Resident Evil – The Spencer Estate
We’ve made it. You knew it would be here. If Alien is the pinnacle of haunted house films, the original Resident Evil is the video game equivalent of that.
Before Dead Space came along and took its crown, Resident Evil was the undisputed king of the jump scare. The first game’s unforgiving puzzles, memorable cast of characters and the silly dialogue shared between them all has a very special place in our hearts, but the seemingly infinite number of scares housed within the Spencer estate are what GIFs are made of.
If you had to come up with some of gaming’s most effective jump scares — and we have — the L-shaped hallway where the dog comes crashing through the window would likely be near the top of the list. The Umbrella Corporation’s fondness of horrific human experimentation aside, it’s the labyrinthine and often nonsensical design of the mansion, which bears some resemblance to the Winchester Mystery House and H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle, that made its scares both unfamiliar and unpredictable.
