Escape Room arrived in UK cinemas earlier this year, but found itself lost amongst all those awards contenders; it’s now out on home entertainment platforms where it finally gets its chance to be discovered. Not to be confused with several other films of the same name that are available on various streaming platforms, this Escape Room follows a group of strangers that must all work together to complete an immersive escape room. The prize for completion is $10,000, but the cost of trying may very well be their lives.
Playing somewhere between Cube, Saw and Cabin in the Woods, Escape Room offers the viewer a lot of entertainment. Much like Saw, this film is most memorable for its set pieces, with the different stages to the game ramping up the tension and spectacle to a ridiculous level. Games of torture and torment have gone hand-in-hand with the horror genre for years, and after watching Escape Room it got us thinking about some of our favourites.
Escape Room
While we’re on the topic of Escape Room we might as well start with its dastardly traps. The plot itself is fairly familiar, and the ending is a little lack-lustre, but the room elements are pretty inspired. Yes, despite what the title suggests, there is actually more than one room featured in the movie. This is explained away as sometimes escape attractions have more than one game area, an attempt to heighten the drama and make things more difficult for the player. Here they work as a literal change of scene, enabling the story to progress without all the usual strangers trapped in a room with excessive exposition. Each one offers our heroes a different problem to solve, be that escaping from a room-sized oven, staving of hypothermia, or maneuvering around a room where the floor starts to disappear. The sets for these environments are incredible and if we had to pick a favourite it would have to be the upside-down bar, the stuff of Escher’s nightmares.
Hellraiser
One of the most iconic games within the horror genre comes in the guise of Hellraiser‘s puzzle – LeMarchand’s Box. Known as the Lament Configuration, the box is a mystical and mechanical device that once unlocked, acts as a door to another, Hell-like, dimension. This dimension is the dominion of creatures known as Cenobites, depraved creatures that thrive on the ecstasy of pleasure gained through intense pain. The box also appears to have a rather addictive nature, people like Hellraiser‘s Uncle Frank become obsessed with opening it and learning what secrets it holds. Sadly, the outcome is never pleasant, and Frank quickly regrets his actions, leading to him escaping from the Cenobites and bringing down all kinds of Hell upon his innocent niece Kirtsy.
Saw
Let’s face it, these days whenever someone utters the words ‘I want to play a game’ you instantly think of the Saw movies. This is because the ultimate Games Master is John Kramer AKA Jigsaw, a serial killer whom challenged his victims to overcome their sins or vices in order to save their lives. Sadly, as the films progressed, and the Jigsaw mantle was taken over by a variety of other folks, John’s message got lost. What each film has given viewers though is a steady stream of unimaginably vicious challenges. Much like Escape Room, as the ‘traps’ progress, they get more and more insane. Highlights include a needle pit and Venus flytrap, but in all honesty none really come close to topping Amanda versus the Reverse Bear Trap from the first film.
Scream
Not quite as intense as some of the other films on the list, but still terrifying in its own way, is the opening phone call in Scream. Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker is about to settle down for some popcorn and a movie when her house phone rings. On the other end is the ultimate nuisance caller, one whom threatens to kill her unless she answers some simple movie trivia questions. She easily passes her warm-up question, naming the killer in Halloween, but falls foul when asked who was the killer in Friday the 13th. Now famous for being the franchise with Jason Voorhees stalking naughty teenagers, it was, of course, Jason’s mum who did the killing in the first film. A fact that Casey forgot, with disastrous consequences.
Escape Room is available to own on Digital HD, Blu-Ray and DVD now.
