10 Celebrated Horror Directors That Made Video Games

Game Credits: Ikenie no Yoru (Night of Sacrifice), Ju-On: The Grudge, NightCry

From the mid-noughties, J-horror took the international genre scene by storm. At the forefront was Takashi Shimizu, whose breakout hit, Ju-On, made a splash with its uncompromisingly grim atmosphere and some of the most haunting set pieces of the era. It became a major commercial success when remade in the U.S. as The Grudge (2004), which Shimizu himself directed.

At his peak, Shimizu also worked as a creative supervisor on two Wii horror games. Night of the Sacrifice was essentially a first-person J-horror simulator set in a fog-shrouded, isolated village - authenticity that Shimizu no doubt helped bring to the table. It was never released outside Japan, but over the years has gained a small following. The second project, a game adaptation of The Grudge, had potential but ultimately proved frustrating and rushed.

Finally, in the mid-2010s, Shimizu collaborated with Clock Tower creator Hifumi Kono on the Kickstarter project NightCry. Fans of both creators were highly enthusiastic, and the campaign reached its goal quickly. As development progressed, Shimizu even directed a live-action prequel short for the game, which was a decent watch in its own right. Unfortunately, when the game was finally released, it was an outright disaster - laughable, clunky, and widely criticized, leaving many backers wondering where their money had gone. 

Unsurprisingly, this turned out to be Shimizu’s final foray into video games, after which he focused exclusively on filmmaking once again.