15 Escape Room Horror Movies That Are The Best Type Of Puzzle To Solve
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Vote up the best escape room horror movies that have you searching for an exit.
The popularity of escape rooms has not been lost on the movie industry, and there is a seemingly endless supply of escape room horror movies for fans to enjoy. While some of these movies are about literal escape rooms, others are a bit more cryptic. Saw II, for example, which finds eight individuals caught in one of Jigsaw's traps, might not be billed as an escape room movie, but it has all the elements of one, including the fact that sometimes there are no winners in these films.
The movies on this list all have an escape room element where a group's ability to work together (or not) can have life or death consequences.
- 146 VOTESPhoto: Trimark Pictures
Premise: Five strangers are trapped inside the “Cube,” a seemingly infinite number of rooms connected through hatches. While some rooms are safe, others are “trapped” and can terminate those trying to escape. When the group comes upon a mathematic savant named Kazan, they realize they can potentially escape the cube with his help, but as the character Quentin becomes more unhinged, not everyone makes it out alive.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The puzzles in Cube are complicated even if you're a math wiz, considering there are 17,576 moving rooms within the cube. They're also dangerous, especially the razor wire and acid traps, which are both lethal.
Is Escape Possible? Maybe. Kazan is the only character to leave the cube, but it's unclear what happens to him afterward.
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- 243 VOTESPhoto: Lionsgate
Premise: Eight strangers are trapped in a house by John Kramer, the Jigsaw slayer. One of the targets is the son of police detective Eric Matthews, who tracks down Kramer. Matthews must watch via security cameras as his son and the others attempt to escape Kramer's puzzle, but it seems as though none of them will get out alive.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The puzzles Kramer creates are more sadistic than complicated. Amanda is thrown into a pit of syringes to retrieve a key. Addison must pull her hands through razor blades after they become trapped, and Xavier cuts off his own skin to find a secret code.
Is Escape Possible? Yes, but only if John Kramer wants you to survive. Amanda and Daniel escape as part of John's plan, but no one, including detective Matthews, can outwit Jigsaw.
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- 345 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Premise: After surviving their first escape room, Zoey and Ben are forced into another with four other survivors from previous games. Once again, Zoey and Ben survive, but the stakes are set higher when Zoey learns she must become the next puzzle maker to save the life of a child.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? A step up from the puzzles in the first film, the escape rooms include an electrified train, a bank with lasers, a fake beach made of quicksand, and a room that rains acid.
Is Escape Possible? Unclear. Although Zoey and Ben seem to make it out of the escape room, the ending of the film implies they're in yet another puzzle, and getting out is virtually impossible.
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- 438 VOTESPhoto: Lionsgate
Premise: Five college students go on a camping trip to a cabin in the woods where they are manipulated by engineers in a lab who are attempting to carry out an ancient ritual. Members of the group are finished off in a number of bizarre and vicious ways as the engineers attempt to avoid the end of the world.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? Not complicated, because the “puzzle” is Dana and Marty learning about human sacrifices needed to save humanity, which they decide isn't worth saving.
Is Escape Possible? Given that Dana and Marty's indifference brings about the end of the world, it's safe to say no one makes it out of the apocalypse.
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- 554 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Premise: After solving a puzzle, six strangers are invited to complete an escape room for a $10,000 reward. Although they start out successful, the players are slowly eliminated. As it turns out, each player was once the sole survivor of a fatal disaster, but they're not so lucky this time.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? Each room gets progressively more complicated and dangerous. The first room is a giant oven the group escapes from, but other rooms include an icy floor that caves in, an upside-down billiard room, and a hospital room that fills with deadly gas.
Is Escape Possible? Yes. Zoey and Ben manage to get out of the escape room, but while they escape temporarily, the game is far from over.
More Escape Room - 644 VOTES
No Escape Room
Photo: SyfyPremise: After their car breaks down, father and daughter Michael and Karen decide to visit a local escape room. They are joined by strangers Andrew, Tyler, and Melanie as well as their guide, Josie. Josie explains that the “Inventor” of the escape room is able to communicate with the dead, which foreshadows the fate of the characters.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The characters all become trapped in a series of time loops where their past selves try to warn their future selves about the danger ahead. One of the more original traps is a painting in which Michael becomes trapped and eventually terminates him.
Is Escape Possible? No. Although Karen and Michael appear to leave the escape room, their escape is all part of a larger time loop the Inventor has trapped them in.
- 735 VOTESPhoto: Warner Bros. Pictures
Premise: After the passing of his uncle, Cyrus Kriticos, Arthur and his two children move into Cyrus's mansion, which contains 12 ghosts. After the ghosts are released, Arthur is told his children can be saved only if he sacrifices himself and becomes the 13th ghost. However, it's revealed to Arthur that not everything is what it seems, and there's another way to save his family and himself.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The puzzles in this film are the ghosts, and they're all terrifying. The Juggernaut and the Hammer are especially gruesome and vicious. The ghost of Arthur's dead wife also haunts the house, causing immense emotional anguish.
Is Escape Possible? Yes. With the help of a friendly ghost, Arthur and his family are able to escape the house before it self-destructs.
