From Friday the 13th and American Werewolf in London to Scream, Evil Dead II, and many more, find the best horror movie references in The Quarry.

Supermassive Games' new interactive survival horror experience The Quarry continues to impress the masses thanks to its lifelike immersion that makes players feel like they are in a genuine horror movie. As players attempt to keep the nine camp counselors at Hackett's Quarry summer camp alive through a night of hellish werewolf attacks, the game makes several overt and covert references to some of the most venerated horror movies ever made.

According to The Quarry's director Will Byles via Games Radar, at least six classic horror movies inspired the themes, stories, environments, and aesthetics of the game, with several others subtly hinted at during the game.

Considering how much homage The Quarry pays to the slasher movie subgenre, it's no surprise to hear Byles cite the progenitor as a major influence in the game. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho was the first to set the tropes for modern-day slashers, with Byles particularly citing the daring move of killing off a lead character as a shocking piece of cinematic history he looked to repeat in The Quarry.

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According to Byles, "When Alfred Hitchcock gets Janet Leigh killed right near the beginning of the film - no one believed you could do that with a star. We wanted characters in The Quarry that you could really, really like...and then they can get killed and it's like, you can't go back and save them." Indeed, Emma Mountebank, whose surname means to deceive others, is very much like the deceptive Marion Crane in Psycho, especially in the way she dies a shocking early death in Chapter 4.

Another horror movie Byles directly names as inspiration belongs to a subgenre of "hick flicks" that include The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. But according to Byles, "The Deliverance comparison is the closest because in this the folk in question aren't freaks; they just have their own rule-set. It does have a real menace to it, and we wanted to go and get that here."

Aside from the creepy Hackett family members that know the lay of the land and use the geography to their advantage like the assailants in Deliverance, the overall-wearing character of Bobby Hackett is quite reminiscent of the backwoods criminals in the film and even shares the name of the film's most iconic character (RIP Ned Beatty). Hopefully, the game will hold up as long as Deliverance has.

For a game about camp counselors being systematically stalked and slaughtered around a lake, the first summer camp horror movie that comes to mind is Friday the 13th, which The Quarry references quite a bit. According to Byles, "we stuck to those (Friday the 13th) themes - with the teen characters, the dialogue, the very primary-colored character stereotypes."

Beyond the obvious plot and character comparisons, the biggest reference to Friday the 13th in the game comes when Eliza is shockingly revealed to be Silas' mother at the end. In the original Friday the 13th, it's Jason Voorhees' mother Pamela that is revealed to be the killer of the camp counselors, and the whodunit origin story is what Byles aimed for in the game. Moreover, the brand of beer the counselors drink at the bonfire is named Savini's, an obvious reference to Tom Savini, the legendary horror make-up artist who worked on Friday the 13th.

The biggest inspiration for the lycanthropic element of the story derives from John Landis' American Werewolf In London. Before even getting into the werewolf lore, the character of Max Brinly receives a letter from Landis University in the game, a clear reference to the filmmaker. Max is also the name of John Landis' son, who is also a talented filmmaker in his own right.

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According to Byles, "American Werewolf in London is the biggest key influence, particularly the way we shot The Quarry. We've got a very kickass music track going all the way through The Quarry, and that was very much taken from American Werewolf." Byles goes on to add how he incorporated the timeless nature of Landis' film by giving the game a distinct 1980s vibe mixed with 1950s-style music and the architecture of the quarry itself, while also incorporating modern teenagers and technology to create a disorienting sense of anachronism.

While it's worth noting that one character drops the name Sleepaway Camp at one point in the game, a reference to one of the best 80s summer camp slashers with an all-time jaw-dropping ending, the sly reference to Ghostbusters also pays homage to a famous line from Supermassive Games' Until Dawn, to which The Quarry is a spiritual successor.

If players opt to take the scenic route in the cart after Abigail and Emma search the bags at the cabin, a QTE will clear a road blockage. Afterward, Emma says to Abigail "Nice Steerin' Tex!" This is a clear homage to Peter Venkman's quote "Nice Shootin' Tex!" after Egon went ballistic attempting to capture Slimer in the dining hall in the original Ghostbusters. The line "Nice Shootin' Tex" is also a callback to when Sam said it to Chris at the shooting range in Until Dawn.

The mortifying musical score of The Quarry is quite redolent to that in Wes Craven's classic horror film A Nightmare On Elm Street. Additionally, Jacob's retro 1980s clothing available in the deluxe edition appears to be patterned after Glen's (Johnny Depp) wardrobe in A Nightmare on Elm Street, including a football jersey exposing his midriff and a pair of headphones. The outfit also smacks of Ned from Friday the 13th.

Of course, the great horror actress Lin Shaye, who plays the role of Constance Hackett in The Quarry, also played the teacher in A Nightmare on Elm Street, which extends the connective tissue between the two.

Sam Raimi's Evil Dead is another major inspiration for The Quarry that is alluded to time and again. First, the Groovy Chainsaw found in the radio hut in Chapter 5 is a direct nod to Ash Williams' trusty weapon. Moreover, when Ryan opts to cut Dylan's hand off with the chainsaw, the iconic scene from Evil Dead II comes to mind in which Ash does the same.

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According to Byles, "we've taken a level of, not just the humor, but that kind of almost cartoonishness...but it's still violent. It's still scary. We also thought about some of Sam Raimi's camerawork too - he's still massively innovative." If more references were needed, Sam Raimi's brother Ted Raimi plays Travis Hackett in The Quarry.

One of the coolest references can be found on the name brand of the shotgun shells in the game. When purchasing rounds at the store, players may notice the name McTiernan stamped on the shotgun shells.

If gamers opt for the playthrough with Caleb, Kaitlyn, and Dylan at the lodge, the action will lead them into the kitchen where a very overt reference to Jurassic Park can be found. The kitchen layout is very reminiscent of the iconic Raptor attack scene during the original movie, and if that wasn't big enough, the game even admonishes players to trap a werewolf inside the freezer just like Lex did in the Spielberg blockbuster.

While swapping dinosaurs for werewolves, the basic premise of The Quarry aligns with Jurassic Park as a group of people enter a perilous park full of feral beasts out to take their lives. So far, it's one of the most amusing easter eggs found in the game.

In many ways, The Quarry attempts to do for the slasher subgenre what Wes Craven's Scream did in 1996. According to Byles, "Scream was really the first proper post-modern self-referential film in that genre that came out. And we sort of unashamedly stole quite a lot from that."

The most overt parallel with Scream is the casting of David Arquette, who plays Chris Hackett in the game. Moreover, the character of Travis Hackett is patterned after Arquette's bumbling Sheriff Dewey Riley from the Scream franchise, an unreliable character who potentially becomes a suspect at some point, leaving the main characters unsure if they can trust him or not.

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A Senior List Writer covering a wide array of topics who has been with Screen Rant since September of 2019, Jake Dee has written movie news and reviews since 2008, working primarily with OMG Horror (IGN), JoBlo.com, and Arrow in the Head as a freelance reporter based in Los Angeles. A hopeless cinephile, social media Luddite, certified Nic Cage doppelganger, and a big Weekend At Bernie's fan, Jake can often be found tucked away in a dark corner watching an old horror movie. Born and raised in California, Jake has a Bachelor's Degree in Film & Digital Media from the University of California Santa Cruz with an emphasis on theory and criticism, is the author of several "WTF Happened To This Movie" and "WTF Really Happened To This Movie" videos on YouTube, and has covered everything in the entertainment industry from set visits, studio luncheons, and red carpet interviews to wrap parties, movie premieres, private screenings, talent interviews, and more.