The Last of Us is actually one of the best HORROR MOVIES of 2013

When I put Naughty Dog's The Last of Us as one of the best MOVIES of 2013 on my Top 10 list, don't laugh at me OK? It really is a cinematic masterpiece when you separate the fact that it's a video game. The setting (post fungi apocalyptic America), the characters (Joel and Ellie are the video game version of Dad and Son from The Road) and the plot which is filled with twists and turns and just pure WTF.

It really is without a doubt one of the best stories to revolve around the survival horror genre.I've played the game and finished it and I was blown away by the emotional roller coaster it took me on. Video games in reality actually force you to put more of your emotions because YOU are actually playing that character.

In doing so, you actually start directing your action sequences to how you want, something a movie could never do. But we're not here to debate movies vs video games. What I will say is that when just the cinematic cut scenes are solid enough to warrant a YouTube full movie cut, it says a lot in that the cut scenes alone can make you care about the characters, intrigue you about the plot and have their fair share of scares.

With any horror movie, you need the BIG BAD> There are actually two enemies in The Last of Us. The last remnants of humanity who have turned into scavenging and stalker as well as The Fireflies, a group looking to stop the epidemic at all costs. Stalkers, Clickers  and Bloaters are dangerous as the infection evolves. The infected make zombies look like a walk in the park.

The performances (done via motion capture) are pretty superb starring Troy Baker as Joel and Ashley Johnson as Ellie. Motion capture is close to acting in a video game as acting in front of a green screen.

Of course this "movie" has only been experienced by only a few Playstation 3 gamers, so the level of exposure is limited than say a conventional movie. But the acclaim the game has gotten has been absurdly positive with making gamers "cry" and just having been gut punched into the stomach in some scenes.

The brutality of the kills by Joel and Ellie makes it pure survival horror and even if you die in the game, it wallops you with some serious game over carnage.

So here is a YouTube version "movie" with all the cutscenes. Sure it's 3 hours (I mean its scenes from a video game with over 10 hours of gameplay mind you) You may be able to get an idea of what it's about, the characters, the plot and some action. Some of the story and dialogue are told while you play so it can't capture that. But it is indeed a great cinematic masterpiece of 2013. A movie that could only been told in a game, rich in a landscape of nature reclaiming America and the morality humanity must hold on to in the most dire of circumstances.

The Last of Us is one of the best horror movies of 2013. And I'm not budging from that statement.



Have you played The Last of Us? Do you think it stacks up against even the best horror movies this year? Sound off and let me know!

Categories: Apocalypse, playstation 3, post apocalyptic, the last of us, the road, video game movies, zombies