Scenes From Until Dawn That Need To Be In The Movie

Key Takeaways

• Supermassive Games added a horror twist to interactive movies with jumpscares and supernatural themes.
• Memorable scenes that stand out are essential for an Until Dawn movie adaptation.
• The game’s twists, hallucinations, and final showdown with wendigos must be faithfully recreated in the movie.

The phrase “interactive movies” has been thrown around since the early days when Heavy Rain was a new and exciting title on the scene. These games have a strong story at the heart, featuring minimal gameplay for players to engage with. In titles like these, gamers may have to execute QTEs or make decisions under pressure to determine if a character lives or dies.

The developers at Supermassive Games took this style of game and added a terrifying twist with their first horror game, Until Dawn, throwing in jump scares, eerie locations, potential hauntings, and supernatural themes. However, some scenes are more memorable than others, deserving to feature in the Until Dawn movie in some shape or form.

11 The Prank

A Great Way To Introduce Characters And Set The Scene

To think, all the horrors could have been avoided if they had decided not to go through with their mean-spirited prank. One year prior to the main events of Until Dawn, the group of friends is gathered at the Washington Lodge. One of the twins, Hannah, has a pretty major crush on Mike. Because of this, Jessica, Emily, and co. concoct an extreme joke that leads to devastating consequences.

Mike pretends to be interested in Hannah, inviting her to meet privately. But their meeting isn’t so private, as everyone apart from Sam, Josh, Chris, and twin sister Beth are hiding in the room to laugh at what they see as her naivety. Embarrassed, she runs out into the snow, and Beth gives chase, with the two eventually falling off a cliff. This is a startling way to start the game, and it would certainly grab the attention of viewers if it was repurposed for the movie adaptation.

10 Jessica Being Dragged Through The Window

This Moment Is As Frightening As It Is Iconic

Jessica and Mike are one of the duos in Until Dawn and are subsequently ejected from the main lodge after tensions between her and Emily bubble over. For the sake of enjoying a peaceful weekend, Josh hands them the keys to the guest lodge. The walk there seems peaceful enough for the most part until they are chased inside by an unseen creature, assuming it was a bear.

Unfortunately, it turns out it was something far more terrifying, when a long-fingered hand reaches in through the window in the door and drags Jessica outside and down into the mines. This scene sparks the action-hero inside Mike and results in one of the most effective jump scares in the game. If the movie doesn’t replicate it or do something similar, it would truly be sacrificing the opportunity for a memorable scene.

9 Jack Fiddler’s Death

The Cast’s Best Shot At Survival Dies In A Shocking Scene

It’s something that often appears in horror movies: A helpful stranger with answers and the methods for stopping evil arrives to save the day and the protagonists, with Loomis from Halloween being a prime example. The stranger has been on the mountain for a long time, compiling information about the threat and referring to them as Wendigos, creatures that were once human but devolved into monsters that crave the taste of human flesh.

In a bid to save one of the other characters, Chris leaves the safety of the lodge with the stranger after being given the rundown of how dangerous these creatures are. But even armed with a flamethrower and all the knowledge he has gathered, a Wendigo still manages to completely behead him. This shocking scene from Until Dawn further demonstrates just how much danger each character is in.

8 The Psycho Chases Sam

An Important Scene That Sets Up Sam As The Final Girl

The Final Girl is a must-have trope in slasher movies, which Until Dawn parrots in many ways. Sam is the shining example of a typical final girl; she is one of the smartest and kindest characters, and she doesn’t get intimate with anyone else, something that normally means death for horror figures.

Her status as a final girl shines through most in the scene where the masked killer chases her through the lodge, challenging her to think fast on her feet to avoid being caught and killed. It’s the kind of scene that feels right at home in horror movies and, as such, definitely deserves screen time in the movie adaptation.

7 The Killer’s Traps

These Scenes Provide An Element Of Grindhouse Horror

There is a killer on the mountain who seems intent on picking off the characters one by one. As the night progresses, the party fractures, with Mike, Jess, Matt, and Emily all leaving the lodge in their respective pairs, leaving Sam, Chris, and Ashley as the remaining victims of the killer’s cruel games.

The first one involves a massive horizontal saw that will tear either Josh or Ashley apart, but it will kill Josh no matter what Chris chooses. The second involves a circular saw descending towards Chris and Ashley, with Chris holding the gun and, thus, being forced to choose who will live or die. These deadly games involve gratuitous amounts of blood, gore, and gut-wrenching dread that would not be out of place in grindhouse horror or a Saw movie and are a must-have for the movie adaptation.

