
Lovecraft such as Herbert West–Reanimator.

The game is influenced by western horror films, such as Friday the 13th, Evil Dead II, Poltergeist, Rejuvenatrix, and Parasite, as well as imagery inspired by the works of horror writer H. After his resurrection by the Terror Mask, Rick makes his way through the mansion, fighting off hordes of creatures in a vain attempt to save his girlfriend Jennifer from a grisly fate. Splatterhouse is an arcade-style sidescrolling beat 'em up with platform elements, in which the player controls Rick, a parapsychology college major who is trapped inside West Mansion. Marketing for the game heavily emphasized its violent nature for example, the TurboGrafx-16 port of Splatterhouse had a faux parental advisory warning printed on the front of the box that read, "The horrifying theme of this game may be inappropriate for young children. This game would later spawn the parody Splatterhouse: Wanpaku Graffiti, the sequels Splatterhouse 2, Splatterhouse 3, and the 2010 remake Splatterhouse, with the classic games being added to Namco Museum since 2017.

It was the first in a series of games released in home console and personal computer formats.

Splatterhouse is a beat 'em up arcade game developed and published by Namco.
