ESCAPE ROOM (2017) Reviews and overview

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‘Will you survive?’

Escape Room is a 2017 horror thriller film co-produced and directed by Will Wernick from a screenplay co-written with Noah A.D. The movie stars Evan WilliamsAnnabelle Stephenson and Elisabeth Hower.

Plot:

For Tyler’s 30th birthday, his girlfriend Christen gets him an unusual gift: admission to a mysterious escape room event.

As they enter with four friends, they find themselves trapped in bizarre rooms where they must solve tricky puzzles in order to advance. However, Christen has disappeared, and Tyler is shocked to see her on a video monitor, naked and trapped in a cage while the seconds count down.

When the cruel game begins to turn deadly, he realises they may not all escape with their lives…

Reviews:

“While Escape Room is somewhat predictable and lacks the exploitive, superfluous gore of other similar films – which you may or may not appreciate – it is an enjoyable watch. The ensemble cast are fairly solid in their roles, portraying a motley cast of characters who are not entirely lovable but are also not simple cannon fodder either.” Cryptic Rock

“The movie is neither as nasty as it possibly should be, or as exciting; budget limitations mean that while early scenes sustain the attention, the big tense stuff at the end feels cramped and underdeveloped, and the whole thing is basically over-polite and inconsequential.” Dark Eyes of London

“Wernick doesn’t do a terrible job with the direction, although he keeps everything a bit tamer than some horror fans may want. The deaths don’t come thick and fast, but they’re enjoyable when they finally start to happen, even if some are the result of ridiculously slow reactions from the main characters…” For It Is Man’s Number

“There a no weak links, which ensures that the story is in focus. Also, it means we can accept the characters’ relationships with one another. I can’t imagine this will become anyone’s new favorite horror movie. Still, you could easily choose Escape Room as your next Friday night horror movie and have a good time.”Heaven of Horror


“There’s a difference between being ambiguous to create a ‘whodunnit’ vibe but another to not tell afterward. While this plays out, nothing much happens apart from watching the group work out puzzles. It goes on until about halfway through. The kill scenes are short-lived. By the time the final scenes get out, none of the players had particularly grown on me.” Mother of Movies

“The production design is of a much higher quality than any escape room I have seen, this is a movie after all, so I am not surprised they embellished on the look a bit […] The pacing of Escape Room is acceptable, but some genre fans may find the first 30 minutes to be slow to kick into gear.” OC Movie Reviews

Cast and characters:

Evan Williams … Tyler
Annabelle Stephenson … Natasha
Elisabeth Hower … Christen
Dan J. Johnson … Anderson
John Ierardi … Conrad
Kelly Delson … Tabby
Iris Avalee … Hadlee
Darrel Cherney … Detective Grate
Cathy Diane Tomlin … Detective Spell
Cali Fredrichs … Nurse
Lance Caraway … Homeless Man
David Hill … Valet
Kevin Althoff … Waiter
Emily Buchan … Party Goer
Billy Flynn … Victor

Release:

In the US, Lionsgate released Escape Room on DVD, Digital HD and On Demand on October 17, 2017. The DVD includes a director’s commentary, deleted scenes, and bloopers.

The movie has been picked up by Netflix.

Related:

Escape Room (Peter Dukes, 2017)

No Escape Room (2018)

Escape Room (2019)

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