The Quarryis the first game to come after Supermassive Games’ runawayUntil Dawnsuccess story, and the hype has been real.The well-reviewed gamesees a half-dozen protagonists on the last day of summer camp at Hackett’s Quarry engaging in some teenage shenanigans — only to be met with backwoods creatures, mutant horrors, and supernatural assailants.
If this premise sounds familiar to you, that’s by design. Supermassive Games is shamelessly cribbing from a whole lineage of horror classics to bring their remote, woodsy freakout story. And that’s not a bad thing, because most effective horror movies riff on previous stories and tropes. So if you want to keep the scares you got fromThe Quarrygoing, here are some horror classics that will scratch that slasher itch.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
The obvious corollary forThe Quarryis the oddball 1983 mystery-slasher filmSleepaway Camp. The setting and subject matter are obvious stand-ins here: The film sees a group of disparate campers, counselors, and staff being hunted by a first-person assailant in a brutal-but-campy film that’s amassed a sizable cult following in recent years.
What’s perhaps more potent in comparison is thatSleepaway Camprelies almost entirely on the interactions between campers to build suspense and dread. The main protagonist is a young girl with a traumatic past who doesn’t even speak for nearly a third of the film and harbors shocking secrets — making this movie distressing from an interpersonal standpoint. Players ofThe Quarrywill love this feeling of “did he say the right thing or not?” dread.
Sleepaway Campis available to rent on multiple platforms includingApple TV, and it’s streaming onPeacock.
The Evil Dead (1981 and 2013)
Sam Raimi’s quintessential campy gore festThe Evil Deadis a great tonal follow-up for a few reasons. First, the obvious: A group of teens heads to a remote cabin and supernatural forces make them their prey. But perhaps more relevant is just how influentialThe Evil Deadis to horror as a genre.
You just can’t get away from the campy, gory choices by Sam Raimi and how they influenced some of the kills and setting inThe Quarry. It also doesn’t hurt that Raimi’s brother Ted is an actor in bothDeadandQuarry. If you prefer a more polished approach to this classic horror story, go for the actually pretty great 2013 remake, which features modern production and a freshly disgusting take on gore.
The Evil Deadis available to rent on multiple platforms includingPrime Video.
Cabin Fever (2002)
Heralding in the “torture porn” genre, Eli Roth is a visionary in his own right — even if his medium is blood and carnage. To be fair, Roth’s 2002 filmCabin Feverisn’t quite as gory as efforts likeHostel, and in fact, the film ends up portraying a much more complicated interplay between characters quarantined in a cabin.
Obviously, the setting at play here is directly comparable toThe Quarry, but so is the move to explore moral absolutes. WhileThe Quarrylets you choose your own path,Cabin Feverhas you watching as characters push their respective moral compasses to the limits navigating a bloody, debilitating illness in the woods.
Cabin Feveris available to rent on multiple platforms includingApple TV, and it’s streaming onHulu.
Cabin in the Woods (2011)
The title alone basically describes a number of scenes fromThe Quarry, butCabin in the Woodsis nothing like it appears on the surface. Sure, it follows theEvil Deadfootprint of luring a group of teens to the woods to get wasted and then … get wasted. But the villains here may not be as supernatural as they seem. Without giving away this film’s truly excellent premise, we will say thatCabin in the Woodsis sort of a video game unto itself, with cartoonish tropes and even some sci-fi elements, making it an impressively unique horror comedy that’s worth a watch.
Cabin in the Woodsis available to rent on multiple platforms includingGoogle Play.
The Thing (1982)
Take the feeling of isolated desperation and the trust-averse characters fromThe Quarryand drop them into an arctic research base plagued by a shape-shifting monster and you’ve got John Carpenter’sThe Thing. Most horror fans won’t require an introduction to this seminal ‘80s body-horror gem, so we’ll dispense with spoiler-y plot points.
There’s a ton of satisfying tension on tap here, with multidimensional characters who are — in some cases, quite literally — not who they seem. Stick with the original, though; the 2011 remake isn’t worth your time or energy.
The Thingis available to rent on multiple platforms includingPrime Video, and it’s streaming onPeacock.
V/H/S (2012)
We’re going to move away from the direct “lost in a remote area” comparisons here and give you a fresh film to watch that you may not have seen.V/H/Srides the coattails of found-footage films of the aughts, sure, but it does so in a really fascinating anthology format. This film is actually a collection of half a dozen short films bound by one central conceit: Found VHS tapes.
What makes it so pairable withThe Quarryis how the story is told from multiple perspectives, seeing narratives unfold from new angles and keeping the viewer on their toes.The Quarrydoes this really well by putting you in the driver’s seat of a ton of different characters, andV/H/Sbrings that forward in a horror-anthology format.
VHSis available to rent on multiple platforms includingPrime Video.
Creep (2014)
Patrick Brice and Mark Duplass took some big swings with their shockingly low-budget horror film in 2014. Depicting a certifiable weirdo and a Craigslist ad gone wrong, this film isn’t narratively similar toThe Quarryin almost any way. But the feeling of building dread, character confusion, and, of course, the setting at a house in a remote, woodsy area all make it a nice epilogue to your time in Hackett’s Quarry.
VHSis available to rent on multiple platforms includingPrime Video, and it’s streaming onNetflix.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
It’s hardnotto see connective tissue betweenThe Quarryand Tobe Hooper’s 1974 backwoods slasher film. The beginning of the game shows a harbinger in the form of a police officer who seemsjusta bit left of center. Many of the assailants hunting our protagonists take up the “rural, sadistic clan” mantle. And the gore is, well,dramatic.
All of this is true ofChain Sawas well, but the connection is most prevalent in the “icky” feeling you have both watching the film and exploringThe Quarry. There’s just something festering under the surface in both cases that feels … dangerous.
The Texas Chain Saw Massacreis available to rent on multiple platforms includingApple TV, and it’s streaming onHulu.
Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th: Summer camp, doomed teens, creepy dark woods scenery.The Quarry: Summer camp, doomed teens … you get the picture.Friday the 13this a bona fide classic in the supernatural slasher genre, and Jason is about as iconic as horror villains come.
The only real difference here is thatThe Quarrydoesn’t haveoneslasher stalking the teens, but several. Though, if you want a direct Jason gaming experience, you could just playFriday the 13th: The Game.
Friday the 13this available to rent on multiple platforms includingGoogle Play, and it’s streaming onStarz.
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
IfThe Quarryowes its locational conceit toSleepaway Campfirst and foremost, then it owes its villain conceit almost entirely toThe Hills Have Eyes. In fact, these two films would make nearly a perfect double-feature right after playing the game. Why? Quite simply, bothHillsandThe Quarryfeature mutant villains attacking young people in desperately remote areas. It’s the perfect nightcap toThe Quarry’s patchwork of endings.
The Hills Have Eyesis available to rent on multiple platforms includingPrime Video.
