You’ve got to love a horror movie.
There’s something so enjoyable about watching people in hilariously over-the-top situations trying not to get killed.
We all know the drill – one by one, the characters are going to get killed off until there’s a lone survivor. Occasionally there will be a final pair, and there’s always a villain who’s not quite dead.
We know the tropes, we love the tropes – it’s what makes watching a horror movie so much fun.
And Escape Room does not disappoint.
The new thriller has a simple concept – a group of six strangers are completing an ‘escape room’. Except, this escape room is trying to kill them, naturally.
We don’t know a lot about our characters before they receive a mysterious box, which serves as their invitation to the escape room.
But once the game begins, it doesn’t take long for them to realise that things are a little strange – do most escape room experiences try to roast you alive in the first room?
The characters have all the stereotypes you would expect – the douchey finance bro (Jay Ellis, Insecure), the quiet brainy girl (Taylor Russell, Lost in Space), the messed-up no-hoper (Logan Miller, Love Simon), the no-nonsense fighter (Deborah Ann Woll, True Blood), the enthusiastic nerd (Nik Dodani, Atypical) and the easy-going trucker (Tyler Labine, Tucker and Dale vs Evil).
As the team gets further into the escape room, it becomes clear that the elusive ‘Game Master’ knows details about each of the participants’ lives.
Details they don’t normally share.
The rooms are designed to draw on the crew’s most traumatic moments and challenge them in near unwinnable ways.
Just like the brilliant Final Destination franchise and the grimy Saw movies, Escape Room keeps the audience entertained by coming up with exciting new ways to kill its characters.
The odds are firmly stacked against them and it’s only a matter of time before they’re killed, so figuring out just how their deaths will play out is a lot of fun.
If you like easy, predictable horror movies, then Escape Room will be just your cup of murderous tea.