Until Dawn does Not need to be made into a movie.

I’d always heard whispers around on Reddit or Twitter that Until Dawn (2015) might be getting made into a movie. As someone who had watched multiple playthroughs of the game and played it myself, I didn’t see a reason. A bulk of the game already has the same cinematic sense that a horror movie would have, and additionally, the game recently was already remade and re-released. Not to mention the issues that a movie would produce of the representation of indigenous people in the game, as well as Until Dawn using dated horror tropes such as women in skimpy clothing being subjected to an unnecessary amount of violence or pinning women who dated the same guy against each other. Unless there was a rewrite, there really isn’t a need for that to come to the screen. But of course, the need to capitalize off of a staple in the video game horror genre was too big a temptation for PlayStation, so of course they made Until Dawn the game into Until Dawn The Movie! 

I was sitting in the local B&B with my girlfriend, waiting through the countless trailers before One of Them Days would eventually grace the screen. As the trailers continue I’m met with the timeless sand timer from Until Dawn. I thought to myself “Are they really doing this?” And as I watched the next minute and fifty seconds of garbage, I realized the answer was yes, they are. I’m not one to trash on movies unfairly, so I’m being very serious when I say this trailer was hot garbage. They did rewrite the source material, but it doesn’t feel like they addressed any of the issues with the game and instead, they wrote a completely new story and slapped the same title on the movie. 

Now, to be fair to the movie and the people behind it, it hasn’t come out yet, so maybe it will actually be amazing. But based on my research so far, it seems as if this movie will be a dud. The premise is that “a group of friends is stuck in a time loop, where mysterious foes are chasing and killing them in gruesome ways, and [they] must survive until dawn to escape it.” (IMDB) This sounds like the Happy Death Day series but with a bunch of (potential) highschoolers instead of college students, but instead of one creature, it’s a bunch of mysterious creatures. Time loop, murder, playing with what’s real and what isn’t… It’s all the same. The one thing that isn’t the same is the plot, which is the best part of Until Dawn (the game). Even though it has its problems, some of which I do think should be changed for a movie actually sticking to original source material, at least the plot wasn’t a thrown-together copy of things that have already been done before. 

My last issue is that it appears that they will throw some game mechanics into the film, but they don’t look like they’ll make any sense. My example is of the main antagonist of the game, the creature that chases you throughout the whole plotline.

If you were to compare a screenshot of the creature from the game, and a shot of the creature from the movie trailer, you'd see that they look very similar, similar enough that they seem to be the same creature. I’m confused as to what the background of this creature will be in Until Dawn (the movie) because the background of this creature and how it came to be (also one of the more problematic aspects of the source material) was a big part of the narrative in Until Dawn (the game). There are clues you have to find, conversations between characters, and so much more. It is practically the biggest part of the game, and every single character is impacted by the existence of this creature as it is. The creature’s origin goes back years into the background of the game, and much of the story is based around it. If there’s going to be a bunch of different creatures in the movie, then is this just one of them thrown in there to appease diehard fans? If so, why? The choices made for this movie seem irrational.

Since I can’t stop this movie from happening, I hope this article persuades you to not watch it and spend your time enjoying other parts of life. Please. Given the trailer and my research, it looks like hot garbage and it’s nothing more than a cash grab.

Featured image curtesy of PlayStation.