The Dead by Daylight Movie Should Be the Ultimate Horror Crossover

Dead by Daylight brought together some of the most iconic characters in horror history, and the movie has the opportunity to do the same.

With so many horror franchises under its umbrella and engaging lore to tie them together, Dead by Daylight didn't just set the stage for a crossover but raised the bar for them. While characters like Trapper, Trickster and Huntress will always remain in the spotlight, the game has set high expectations for recognizable big-screen slashers, which makes one wonder if a Dead by Daylight movie is complete without them. So, as Dead by Daylight continually adds to its ever-expanding roster of iconic characters, the more it becomes clear that the film should be the ultimate horror crossover.

Released in 2016, Dead by Daylight has been a Steam staple that found popularity by pitting gamers against each other in a delightfully horrific game of cat and mouse. Over the years, Dead by Daylight has built a full roster of original characters while simultaneously offering players iconic horror slashers like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers and, most recently, Alien's Xenomorph. In 2023, James Wan and Blumhouse (the production company behind films like 2018's Halloween trilogy, M3GAN and the upcoming Five Nights at Freddy's) announced that they began development on a Dead by Daylight movie, leaving audiences curious about what the video game adaptation would look like.

Why Dead by Daylight Needs Classic Horror Icons

Dead by Daylight remains the quintessential 4v1 horror video game, often credited for helping popularize the genre. However, despite the spike in popularity on Steam, numerous original horror games with similar formats grappled to escape the shadow cast by Dead by Daylight's success. Yet, compared to other horror titles like Friday the 13th: The Game or Last Year, it's evident why Dead by Daylight triumphantly stood out, and it stems from the cavalcade of crossover characters its roster contains.

Whether video games like Resident Evil, movies like Alien or TV series like Stranger Things, so much of Dead by Daylight's identity became wrapped up in the fan-favorite franchises it managed to wrangle. As an original horror game, Dead by Daylight's lore, characters and brand have proven to be strong enough to stand on their own, as evidenced by the creation of a board game and, more curiously, a dating simulator. However, what definitively distinguishes Dead by Daylight's success from contemporaries like Video Horror Society and Last Year is its incorporation of renowned horror personas and endorsements from notable figures like Nicolas Cage. While a Dead by Daylight movie could potentially stand alone, its identity would be incomplete without the presence of its guest star roster, representing a significant missed opportunity for its cinematic debut.

How Dead by Daylight Could Be the Ultimate Monster Mash

In a genre that explored the concept of shared cinematic universes long before Marvel and brought fans memorable films like Freddy vs. Jason, Alien vs. Predator and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, the allure of witnessing the ultimate horror crossover is undeniably strong. Dead by Daylight's The Entity offers boundless potential, capable of giving audiences the long-awaited onscreen collective of iconic figures such as Jigsaw, Freddy Krueger and Evil Dead's Ash Williams. Moreover, in a time where movies like Ready Player One, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers and Spider-Man: No Way Home have broken boundaries, it appears as if no crossover is too big or impossible.

A cinematic universe where beloved horror icons return from the grave and share the same screen is not beyond reach. Dead by Daylight managed to appease fans and make dreams come true by allowing players to put Ellen Ripley up against the Demogorgon and have Laurie Strode match wits with Ghostface. While horror movies attempt to remake and reboot their respective franchises for modern audiences, the Dead by Daylight movie offers the unique circumstances to unite them all and celebrate their contributions to pop culture.