6 Video Game-Based Movies That Made Me Cringe With My Entire Body

If you don't know these, then consider yourself lucky.

Remember that disastrous movie called Mortal Kombat: Annihilation? No? Good, because I unfortunately do. How about the 1993 Super Mario Bros.? If you don’t, then consider yourself lucky. There are dozens of video-games that have been made into films, and just like Need for Speed, and most of these have been pure dumpster fires. In no particular order, here’s a short list of six movies made from video games that, in my opinion, are just terrible.

1. DOA Dead or Alive (2006)

Impact Pictures

This film does no justice to the original Dead or Alive franchise, with its over-the-top action sequences, bland fight scenes, and cliché storyline. When you’re reduced to making slow-motion shots for each punch and kick, it means your film is in deep trouble.

2. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li (2009)

20th Century Studios

This movie makes the original Street Fighter from 1994 starring Jean-Claude Van Damme look like a masterpiece. If you’re going to adapt a fighting game, it would be wise to hire martial artists to train your actors/actresses. It would also be nice if the main character had some semblance to the original source material other than just having the same name.

3. Tekken (2010)

GAGA/Crystal Sky Pictures/Good Times Production Co.

While the film doesn’t appear too bad, the acting and fighting sequences make this movie an unfortunate snore fest. Not only did Rotten Tomatoes give this film 0%, but even Katsuhiro Harada, the former producer of the Tekken franchise, declared the movie to be "terrible." Ouch! That’s one DeathFist-sized bruise.

4. BloodRayne (2005)

Herold Productions/Brightlight Pictures/Pitchblack Pictures

The original video game had deranged, sadistic Nazi soldiers, diseased humans with mutated limbs, and gigantic, arachnid-like creatures that swallowed humans whole. This film has all the telltale signs of a cheesy B-movie with misplaced accents. At least they got Rayne’s costume right.

5. Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Illumination, Nintendo, Universal Pictures

As mentioned, you’re lucky if you’ve never watched this film. It’s not just that the beloved characters of Mario and Luigi are different (shouldn’t Luigi at least have a mustache?); it’s that everything in the film is just weird, awkward, and downright uncomfortable-looking. I mean, why in the heck is a goomba a large, man-sized creature with a shrunken dinosaur head and not an evil mushroom?

6. And House of the Dead (2003)

Sega, Mindfire Entertainment

You either laugh or cry watching this movie, but you certainly don’t want to remember it. Slow-motion spinning sequences? Random inserts of actual gameplay from the original video-game? And heavy rock music in the background? I’d rather watch the Resident Evil live-action series, thank you very much.

Which video game-based movies do you think could've been better? Or, on a more positive note, which video game-based movies were done well? Let me know in the comments below!