We’ve heard it said many times that “Hollywood is out of original ideas”, and I feel that way myself looking at the string or reboots, reworks and sequels coming from the mainstream.

There are some filmmakers out there who are tapping into a some new material, thanks primarily to video gamers and YouTubers.

Video game movies aren’t new, but I’m not talking about the massive franchises like Nintendo’s Mario, Resident Evil, or Legends of Zelda. I’m referring to the smaller, shorter games that are sometimes creepy atmospheric puzzle quests, or even simple jump scare factories.

As far as mainstream goes, the first Five Nights at Freddy did pretty well, although the Freddy lore and universe has spread way beyond the original “wait in the office to be killed” game from it’s origin. Still, it did show that you can make a decent movie based on the simpler game concept. It wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it was original and fun.

This year, however, the lesser known games have taken over, and produced some very, very successful.

Exit 8

The Japanese psychological thriller, Exit 8 is getting plenty of well-deserved attention. The film was released for film festivals and in Japan last year where it won a handful of awards and broke some box office records. It hit general in the U.S this month, and is already a huge success. Critics and viewers love it. Exit 8 is based on a video game where you walk around the same hallways over and over. You are trying to make it through eight times around to reach the exit without getting kicked back to Exit 1. If everything looks fine in the hallway, you keep pressing on. If you see an anomaly, you turn back. Easy, right? Nope. These anomalies and can be anything from a misplaced poster, to creepy faces hidden on the ceiling, to weird noises to…well you get the drift. The game is simple, eerie, sleek, and anyone who has played it knows how frustrating and addicting it is.

And, yes, it made for totally new material for filmmakers:

They are expanding on the story, of course, but it is still very familiar to players of the game.

Iron Lung

Another example is completely independent movie based made by one of the most successful YouTuber gamers (and a personal family favorite of ours), Markiplier (Mark Fischbach). The 2022 game is another simple and creepy concept. You play a convict trying to navigate in small nasty rustbucket submarine through a sea of blood trying to find resources to help what’s left of humanity. I cannot play this game, because it sends my extreme claustrophobia into overdrive.The movie is good, though.

When I say “indie film” on this, I mean it. Markiplier financed this movie completely on his own, not even using a Kickstarter type campaign. He wrote the adaptation himself, starred in it, directed it, and edited it. Even if the film did okay, pulling it off at all is impressive. Yet, it did more than okay. He spent about $4 million on it, and it made more than $52 million when it was released a the beginning of the year. Well done, sir.

There are a couple of other films of this genre popping up as well.

The Mortuary Assistant

The streaming service Shudder released this original film in March based on the 2022 video game of the same name. You are a new mortuary assistant taking an overnight shift to get the bodies prepped for burial or cremation. Seems straightforward…and already scary enough knowing you are all alone with the bodies. Oh, yeah, and there’s a demon possession problem at this particular establishment, so have fun.

Backrooms

Coming May 29 is the movie adaptation starring Chiwetel Ejiofor of a web series by Kane Parsons. Parsons will also direct this film. The film is based on Parson’s series and creepypasta concept of “Backrooms”. The idea has gained gaming popularity as it has been adapted into some video games. Most notably the recent Escape the Backrooms. The concept, if I am explaining it right, is sort of a beyond-reality space existing with endless threats and expanses. They are accessible by different means such as somehow escaping reality, or just stumbling upon them. There are several YouTube short films out there ready to creep you out on this one, but the forthcoming film is the first feature adaptation.

It looks extremely unsettling and unnerving, and I’m intrigued.

Even while many of the bigger films out there are in a remake and sequel rut, you have to hand it to the horror fans, YouTubers and and gamers for finding some new creepy stories to tell.