Anyone who’s even remotely a fan of James Wan’s Saw would have been jumping for joy as soon as 2019’s Escape Room was announced. It might not have featured Tobin Bell as a sadistic psychopath who teaches delinquents the value of life, but honestly, it’s a close second. Easily one of the main selling points of Escape Room is its ensemble cast, which consists of major talent such as Taylor Russell (Bones and All), Logan Miller (I’m in the Band), Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil), Nik Dodani (Atypical), Tyler Labine (Tucker & Dale vs. Evil), and Jay Ellis (The Game).
Escape Room follows six strangers who are invited to participate in an escape room where they compete to solve puzzles for a grand prize of $10,000. Although it seems like harmless fun at first, the participants soon discover that every room is an elaborate trap in a sadistic deathmatch, hosted by a sadist. On a budget of just $9 million, Escape Room grossed over $155 million, so we’d safely call that a commercial success, but what did the audience think?
Critical opinions are certainly split down the middle as Rotten Tomatoes gives Escape Room a 50% score, while audiences rated it 54%. But don’t let those statistics fool you, critics praised the unpredictability of the movie despite its basic premise, giving special praise to the actors, whose diverse performances made none of the strangers particularly likable or unlikable, which meant that no character was safe.
It might have been four years since Escape Room utterly puzzled us, but if you haven’t quite had your full of daring escapes or death traps, there’s plenty of like-minded material out there, which we’ve compiled for you in this list.
Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
It would make sense, wouldn’t it? If you couldn’t get enough of Escape Room, why not give the sequel a try? Just a few years after Escape Room came out, Adam Robitel returns as director for another round of mind-bending puzzles. This time, the focus is on Zoey and Ben, the only survivors of the first movie. After reconnecting with one another following the events of Escape Room, Zoey and Ben make a pact to hunt down the sinister organization behind the escape rooms and shut them down for good in the hopes of saving others from the same fate.
Once the first movie had become a surprise hit, Columbia Pictures greenlit the sequel, which didn’t perform as well as the original (what does?), but continued the story started in 2019 in a fresh and exciting way. Indya Moore, Holland Roden, Thomas Cocquerel, and Carlito Olivero join the cast, along with Orphan‘s Isabelle Fuhrman.
Would You Rather
There seems to be an unhealthy obsession among directors lately. It seems that taking an innocent party game, puzzle, interactive challenge or some other harmless activity and making it a living nightmare is a new trend. If you’ve been to literally any house party like… ever, you’ll have heard of “Would You Rather?” Similar to “Truth or Dare,” it’s a fun way to learn more about your friends and family. That isn’t the case with Brittany Snow’s character Iris, who’s invited to partake in a parlour game hosted by a philanthropist in order to win prize money and pay for her brother’s leukemia treatment. Once Iris arrives, all bets are off as the game is revealed to be a much deadlier version of “Would You Rather?” in which the participants actually have to undergo whichever torture method they choose.
Although it’s now over 10 years old, Would You Rather remains one of the best psychological horror-thrillers out there. Although Rotten Tomatoes gave Would You Rather a measly 59%, we can assure you that it’s worth much more than that. Snow is incredible, especially under David Guy Levy’s direction, as is the reminder of the cast. Some shoutouts go to Jeffrey Combs, Enver Gjokaj, and Sasha Grey, in particular.
Saw
Although it isn’t necessarily about escaping as much as it is surviving, Saw strongly resembles Escape Room for a number of reasons; certain individuals are chosen to fight for their lives, the games are puppeteered by a power-hungry mastermind, and the only choices are survive or die. It’s a bold statement to say that the 2000s were the best decade for horror, but James Wan’s Saw is exemplary proof of that fact. There aren’t many people — horror fans or not and gorehounds or not — who haven’t seen or are at least familiar with the concept of Saw. Critics hated it, audiences loved it. But isn’t that every horror movie nowadays?
For the uninitiated, Saw sees two men — Adam Stanheight and Dr. Lawrence Gordon — locked inside a grungy bathroom and told that in order to escape, one must kill the other. Of course, since most human beings aren’t inclined toward cold-blooded murder, there’s some understandable hesitation on both sides. Later, the men discover that they were chosen to partake in an experiment of sorts, conducted by the “Jigsaw Killer,” that determines whether or not they value their lives. A woman, Amanda Young, also becomes a victim of Jigsaw’s games.
No Escape Room
Starring the father-daughter duo that is Jeni Ross and Dennis Andres, No Escape Room sees young Karen and her dad Andrew checking out a small-town escape room attraction, only to find that paranormal happenings are making the innocent bonding moment more dangerous than it appears. This time around, it isn’t one singular figure who’s pulling the strings behind the scenes, but more of an unknown cause. It can be said that out of all the movies on this list, this one is the least famous, especially since it was a TV movie and therefore didn’t have a theatrical release.
It also wouldn’t be untrue to say that No Escape Room is the most poorly rated of all, only landing a 27% rating with the audience and failing to receive enough reviews to even total a critic score. Although the acting isn’t necessarily bad, the story isn’t fleshed-out enough to be as impactful as some others. Still, if you have an insatiable hunger for more content like Escape Room, you might be in the minority of people that really enjoy this. Although these are the “best” movies, it’s hard to find such a niche concept with an excellent score, so there’s bound to be some fill-ins.