6 The Masked Killer Reveal

The First Twist Of The Game Is A Must-Have

Before the Wendigo reveal, it would seem that the only danger the characters of Until Dawn face is the presence of a masked killer up on the mountain with them. He seems to have taken inspiration from Jigsaw, as he placed Chris, Ashley, and Josh in these horrid survival games, forcing Chris to choose who lives and dies both times.

It likely came as a shock to many when the killer took off the mask and revealed himself to be Josh, bragging over his victory in a way that is almost too exuberant, professing that it was a return prank for what happened to his sisters last year. The killer reveal is a classic trope from slasher movies, specifically in movies such as Scream, where the killer is always someone the survivors know well. With this being such a pinnacle moment in the game, it needs to be recreated with care and respect for the Until Dawn movie.

5 The Fire Tower

Matt And Emily’s Decision To Visit The Tower Had Unforeseen Consequences

All the characters in Until Dawn need their share of screentime, and Matt and Emily’s scenes certainly cannot be skipped. Though their face off against the elks was also unsettling, it has nothing on the situation they find themselves in when they visit the fire tower.

They travel up to the tower to radio for help and find themselves in need of an immediate rescue. A Wendigo tries to break into the radio room, and when it fails, it instead brings down the tower, which falls into the mine. Emily and Matt both face dangers as they must find a way off the fallen tower through careful choices, but this leads them into even more danger in the mines. As the best Matt and Emily sequence and one of the most adrenaline-fueling ones in the game, this is a must-have for the movie.

4 The Sanatorium

Mike’s Visit To The Sanatorium Makes For Some Of The Most Impactful Chapters

The Sanatorium is a major location in Until Dawn, and it’s the place Mike ends up at after seeking vengeance for the potential death of his girlfriend Jessica. An eerie building that has been long-defunct, every nook and cranny here is nothing short of horrifying. Even befriending and exploring with the wolf does little to offset the terror, especially when the Wendigos appear on the scene.

As a rather lengthy section of the game, the sanatorium would have to be condescended to fit into the Until Dawn movie’s runtime, but it is an essential part of the story. There are plenty of documents that hint at the torrid history of the mines in the mountain, and it gives Mike an excellent character arc that turns him from a typical high school jerk into a brave action hero. What sections they should include is difficult to decide, as the producers are spoiled for choice.

3 The Big Reveal Of Hannah’s Fate

The Final Twist Is One For The Ages

After falling from the cliff down to the ravine below, it seemed guaranteed that Hannah and Beth’s fates were sealed. And this was half-true, as Beth died in the fall, but it would seem that Hannah miraculously survived and remained down there for the entire year.

Reaching this part of the mines, players can find hints scattered around about Hannah’s survival, from the make-shift grave marker carved with Beth’s name, Hannah’s glasses and locket found in different locations, and a diary that slowly devolves as she gives into hunger and eats her sister. This act of desperation turned Hannah into a Wendigo, with the final twist revealing one of these creatures to have the same butterfly tattoo that she had. It is wonderfully done, and it is by far the most surprising twist in the game. If the movie-makers only intend to include one plot twist in the movie, it needs to be this one.

2 Josh’s Hallucinations

Some Of The Most Terrifying Visuals In The Game

The mines are a horrifying location that almost all the characters in Until Dawn find themselves in at one point or another, including Josh. Josh suffers from severe mental health issues that could be the reason for the rather extreme ‘pranks’ he plays on his friends, and they are definitely the reason why he has vivid and nightmarish hallucinations.

While alone in the mines, he sees twisted versions of his sisters covered in blood, their faces zombified, and Hannah even peels off her face in a stomach-churning scene. He thinks he also sees a giant pig’s head burrowing out of a fleshy wall with a series of sickening squeals. These hallucinations are equal parts disgusting and terrifying, and the movie-makers could definitely amp this scene up to 11 to terrify the viewers in the Until Dawn movie.

1 The Final Showdown

Who Will Live, And Who Will Die In The Grand Finale?

The remaining survivors gather at the end of the game to where it all began–back at the lodge. But they aren’t alone there, as Wendigos have come to claim them as victims. In the game, players have to pass several hold still segments to ensure that all the characters survive the night. The last one out hits the switch that causes the lodge to be consumed in flames, killing the Wendigos inside just as helicopters arrive at the scene.

It was a solid way to end the game, fraught with tension and challenges, and it would be a good way to round out the movie, too. But whether all the characters survive the lodge or live long enough to reach this point in the story is entirely up to the studio.