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Premise: A group of employees are trapped in their office building and told by a disembodied voice to finish off each other or risk being eliminated themselves. The employees split into two groups: Mike's group wants peace, while Barry's group breaks into the building's armory and starts shooting people. If 30 people aren't slain in two hours, 60 will perish.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? The puzzle is simple in the sense that it's made clear survival is based on 30 people dying, but it's far more complicated to eliminate so many people as Mike and his group work together to prevent additional carnage.
Is Escape Possible? No. Mike appears to be the lone survivor, but the audience learns this was only stage one of an elaborate, deadly game.
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- 934 VOTESPhoto: Sony Pictures Releasing
Premise: After Meg Altman moves into a new home with her daughter Sarah, three burglars infiltrate the house, causing Meg and Sarah to hide in a panic room built by the previous owner. The burglars need to get into the panic room to collect $22 million in bearer bonds. As the panic room becomes the least safe space in the house, Meg has to figure out how to get rid of the men while keeping her and Sarah alive.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? The puzzle in Panic Room is how Meg will keep her daughter safe, and how the burglars will get their money. This involves Meg starting a fire when propane is pumped into the room and knocking out one of the burglars with a sledgehammer.
Is Escape Possible? Yes. Meg more or less singlehandedly saves the day and searches for a new home for her and Sarah.
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- 1037 VOTESPhoto: FilmBuff
Premise: Fifty strangers find themselves in a darkened room standing in a circular formation. If someone steps out of line, a laser in the center of the room eliminates them. After that, someone is randomly terminated every two minutes, but the group realizes they can vote on who dies next, causing each person to make a case for why they should live. In the end it is revealed that whole thing was an experiment by an alien race to test humanity and their values.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? The puzzle is complicated in the sense that every choice a person makes speaks to their values and the humanity they see in others. Those terminated include the elderly, a racist cop, and a homophobic attorney.
Is Escape Possible? Marine veteran and cancer survivor Eric escapes the circle, but only after double-crossing a young girl and a pregnant woman.
- 1123 VOTESPhoto: Freestyle Releasing
Premise: Arkin O'Brien breaks into his employer's home to take a valuable ruby, only to discover the family has been taken hostage by a man known simply as “The Collector.” Arkin learns the Collector abducts a single member of a family, then eliminates the rest. Along the way, the Collector sets a series of sadistic traps that Arkin and the family must avoid to survive.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? The traps set by the Collector include rigged objects such as golf clubs, scissors, and bear traps. He also boards up the windows and lines them with razor blades. While the traps aren't especially complicated, they're nevertheless deadly.
Is Escape Possible? Probably not. Arkin and the Chase family's fate indicates that it's nearly impossible to escape the Collector.
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Premise: Nine people are placed in a concrete room where they're handcuffed to pipes. The kidnapper claims all nine abductees are interconnected, and they must figure out the connections or be terminated. The characters determine they're all tied to the wrongful conviction of one man. However, most of the characters perish in the process of figuring this out.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The puzzles are all in the minds of the nine characters who have to work together to uncover their connection. However, this becomes increasingly complicated each time the kidnapper enters the room and shoots one of the characters.
Is Escape Possible? Yes, but no thanks to Kelley. Several characters could have escaped the room, but Kelley's need for self-preservation makes her the lone survivor.
- 1322 VOTESPhoto: IFC Films
Premise: Eight candidates sit for an exam to get a job at a major corporation called DATAPREV. The only rules are to not write on their paper, leave the room, or ask for help. However, this task proves nearly impossible when the character White begins bullying the others.
How Complicated Is The Puzzle? The only puzzle is the paper exam, which has one question written on it that no one can see. As frustration grows over the puzzle, the characters begin turning on one another and breaking the rules of the exam.
Is Escape Possible? Yes. Not only do several of the characters survive until the end of the film, but the character Blonde is rewarded for her actions during the exam.
- 1423 VOTESPhoto: IFC Films
Premise: Four mathematicians using assumed names arrive at an exclusive gathering hosted by a man named Fermat after they solve a complex mathematic problem. At the gathering, the group has one minute to solve a puzzle. When they go past a minute, the walls of the room close in. As the group attempts to solve the remaining puzzles before they're terminated by the room, each reveals a shocking secret.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? While complicated for the average person, these mathematicians are able to solve the equations. It also turns out the room isn't too difficult to escape.
Is Escape Possible? Yes. In fact, the only person who doesn't escape the room is the one who set it up, adding a bit of irony to the film's climax.
- 1514 VOTES
Breathing Room
Photo: Anchor Bay EntertainmentPremise: Tonya Mane is locked in a room with 13 strangers wearing collars. A host tells them they're playing a game where the grand prize is escaping with their life. Various clues indicate some of the players have committed terrible offenses, but it becomes less and less clear who can be trusted as the game devolves.
How Complicated Are The Puzzles? The puzzles in Breathing Room present themselves as abstract notes hidden in the players' pockets. These notes are often “hints” that are meant to help the players survive, but with time limits and tensions rising, it becomes increasingly difficult to solve the puzzle.
Is Escape Possible? Unknown. The film's ending leaves the fate of the remaining players unresolved, but the rules do state there can be only one winner, which implies someone can survive.
