The Descent (a template) ?

[Googolplex]

As I saw the movie The Descent, I really remember to Penumbra.

1. You are in a cave with flashlights. But OK, that's still normal.
2. But there is a green glowstick like in Penumbra.
3. There are the red burning flares like in Penumbra.
4. The monsters looks like the infected in Penumbra.
5. This hammer seems like the weapon in Penumbra.
6. The name of this movie is similar to Amnesia.

Was Frictional Games watching this movie before creating games?

[hollowleviathan]

It's possible, but those seem like fairly generic tools to combat darkness. Those are the default colors for glowsticks and flares, as I understand it. The only substantive similarities are the name and the appearance of the infected, but I haven't seen the movie to comment on how similar they really are. The game was also originally slated to be titled Lux Tenebras, if it was based on The Descent, I'd think they would have had that name the whole time.