Cube
Without a doubt the oldest movie on the list, Cube comes straight out of the late ’90s. This Canadian science-fiction horror follows a similar premise of several strangers — without the knowledge of how they got there — awakening in strange cubic cells, some of which are booby-trapped. The prisoners soon figure out that they must use their combined skills to escape, even if it means leaving some men behind. Vincenzo Natali takes directorial duties, while the strangers are portrayed by Nicole de Boer, Nicky Guadagni, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, Julian Richings, Wayne Robson, and Maurice Dean Wint.
Unfortunately, a lot of concepts mimicking Escape Room don’t perform well at the box office, generally. Especially since it was from an era where technology hadn’t yet evolved like it has today, Cube often gets left in the dust in favor of more modern takes on the same idea. That being said, both The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting gave the movie positive reviews, so if you’re looking for a professional opinion to sway you, there it is.
The Killing Room
As the name suggests, there’s a lot of death in The Killing Room, so if that’s up your alley, you’ll definitely enjoy this. Jonathan Leibesman directed it — the same man who brought us Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dolittle — so it’s no surprise that he delivers yet again. If you need more motivation to see this, Leibesman also worked on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, so he’s well-versed in the horror genre and knows how to produce a good gorefest. Chloë Sevigny, Nick Cannon, Timothy Hutton, Shea Whigham, Peter Stormare, and Clea DuVall star in this mystery-thriller about three test subjects under the care of Dr. Phillips, who asks them to take a survey – but things take a violent turn when one of the subjects is executed.
MTV‘s Larry Carroll labeled it as the “best movie” at Sundance 2009 and called it “Cube with better actors,” and honestly, that’s a fair assessment. Although Cube is brilliant in its own right, the actors of that time just weren’t as seasoned as The Killing Floor‘s ensemble. It’s definitely a concept that’s been through the wringer a few times, but The Killing Floor manages to put a fresh spin on it.
127 Hours
Even writing this, I couldn’t believe that 127 Hours is 13 years old, and it was actually one of the projects that put James Franco on the map. It’s a survival drama that’s based on the true story of canyoneer Aron Ralston who found himself trapped inside a canyon for five days and forced to amputate his right arm to survive. Although the box office statistics don’t seem too promising, seeing as the movie only made $60 million on a budget of $18 million, it’s more about the emotional impact of the biographical story being told rather than the production values themselves.
Not many people would believe this to be a true story, but Ralston survived the ordeal, returned home safely and continues to climb, always ensuring to leave a note behind to tell family where he’s going and for how long. If you trust anything from Rotten Tomatoes, the approval rating sits at 93%, which is a true testament to Danny Boyle’s skills as a director. Boyle also worked on Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, and Slumdog Millionaire. Although there’s no explicit mention of an escape room, there’s no denying that Ralston certainly felt trapped.
Fall
Just last year, Scott Mann subtly dropped Fall, a suspense-thriller about best friends Becky and Hunter, who find themselves stranded at the top of a radio tower after scaling the 2,000 feet climb to the top. Unable to get down, deprived of food and water and no way to call for help, the pair begin hallucinating and preparing to meet their end, but a small glimmer of hope keeps them motivated. As someone who personally saw this in the theater and isn’t even afraid of heights, this awoke a whole new fear inside of me that I never even knew existed.
Complete props to Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding and Jeffrey Dean Morgan for taking Fall to greater heights, literally. If it weren’t for them, this wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is. Both Currey and Gardner are sensational, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan is the icing on the cake, but Mann really knew how to build suspense here and it shows. Even if you aren’t fundamentally scared of heights, you’ll be shaking at the knees watching this. On a budget of $3 million, Fall took home just $21 million at the box office, which is absolutely criminal.
Devil
Another personal favorite of mine from over a decade ago, Devil sees five strangers from all walks of life stranded in an elevator. When the elevator gets stuck, the group are trapped in there for hours on end, but certain supernatural happenings lead them to believe that one of them is possessed by the Devil. The strangers are played by Chris Messina, Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, and Bokeem Woodbine, who portrays the security guard on duty. Clocking in at just 80 minutes, Devil was criticized for its short run time, but praised for pretty much everything else.
Although directed by John Erick Dowdle, the story was written by M. Night Shyamalan, one of the greatest horror-thriller directors of our time, who also produces. On just a $10 million budget, Devil made $62 million, which was certainly impressive at the time back in 2010. Although some review aggregator sites only give Devil a rating below 50%, take it from someone who saw it and thoroughly enjoyed it: you won’t be disappointed. If children get terrified by ghost stories and check their closets for monsters at night, then adults will be believing in the Devil himself after exposing themselves to this.
Nine Dead
Another lesser-known movie from — oddly enough — 2010 (that seems to be a good year), Nine Dead was brought to us by Chris Shadley. The plot follows nine individuals who are kidnapped and handcuffed to pipes inside a large room. They are all different professions, personalities and survival instincts, which makes this sadistic game entertaining. Although there isn’t necessarily any star power in the cast, there’s no denying that as a unit, all of them bring the star power anyway. John Terry and Melissa Joan Hart are stand-outs, but — like a well-oiled machine — everyone plays their part to deliver a thrilling story.
The first official stills from the movie were released on MySpace before anywhere else, so if that doesn’t make you feel old, nothing will. Like most movies, Rotten Tomatoes isn’t a big fan, but honestly, the movie was a bit before its time anyway, plus there hadn’t been too many mystery-thriller type “escape room” concepts for a while, even though Devil came out the same year. But since Nine Dead and Devil were so drastically different, one being supernatural and the other more psychological, it wasn’t much of a contest. Both are good movies in their own right, even if you might prefer one over the other.
