10 Best Horror Franchises That Desperately Need The Resident Evil Treatment

Published Jul 21, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT Steven is a seasoned writer specializing in the video game and technological fields, with years of experience creating reviews, features, and industry analysis. Passionate about the gaming world and its evolving culture, Steven always wanted to combine his enjoyment of writing and love for gaming in a way that can provide insightful coverage for players and enthusiasts alike, striving to provide this since he joined Screenrant in 2024. While the future of the series was on the rocks for a few years after its controversial sixth outing, Resident Evil is bigger than it's ever been before, with numerous exciting new entries and even classic remasters to look forward to. Capcom has been trying to keep its new projects under wraps, but with leaks suggesting multiple new games for fans can look forward to, it's putting countless other classic series to shame. While other horror legends like Silent Hill have finally started to push more heavily into the genre and have even started offering yearly releases, there are plenty of other franchises that either haven't seen the light of day in decades or simply aren't being utilized nearly as much as they should. All of these properties could easily benefit from attempting to replicate Resident Evil's remake formula, at least if they can deliver a comparable level of quality. The Dino Crisis Franchise Is Still Getting Talked About Today Given that the franchise has often been referred to as 'Resident Evil with dinosaurs', it's hard to think of a horror series that deserves the same reboot treatment more than Dino Crisis. It's not hard to see either way, as Dino Crisis has all the same puzzle-solving, resource management, and terrifying enemies that Resident Evil is known for, albeit with more of a familiar sci-fi twist through its carnivorous predators. While fans have finally been getting some good news about a potential remake in development, Capcom hasn't given an official word on the franchise in some time. Although it's hard to believe the franchise is high on the developer's priority list, the success of Capcom's own Resident Evil series should be more than enough to at least test the waters with a new remaster, which could take its fear factor to even greater heights in a new engine. Dead Space Doesn't Deserve Its Current Limbo Although Dead Space had more outings than most horror fans could ask for, with three mainline entries and a remake in 2023, the legendary sci-fi horror franchise has still yet to be topped. Offering a blend of blood-pumping action sequences and a constant sense of dread that a mutated necromorph could be lurking behind every corner, topped off with some unreliable psychological horror aspects made for an incredibly unforgettable narrative experience. Although Dead Space reportedly didn't sell enough to warrant the budget required for a sequel, the unique setting of its extinction-level cosmic horror is ripe for further expansions, even if it's in the form of additional remasters for the previous games in the series, or smaller-scale titles of other humans trapped within the confines of its hopeless universe without the scope of Isaac's grand misadventures. F.E.A.R. Is A Goldmine For Unique Horror Gameplay While a first-person shooter is far from the first game you might think of when talking about games similar to Resident Evil, if there's one thing the F.E.A.R. franchise does right, it's delivering an incredibly atmospheric experience to the horror genre. Playing against revolutionary AI that still holds up today with a variety of tactics that keep you on your toes, the gameplay alternates between intense firefights and unnerving psychological horror in a way that few games have managed to replicate over the years. F.E.A.R. ultimately met the same fate as Dead Space, where the third entry didn't quite hit the mark and left the franchise abandoned for over a decade. After all these years, there has been more than enough time to revisit F.E.A.R.'s thrilling paranormal gameplay with the next-generation level of quality that its unique premise and storyline deserve. Parasite Eve Already Has Resident Evil's Framework Ready Leaning more heavily into its JRPG side of the survival horror genre as opposed to Resident Evil's comparatively streamlined gameplay loop, the 1998 release of Parasite Eve was far ahead of its time. Widely considered to be an absolute masterpiece of an action RPG, the original Parasite Eve trilogy offers an incredibly cinematic story experience set in a modern-day version of New York that is absolutely bursting with personality. Of course, it wouldn't be a classic Resident Evil-style horror game without some horrifying monsters to face off against, which Parasite Eve's mutated body-horror has plenty of on its own. With a devoted fanbase still clamoring for a revival all these years later, Parasite Eve feels like the perfect franchise for Square Enix to bring back from the dead to offer some real competition in the survival horror world, which could easily stand out on its own either through remakes or a full-blown reboot of the series. The Evil Within Ended Far Too Early Created by one of the original Resident Evil creators, Shinji Mikami, the Evil Within series is an often painfully overlooked horror franchise that combines a unique blend of psychological horror and brutal survival mechanics as you go through its nightmarish game worlds. While the first Evil Within struggled with a