Games could be more scary than films!

[mcj metroid]

I really think that games have the potential to be more scary than films!games like resident evil have lost their way.4 wasn't scary lets face it!I thought the original silnet hill and re2 were terrifying.maybe it was my young age but don't u think with the improvment of graphics and sound games can be more likely to have you piss u pants!

[Minihobbsch]

I actually think that as you grow older, you find more and more less scarier than when they were when you were young.

[triforcemario]

I don't really find cinema scary anymore because they now use so much fucking CGI, its no longer scary, yet movies like Alien, which was done on a low budget and had no CGI, was scary. Its the same with movies, now, its so realistic, it isn't scary.

[mcj metroid]

I don't really find cinema scary anymore because they now use so much fucking CGI, its no longer scary, yet movies like Alien, which was done on a low budget and had no CGI, was scary. Its the same with movies, now, its so realistic, it isn't scary.
yes my friend sayd the exact same thing!I mean was anybody really scared of the ring or the grudge!no,but the exorcist was terrifying for it's time.i think games will get more frightening,looking at bioshock and even sadness might have it's moments!:bouncy: Old skool horror

[BeerMonkey]

every time i see a scary film now i find it more funny then scary...dunno why

[mcj metroid]

I pissed myself laughing at the grudge!i just think everything with sarah michelle gellar(did i spell it right)is hilarious.Trying to scare the shit out of my friend is priceless.Also sex noises work.i can't take buffy seriously either.Does anyone else find it more fun to take the piss out of bad serious films.Did the same with war of the worlds!

[Minihobbsch]

every time i see a scary film now i find it more funny then scary...dunno why
That happened to me ever since I saw Scary movie 3. It's kind of wierd now.

[mcj metroid]

the only really good scary movie was the first!The the third was ok with an awful ending and a stupid rap battle.the second was far too disgusting to laugh at and the fouth sucked altogether!

[Noodleman]

I think stuff where you dont actualy see the bag thing has the potential to be a lot scarier then when you do see it. If it wasnt so shit the Blair Witch Project for example had a lot of potential, you dont know whats stalking them through the forest you're left to imagine it for yourself and the human mind is a lot more warped and twisted then anything you will ever see on the screen. Another example would be the Evil Dead you never actualy see the Evil Dead and yes I know they arent really scary but they aren't meant to be. Jaws as well is another example right up until you see the shit plastic shark it has you on the edge its creepy.

But yeah I have yet to see a film that has geniunly creeped me out and I think ive seen most that are alegadly really scary :P

[Eenuh]

As a kid (or just at a younger age) I used to be able to watch scary movies and not really get freaked out by them too much. Strangely enough though, I can't really get myself to watch any scary movies anymore (and if I do, I need a pillow close so I can hide). And don't even start on games like Resident Evil; I stay far far away from those.

[Fresh]

A game can only be scary if you beleive the story and can relate to the character. Then by putting yourself in his (her) shoes you can become more scared than if it were a film.

[EchoDesiato]

Anyone that played Eternal Darkness will remember the bath tub scene, that scared the shit out of me. No other game or movie has been able to scare me that much, I swear, I think my heart skipped a beat. Games like Resident Evil aren't that scary, except for a few cheap "boo!" moments. In creepy Resident Evil rooms I can get a feeling that resembles fear though. I only played RE4 and RE:DS, so I don't know about the other entries in the series.

[Bren]

iv always thought games were scarier, not many films make you jump, but many a time has a game made me jump. But films are better at doin gross stuff,

[Blue_Ninja0]

Anyone that played Eternal Darkness will remember the bath tub scene, that scared the shit out of me. No other game or movie has been able to scare me that much, I swear, I think my heart skipped a beat. Games like Resident Evil aren't that scary, except for a few cheap "boo!" moments. In creepy Resident Evil rooms I can get a feeling that resembles fear though. I only played RE4 and RE:DS, so I don't know about the other entries in the series.

Oh that scene!! I was no clue, nothing. No one could expect it. Pretty damn scary.
And RE4 is not half as scary as the past ones. The only scary things from RE4 that i remember are:

the moving bag inside that container, when the regenerators jump from the floor to your neck for the 1st time and when a mutated wolf jumped on leon's face from nowhere (i crapped myself, only 5 seconds later i realised i was being atacked by a new enemy)

[Supergrunch]

Anyone that played Eternal Darkness will remember the bath tub scene, that scared the shit out of me. No other game or movie has been able to scare me that much, I swear, I think my heart skipped a beat. Games like Resident Evil aren't that scary, except for a few cheap "boo!" moments. In creepy Resident Evil rooms I can get a feeling that resembles fear though. I only played RE4 and RE:DS, so I don't know about the other entries in the series.
That didn't really scare me... I guess I wasn't really paying attention. I was like "huh... what was that noise... Oh! she's dead in the bath!"

