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FMV Horror Games: Live-Action Horror to Play

FMV horror games put real actors on screen: filmed ghosts, killers and victims you watch, question or hide from. These range from the CD-ROM classics of the 1990s to modern live-action and found-phone horror.

The games

  1. At Dead Of Night art: a lit-up Victorian hotel on a clifftop above the sea at night, with lightning in the storm clouds Investigate the At Dead Of NightLive-action horror at its most played: guide Maya through a remote hotel, talking to ghosts with a voice receiver while the landlord stalks the corridors.
  2. A patient sits on a green leather couch facing you, with the question box and patient list on screen PsychologicalThe Infectious Madness of Doctor DekkerType any question to a murdered psychiatrist's filmed patients and work out which of them killed him, in a Lovecraftian mystery.
  3. Phantasmagoria art from GOG: a woman's terrified, wide-eyed face fading into mist beside a dim window PS1PhantasmagoriaSierra's 1995 horror adventure filmed with live actors: a novelist, a dead magician's mansion and nightmares from the first night.
  4. SIMULACRA key art: a dark-haired woman stands before a wall of phone screens showing apps, photos and chats, with pink streaks across them Multiple endingsSIMULACRAA lost woman's phone, with her video logs, texts and photos, and something inside it that grows stranger by the hour.
  5. Dead Take key art: a bald man seen from behind, sitting alone in a dark cinema before a glowing screen PsychologicalDead TakeSplice together corrupted video files in a Hollywood mansion to find out what happened to a friend after a party, with filmed actors.
  6. The 7th Guest Remake key art: Stauf's Victorian mansion lit from inside under a purple, stormy sky with lightning Puzzle horrorThe 7th Guest RemakeThe 1993 puzzle mansion rebuilt, with the ghosts of Stauf's six guests played by live actors in volumetric video.
  7. Shivers screenshot: the museum's dim golden entrance hall with a spiral staircase, columns and a fountain, the row of captured spirit vessels on the ornate bar below Puzzle horrorShiversSierra's 1995 night in a haunted museum, with live-action ghosts telling what happened to those who came before.
  8. D: The Game art: Dr Richter Harris in a shirt and tie holds up his bloodied hands, in a scan-lined frame from the game Multiple endingsD: The GameKenji Eno's 1995 horror interactive movie: two real hours, no saves, and a castle inside a hospital where a father has killed.
  9. Realms of the Haunting cover art: the dripping yellow title over faded, blood-red faces of the cast, one in round glasses Puzzle horrorRealms of the HauntingA 1996 mix of first-person adventure, shooting and filmed scenes with live actors in a haunted Cornish mansion.
  10. Gabriel Knight 2 key art: the faint grey shape of a snarling wolf's head emerging from white mist Puzzle horrorGabriel Knight 2: The Beast WithinSierra's 1995 werewolf mystery, filmed with live actors over photographed German locations.
  11. Harvester key art: a hooded figure with glowing red eyes raises a scythe against a red night sky over a domed building PsychologicalHarvesterA 1996 cult classic of filmed actors in a 1950s town whose cult asks for bloodier tasks every day.
  12. The 11th Hour key art: a worn clock face with roman numerals beside the cracked porcelain face of a doll staring out of the dark Puzzle horrorThe 11th HourThe 1995 sequel to The 7th Guest: a reporter returns to Stauf's mansion as live-action scenes reveal its new crimes; its Steam reviews are mixed.
  13. SIMULACRA 2 key art: a woman holding a glowing phone stands among four other characters against a purple ink-blot background Multiple endingsSIMULACRA 2A dead influencer's wiped phone, restored file by file, with filmed video calls and clips.
  14. Sara is Missing title art: glitched white letters over a distorted image of a woman Multiple endingsSara is MissingFree and short: a missing woman's phone, its messages and videos, and callers who push you on.
  15. Forbidden Solitaire screenshot: a red, mangled skeletal figure drags itself into the light above a stone-framed text box PS1Forbidden SolitaireA cursed 1995 CD-ROM of bloody solitaire wrapped in a 90s FMV-style hellscape.
  16. Killing Time: Resurrected key art: a grinning zombie butler holding a knife and a plate, a zombie and a polka-dot clown on an orange and red swirl Action horrorKilling Time: ResurrectedA 1990s shooter remastered, where filmed ghosts show what happened on a cursed 1930s estate.
  17. HORSES screenshot in black and white: rows of people in horse masks sit on wooden benches in a sunlit barn hall, their nudity pixelated PsychologicalHORSESFourteen days on a secluded farm in a first-person game with live-action sequences; a controversial, disturbing game sold on GOG and itch.io.

Full-motion video horror began on CD-ROM in the 1990s. Phantasmagoria filmed its whole story with live actors in a dead magician's mansion, and The 7th Guest's sequel The 11th Hour and Sierra's Shivers used filmed ghosts to tell what happened in their houses. Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within filmed a werewolf case in Bavaria with live actors over photographed locations, harvester put its cult and its 1950s town on film, Realms of the Haunting mixed filmed scenes with first-person adventure and shooting, and Kenji Eno's D made you solve a castle in two real hours with no saves. Killing Time: Resurrected remasters a shooter from the same era whose filmed ghosts show the story.

Modern FMV horror is often better. At Dead Of Night is the most played, a hotel at night where you guide Maya past a stalking landlord and talk to ghosts, and The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker lets you type any question to filmed patients to find a murderer among them. Dead Take uses filmed actors and corrupted clips in a Hollywood mansion, and The 7th Guest Remake brings back the 1993 mansion with its ghosts in volumetric video.

Found-phone horror is its own branch. SIMULACRA hands you a missing woman's phone, full of video logs and messages that turn strange, SIMULACRA 2 does the same with a dead influencer's wiped phone, and Sara is Missing does it free and in a short sitting.

Two more borrow the look rather than the format: Forbidden Solitaire wraps bloody solitaire in a fake 90s FMV CD-ROM, and HORSES, a controversial game refused by Steam, uses live-action sequences on a farm whose rules turn disturbing.

If you play one, play At Dead Of Night; if you want the classic CD-ROM feel, try Phantasmagoria or D.

Questions

What is an FMV horror game?

A horror game that uses full-motion video, filmed footage of real actors, for its story or its play, as Phantasmagoria, At Dead Of Night and Doctor Dekker do.

What is the best FMV horror game?

At Dead Of Night is the most played and among the best rated by players, and The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker is the best known for letting you question its characters freely.

Are there free FMV horror games?

Sara is Missing is free, a short found-phone horror game.

Are FMV horror games on consoles?

Doctor Dekker, SIMULACRA and Killing Time: Resurrected are on PlayStation, Xbox and Switch, and The 7th Guest Remake on PlayStation and Xbox.

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