muddled story and often clunky gameplay, its otherworldly environmental design, disturbing monsters, and oppressive atmosphere still make for an unforgettable experience. Offering a mix between the psychological horror of Silent Hill and the intense action sequences or mutated monstrosities of Resident Evil, the flawed but incredibly underrated franchise with The Evil Within is one that desperately deserves another chance to shine in the modern day. Whether that's a remake to bring the original game to its full potential or a third entry that builds upon the distinct foundations of its predecessors, there are plenty of opportunities here. The Alan Wake Franchise Could Use Even More Spinoffs Although Alan Wake has finally been having somewhat of a resurgence ever since the release of Alan Wake 2, which introduced the series to a new generation of players, the series still has so much more potential for future exploration. Set in the twisted machinations of Alan Wake's novel, the series' unique gameplay loop offers plenty of opportunities to develop through the lens of other characters in the same setting. Combined with the fact that Alan Wake takes place in the same Remedy cinematic universe as Control, the SCP-style franchise is ripe for more spin-offs from various gaming genres as opposed to straightforward sequels, whether in the form of live-service experiences like FBC: Firebreak, or more immersive supernatural horror games similar to Alan Wake itself. The Siren Franchise Is Silent Hill's Long Lost Relative While it hasn't seen nearly the same level of success as its more popular Silent Hill counterpart, the original Siren franchise, which started in 2003, still has an excellent sense of dread dripping throughout every inch of its haunting horror narrative. It is praised for its story, atmosphere, and original gameplay mechanics, such as using the protagonist's psychic abilities to see through the eyes of Siren's various killers and paranormal entities to avoid them. Encouraging players to make the most of their environments to cleverly avoid enemies rather than directly confront them, a rebooted Siren entry would be a nice change of pace for the triple-A horror scene that is starting to rely more heavily on action to keep things engaging. Clock Tower Doesn't Need Much For Unforgettable Horror Originally starting off as one of the most iconic point-and-click horror games of all time, the Clock Tower franchise has already expanded into the realm of 3D with a surprising amount of success. Incorporating unique elements like your playable character panicking and not fully responding to your controls during high-stress moments, Clock Tower's survival horror gameplay is even more anxiety-inducing because of its more humanized characters. Despite its promising run, the Clock Tower franchise has been relatively abandoned since the release of Clock Tower 3 in 2002, with only a simple remake of the original game to keep fans going as opposed to the fully rebooted experience that the legendary horror series desperately deserves. Eternal Darkness Was Far Ahead Of Its Time Arguably one of Nintendo's greatest horror games of all time, Eternal Darkness was an incredibly ambitious Lovecraftian-inspired survival horror game developed for the GameCubein 2002. Starting off with the female protagonist Alex investigating her grandfather's suspicious murder, Eternal Darkness quickly expands into dozens of characters and stories scattered across the past as we see various characters facing off against the otherworldly horrors at play in its haunting narrative. Far ahead of its time upon release, Eternal Darkness balances several time periods alongside classic Resident Evil-inspired puzzles andfamiliar layouts reminiscent of Spencer Mansion. With a surprisingly engaging combat system for the time on top of the incredibly atmospheric gameplay loop, Eternal Darkness is one horror franchise that still holds up incredibly well, and could easily be expanded upon with new entries exploring other timelines and histories where humanity is plagued by its Lovecraftian horrors. Obscure Has All The Makings Of A Great Resident Evil Game As a cult-classic survival horror game that wears its slasher and Resident Evil inspirations on its sleeve, the early 2000s Obscure franchise is still widely praised for its immersive setting and ambitious story concept, where any cast member can permanently die as a result of your actions. Taking place in a school suddenly overrun with monsters, each character provides their own unique skills to help you progress through Obscure's nightmarish setting, with the story adapting depending on which characters are alive or dead. As if the gameplay premise of Obscure wasn't enough, it's also one of the rare triple-A experiences that actually supports co-operative multiplayer as opposed to Resident Evil's single-player narratives, allowing you to face its nightmarish horrors alongside a friend at your side. TV Show(s) Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness, Resident Evil Video Game(s) Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Resident Evil 0, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil 5, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Resident Evil 2 (2019), Resident Evil 3 (2020), Resident Evil Village, Resident Evil 4 (2023) First Film Resident Evil First TV Show Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Cast Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ali Larter, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen Created by Shinji Mikami, Tokuro Fujiwara