[Konfucius]

I think we aren't as easily scared by games anymore because what worked once, maybe works a second time but then it becomes more an more normal. You get used to "scary games" and the tense atmosphere and such.

This happened to me in film too. I watch RE when I was 14 and I think I jumped 4 times or so and was at the edge of my seat. Some month ago it was on TV and I fell asleep, it couldn't scare me in the slightest anymore.

[Gaijin von Snikbah]

I had this idea that if games were so realistic you could no longer tell the difference between real life and the game, there could be massive damage to your brain.

[EchoDesiato]

I had this idea that if games were so realistic you could no longer tell the difference between real life and the game, there could be massive damage to your brain.
Must... resist...to make....giant enemy crab...jokes...uhh

[Ashley]

I pissed myself laughing at the grudge!i just think everything with sarah michelle gellar(did i spell it right)is hilarious.Trying to scare the shit out of my friend is priceless.Also sex noises work.i can't take buffy seriously either.Does anyone else find it more fun to take the piss out of bad serious films.Did the same with war of the worlds!

Wow. Next to you I'm downright linear.

I didn't find the Grudge scary, I found the suicide at the start unnerving, can't really remember much of the film. Except my friend jumped when the doctor or whatever is walking and slips on the stairs, which made me laugh.

And yes it was spelt right (ignoring the lack of capitalisation on the names)

[The Bard]

Games have always been scarier than films. No film has ever scared me, but REmake (and most other GC RE's) scared the hell out of me, as did Silent Hill 2 etc.

[Aimless]

I think the reason that movies aren't scary anymore is because most 'Horror' movies these days shoehorn in CGI and graphic imagery in the place of artistry.

As for games, there aren't many that scare me so much I can't continue: Silent Hill is menacing, clad in foreboding; the Resident Evils are a ghost train, a linear sequence of 'boo!' moments. Neither really get in my head, though: the games are very much seperate from me.

I've never finished System Shock 2. I doubt it would affect me in the same way now, but at the time of its release I shelved the game after just a few hours play as it made me feel too vulnerable. Listening to the logs left by dead crewmen — ghosts in the machine — and slowly discovering just how things came to be as they were. Hearing the taunts of the Many as I hid out of sight, their beckoning chorus demanding I join them. Demands intertwined with pleas: "Kill me!"

Yes, pronouns. That's what makes games scarier than movies: they were after me, they spoke to me. Not some gun-totting space marine, not another staple American teen. The way the story ended was in my hands, and they were shaking.

BioShock is going to be amazing, and this time I'm determined not to give in.

[kiwikid]

I remember that scene in eternal Darkness - a flatmate was watching me play that and it was broad daylight and we both nearly fell over and yelped like a couple of girls. Very unexpected.

[Shorty]

The only movie to have scared me that I can remember was Event Horizon, although I was a lot younger when I saw it. Games used to scare me a bit, even games without the intention of scaring you like Tomb Raider II, things like enemies jumping out of nowhere with grenade launchers with a sudden musical crescendo - or giant sharks suddenly bouncing into view causing you to panic and swim like crazy. Never been scared by "horror" themes in games, only SURPRISE! moments :P

[Atomic Boo]

I get scared at movies and games really easy. I must be a whimp.
And i'm a ghost. Something's wrong there.

[Zoot]

bath tub scene
I just relived that scene.

Eternal Darkness is the only horror game I've ever played and I think I'm going to leave it at that.

[Ginger_Chris]

The scaries film was the "IT" the adaptation of the book by Stephen King. I know can't look at a clown without getting creeped out. Its not that scary once you pass 15, but i saw it when i was 8 and it seriously scared me. The book is also petty scary, but the fact film adds the whole visual element makes it worse.

Back to the thread title, I think that scary games are much scarier than scary films when done correctly. The whole interaction element makes things much scarier. Alien the film was pretty scary (mainly due the ultra-realistic alien suit, far better than any CGI), but the first level of Aliens vs Predator seriously got to me, The rest of the game was "scary", but he fact i took everything at my own time, and the "actions" were mine, the way i played it, made it so much better.

I think in games and films, when they try too hard to be scary, it just comes off funny, or unrealistic. The best type of scary is when things get under your skin, or pycologically creep you out. Scaryness like than can occasionally creep you out weeks after the film. Cheap scares like zombies jumping out at you or over the top amounts of gore just dont work that well.

[Zell]

I haven't ever really been scared by any game. The only film ever to freak me out was The Shining. As a 21st century teenager, all the exorcist did was make me laugh.

[Zombie_Fan]

Horror movies and horror games don't scare me. The only thing that scares me is watching some one really get killed.

[Supergrunch]

Well I think there's a difference between making you jump (which a lot of films do) and actually being scary. I think games have more potential to actually disturb you than films, but both should be able to do it. Not having seen/played many horror films/games, I've yet to come across something that genuinely scares me.

Edit: Actually, Eternal Darkness came close, providing that I played it in the middle of the night.