10 Unintentionally Hilarious 90s Horror Video Games
Horror has never been so... bad.
Much like comedy, horror is often subjective. While those of lesser constitution may still shy away from the totally lame haunted mansion ride at the local fair, horror veterans remain unmoved by all but the most grotesque examples of the genre. That said, there are a few pieces of media out there which absolutely no one finds scary.
Crafting a compelling atmosphere of terror can be a difficult undertaking. If done correctly, a movie, book or game can be so shocking as to be utterly unforgettable. Mess it up, though, and everyone associated with the project will look like a total idiot.
There are, of course, a few movies and games which have blended the realms of horror and comedy to great effect, though they're relatively few and far between. For every one truly frightening experience, there are likely another ten that don't come even close.
Well-done scares capture the imagination, compelling audiences to laugh at their own fear. Bad horror, on the other hand, usually has people laughing for an entirely different reason. The 1990's, for whatever reason, seems to have been a prime time for shlocky horror, particularly in video games...
10. Dark Seed (1992)
Dark Seed was an interesting PC exclusive notable for the inclusion of artwork created by none other than notorious weirdo artist H. R. Geiger. It was a delightfully bizarre romp through a world split in half by an eldritch alien force seemingly intent on corrupting middle American life.
It would have been a relatively compelling horror experience were it not for the downright horrendous voice acting. Some of the voice lines present here are legendarily bad, and—very much in keeping with many horror games of the early 90's—the protagonist is nothing short of a total dork.
The sequel, which relied pretty heavily on now painfully outdated FMV technology, was perhaps even more cringe-worthy. The protagonist approaches McLovin levels of nerdy, and the whole thing is so incredibly off-kilter that it's outright hilarious.
The best line of dialogue in this duology also comes from the second game: upon approaching a mannequin in a storage room, the protagonist remarks "I don't really expect this mannequin to talk to me, but it's a nice fantasy." Already little more than a walking social faux pas, this line, though incredibly funny, makes the series difficult to take seriously.