10 Celebrated Horror Directors That Made Video Games

Game Credits: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, DMC: Devil May Cry

Garland has worn several hats over his career: a celebrated novelist (The Beach), a distinctive horror screenwriter (28 Days Later), and now, a subversive, sometimes abrasive genre filmmaker. Although recently his focus has shifted to the terror and exhilaration of modern warfare (Civil War, Warfare), his start as a feature director was firmly rooted in horror filmmaking. Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, and his TV show Devs were all clever, nerve-shredding variations on scare stories that also took bold turns into divisive psychedelic storytelling.

One overlooked role he played before settling into directing was as a story supervisor in video games. A passionate gamer in real life, he found his footing with studio Ninja Theory, a developer known for its strong storytelling - even if that sometimes came at the expense of gameplay.

Garland co-wrote the criminally underrated Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. This third-person action adventure told an engaging story bolstered by strong performances from Andy Serkis and Lindsey Shaw. It remains an impressive and underappreciated title with a fantastic narrative. In a similar role, he later contributed to the Devil May Cry reboot. It was a solid entry, with slick combat and a thoughtful story; it just wasn’t the Dante anyone wanted, and that soured the soup.

The following year, Garland stepped fully into feature film directing - and he hasn’t really looked back since, although he will marry his love for film and games with his upcoming Elden Ring film adaptation.