8 Awful Video Game Movies That Got The Most Important Thing Right

5. House Of The Dead - The Zombie Gaming Action

Make no mistake, the House of the Dead Movie is a total piece of sh*t. In Uwe Boll’s directorial debut, he gave audiences a movie that was horrendous on so many levels – to the point where Sega put in place a rule where Boll could never direct another one of its properties ever again, not to mention Sega’s decision to not even make any other game-adapted movies until the impending Sonic picture.

The one glimmer of potential hope, though, was the decision to intercut actual video game footage at various points throughout the film. Gimmicky? For sure. But this could be just about crazy enough to work.

A slight issue with this, mind, is that the footage was shoddily filmed on a camcorder rather than using direct captures of the game. And then there’s the fact that the actual in-movie zombies were awful and looked nothing like their video game counterparts.

The one positive that franchise fans got to leave House of the Dead with was that they at least got a chuckle out of seeing the game itself incorporated into the movie. Even if it maybe didn't quite click as well as intended.

All in all, House of the Dead fans deserved better, and genre favourites Jonathan Cherry (WolfCop), Michael Eklund (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency), Erica Durance (Smallville) and Ellie Cornell (Halloween 4 and 5) deserved better.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

First Posted On: 26th Jul 2019

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