Popular horror video game The House of the Dead is getting the movie adaptation treatment from Resident Evil director Paul W.S Anderson, and the concept art alone is enough to scare our socks off.
Horror helmer Anderson has signed on to write and direct a new film adaptation of SEGA‘s zombie survival game, as reported by Deadline. First introduced in 1997, The House of the Dead is a first person light gun shooter game where players take on the role of government agents assigned to kill biologically engineered zombies and creatures. The franchise has since spanned over six games and a remake in 2022 as well as many spin-offs.
Alongside the announcement, Sega has released a bunch of concept art images, and by the looks of it, the movie is set to be just as scary as the game. In one image, which you can see above, a hoard of rotting zombies approach the camera in what looks to be a lab. The other image, which you can check out below, shows an otherworldly-looking demonic creature with razor-sharp teeth wielding a weapon. Something tells us that this won’t be a run-of-the-mill zombie movie.
The House of the Dead has already been adapted in 2003 by Uwe Boll which acts as a prequel to the game, followed by a sequel in 2005. But the new movie is actually based on the third game, as Anderson confirmed to Deadline. The House of the Dead 3 follows an agent’s daughter on a search and recover mission for her father, not knowing what awaits her at zombie-ridden research facility. “If you know the mythology that is all about family conflict, amidst the action and scares,” explained Anderson.
“This is a full-on terror ride. It’s different than what we did with Resident Evil, where there were lots of traps and puzzles and things to be figured out,” added the helmer. The director also expressed his love of the original game. “I’ve loved the video game since the nineties,” said Anderson. “Back then I was a big player of video games in arcades, which is how I happened upon Mortal Kombat. And pretty much at the same time, I was also playing a lot of House of the Dead. It’s a title I’ve always loved.”
The House of the Dead movie is set to begin production sometime in mid-to-late 2025 but does not have an official synopsis or cast list at this time. For more, check out our list of the best video game movies, or keep up with upcoming video game adaptations.