10 games that should be films

1. American McGee’s Alice

One of my favourite games ever. Released in 2000, the gameplay and graphics are rather outdated now, but the concept, story, design…everything else about it, is fantastic. After the death of her parents in a house fire, Alice is put into a mental asylum. 17 years old, she returns to Wonderland to find it a twisted and violent place – due to oppression from the Red Queen. Yeah, Burton’s new Alice has a kinda similar premise. But in American McGee’s take, Humpty Dumpty smokes cigars, the Mad Hatter has taken apart the Dormouse and the March Hare’s bodies in order to do clockwork experiments on them, and one of the game’s opening sequences takes place in a house full of demented children. It’s a darker approach to the tale than has ever been put into film, but it’s exactly the sort of twisted fantasy I want to see.

A film of this has been brought up many times, and has seen connections to Wes Craven, Marcus Nispel (who directed the 2003 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake) and Sarah Michelle Gellar, who would’ve played Alice. But I’m glad all of those have dropped.

The success of Burton’s film will likely shove this even further back on the backburner, but I want to see the characters and places of McGee’s Wonderland updated into live-action fanasticalness. A creative team pulling out all the stops in the art department. It’d be a brilliant thing to behold. A sequel to the game is currently in the works, which could possibly re-spark interest in a film… Time will tell. Alice’s story has been re-told enough times to make pretty much anyone sick of it, but American McGee’s world is different enough to have maintained my attention for years. One last trip down the rabbit hole?

Honourable Mention: Resident Evil / Silent Hill / Siren

I didn’t want to count these in the “actual” 10, because these three Japanese horror series have all seen their own films already. Resident Evil has been made into three films, with a fourth in production (in 3D, no less), Silent Hill came out in 2006, with a sequel in development, and Siren was made into a Japanese film a few years ago.

In the case of Resident Evil, Hollywood’s essentially just made itself an action franchise in which each film garners enough profit to produce another. But I haven’t got a sense of suspense or horror from the movies at all. It is after all, arguably easier to create tension in a game, due to the fact that you’re in control. Those undead, moaning guys are after you. But the lack of horror in the films is still surprising, considering the scary nature of the source material.

I’d suggest looking to Resident Evil 4 in the case of RE. I’m not saying this specific game should be adapted, but it should definitely be used as a reference point. Its dreary, woodland setting made for a perfect feeling of isolation and insecurity, and the bosses were often terrifying – particularly El Gigante (pictured above), and Del Lago, the lake monster. The latter made for an amazing Jaws-like sequence and is the sort of thing that could be translated well to screen. I don’t know why the films so far have seemingly forgotten about fear, which is a key aspect in the games.

Silent Hill is a strange case. While Christophe Gans’s film isn’t quite as action-oriented as the Resident Evil movies, it still didn’t really capture the fright and loneliness that is present in the games, particularly in the second one. Creatures like the nurses and Pyramid Head were utilised briefly, but not in a way that made you peek out at the screen from between your fingers. Again, while playing, you’re exploring the place by yourself, and there is a lonesome feeling that cannot be 100% recreated in film, but it could still make for a genuinely horrifying movie experience. Gans seemed to go too far the other way and fill his movie with much more characters and “noise” than should be present in such an atmospheric setting. Personally, I’d love to see Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage) tackle Silent Hill.

I can’t really speak about Forbidden Siren, because I haven’t seen the film – but considering it hasn’t seen much of a release (on DVD or in theaters) outside of Japan, it doesn’t seem to have been incredibly successful. The darkly red presentation of the town in the game is wonderful though, the spaces are claustrophobic, and the shibito make it difficult to sleep at night.

In the case of these three games (well, the first two anyway – Siren just needs a film that gets a worldwide release), films should revisit them without feeling the need to over-compensate for the small amount of characters by creating too much action. Allow the viewers to feel alone and afraid! The unique settings, plots, and creatures would make for some fantastic horror.