Is the movie The Evil Within related to the game of the same name? Here's what we know

When you play The Evil Within, Tango Gameworks' 2014 video game, you'll see its gameplay is sort of similar to Resident Evil 4, still considered the best game in the acclaimed franchise. That's because it was created by Shinji Mikami, who directed it. While Resident Evil got film adaptations, the 2014 game is yet to see such development.

However, there is a movie of the same name that was released in 2017, and people who haven't seen it may wonder if The Evil Within is related to the video game. The simple answer is no, it is not related to the video game.

While the video game got much praise from the critics, the movie of the same name was received mildly. Don't go by its Rotten Tomatoes score, which currently shows 100% approval on the Tomatometer — that's based on just six reviews!

The film is about a mental patient dealing with his inner demon

The movie, The Evil Within, follows Dennis (Frederick Koehler), who is a mentally unstable person dealing with an entity called Cadaver (Michael Berryman). The man is also obsessed with taxidermy, a practice where the skin of a dead animal or human is stuffed to make it look like a living being.

He also has a brother named John (Sean Patrick Flanery), who believes that Dennis is his responsibility since he is the sane one. This is clear when he becomes upset about the fact that he might not ne able to take care of Dennis if he marries Lydia, his girlfriend.

As the story moves, we get to see some unnerving truths about Dennis, who kills Lydia and stuffs her body as a part of his taxidermy practice. However, she isn't the only one, as it is revealed.

Ryan Readenour, a friend of the film's director, Andrew Getty, revealed that Getty's nightmares inspired the movie. He told People magazine,

"When he was young he would have these really powerful, sick, twisted dreams, and [they were] so shocking to him that he didn't think they came from him."

Initially, the film was called The Storyteller but was later called The Evil Within.

The game is about a cop stuck in a mental hospital

The Evil Within got a sequel in the same year the movie arrived. (Image via Tango Gameworks)

The video game, The Evil Within, is about Sebastian, who is investigating Beacon Mental Hospital, which becomes a living nightmare for him when he faces several nightmares in the form of a guy running around with a chainsaw, multi-limbed monsters, and more.

Later, we are introduced to the game's major antagonist, who can reshape reality. We learn of his backstory, where he lost his sister Laura in a fire, which is also a reason he murders his parents to take over their fortune, so he can keep on experimenting using this money to 'reunite' with his sister.

The success of the 2014 video led to a sequel, which came out in the same year as the movie of the same name. However, this time, the story was not about Sebastian as a cop investigating a case. It follows him as a father who has lost his daughter.