenty of vampire games, including the latest, The Blood of Dawnwalker. But shifting away from a medieval past and introducing an urban residential setting for a vampiric horror title would be something new altogether in the gaming space. Using the monstrous trademark designs of the vampires in the film and Charley’s growing homemade arsenal, a Fright Night game could be as intense as the films that would inspire it.
2. The Howling
Werewolves are a true horror favorite of many. With Robert Eggers’ Werwulf coming soon to theaters, lycanthropy will be in the spotlight once again. So why not take a look back at one of the 80s’ most prominent werewolf films, The Howling. The film follows a couple who go to a countryside colony at the recommendation of their therapist for treatment. Unbeknownst to them, a werewolf plague is spreading and horrifically affects them. Werewolves have had their place in video games in the past. Famously, players could become werewolves in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Supermassive Games also developed an interactive horror game centered around the creatures in 2022’s The Quarry. Despite this, werewolves aren’t a common horror antagonist in video games.
Any game based on The Howling could balance the horror with satire. The Howling, believe it or not, offered a meta-commentary on New Age treatments and classic horror tropes prevalent at the time it was released. And werewolf transformations and violence were striking key components of the original film. Introducing a new setting where a secluded township or colony confronted a similar problem with a human protagonist caught in the middle would be the perfect premise for a video game.
1. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Let’s be honest, we have an obsession as a society with killers and slasher figures. Ever since Michael Myers made the genre famous in John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), killers that stalked and horrified their prey have become a mainstay in horror. While Michael wasn’t the first to do it by any stretch, he absolutely popularized the genre. Just about every key slasher villain has made their way into a video game in recent years. But one is conspicuously missing. Freddy Krueger, the killer equipped with metal claws who stalks victims in their dreams, has yet to receive a modern video game treatment. A Nightmare on Elm Street posited that no one is truly safe from a killer who lives in their dreams.
A single-player video game where players are haunted in their dreams and must find a real-world solution to a nightmarish problem could be the perfect reintroduction for Krueger. Freddy is capable of controlling the dream world and throwing all sorts of calamities, monsters, and obstacles in a victim’s path. And unlike any other slasher villain, Freddy is capable of changing the rules, forcing his victims to adapt or die. Any potential developer could toy with players as they attempted to balance the real world and the dream world, wondering if they ever truly escaped to the safety of consciousness. With the right team behind such an endeavor, A Nightmare on Elm Street could be one of the most creative survival horror games on the market.
At the end of the day, horror movies often make a great basis for video games if executed properly. Just like Resident Evil or any other great survival horror game, movies in the same genre thrive on isolation and vulnerability and can inspire many new projects. Hellraiser: Revival is a reminder that classic horror properties have more to offer than just being another option for asymmetrical horror. Whether it’s the Graboids hunting victims beneath a desert surface or Freddy Krueger twisting and bending a surreal dream world, these franchises have concepts that would translate to great gaming experiences.