Escape Room Succeeds In Delivering​ Old-Fashioned Suspense And Thrills Despite Minor Faults

     

      When it comes to horror films, one of the most successful style of films within the genre are those which contain survival type story arcs. Survival style horror films generally prove to be highly successful due to the escapism their stories provide audiences with, along with the thrill of seeing the main set of characters work together in fighting for their own survival. Some of the best examples of the types of horror films where the main characters end up in a deadly game of survival are 1997's cult classic Cube, 1999's House On Haunted Hill, 2004's Saw along with it's set of sequels, and M Night Shymalan's 2010 thriller Devil. What draws audiences to these films are the sadistically brutal, yet clever nature of their plots with them ultimately getting a legitimate thrill out of watching these strangers trapped together in the same locations, work together in order to survive with their desperation to live becoming more rampant. In the case of Escape Room, the film offers horror fans a scenario which plays out in a similar fashion to the previous films mentioned while bringing its own style of suspense and thrills to the table. It's a different film than both Cube and Saw, but it maintains the spirit of those films while making its own mark within the horror genre. While the film may disappoint in regards to presenting anything that's truly groundbreaking or innovative to audiences, it succeeds in delivering the thrills and adrenaline that's expected of it in regards to thoroughly entertaining its audience while keeping them at the edge of their seat. Whereas Escape Room may look and feel like a scenario that's been done before, it still manages to surprise and impress audience with it's determination to be surprising despite utilizing a successful yet familiar concept.

      The plot for Escape Room centers around a group of six strangers accepting a mysterious invitation to participate in an escape room that's designed to be a completely immersive experience. As they begin solving puzzles, they realize that they all share something in common while realizing that the challenges presented to them are real with their lives ultimately depending on figuring out what's behind it all. Escape Room relies on old-fashioned suspense and thrills while borrowing elements from both Saw and Final Destination to create it's own nail-biting experience. While the film itself doesn't land on the classic status as those films nor 1997's cult-classic Cube, Escape Room checks off all the essential ingredients required to make its story work as well as being exciting. Given that the film is a PG-13 style horror flick, it doesn't have the gore of the Saw franchise but still proves to be highly effective despite not carrying the gore aspect of typical survival horror flicks. What does work for the film is it's intriguing premise that comes with the uncertainty of what's behind each door for both the characters, as well as the audience. The characters are presented as being fairly established and likable to where the audience doesn't fall in love with any person in particular, but they also don't despise them to the point where they automatically root for their demise. The film manages to keep the audience at the edge of their seat in regards to leaving them guessing on whose going to die next with each new puzzle or trap being both unexpected as well as unpredictable. Escape Room doesn't necessarily bring anything new to the table in regards to being innovative with it's storyline, but it still manages to succeed in delivering loads of excitement and fun while adding it's own flavor to the survival horror aspect of the genre. There's enough twist and turns here to please horror fans without them focusing much on the films shortcomings, which are rightfully overshadowed by it's positive elements.

      In addition to the films well-execution of its suspense and thrills, the cast as a whole does a strong and noteworthy job of bringing suspense to the films story. While their performances are nothing groundbreaking to write home about, they turn in work that comes across as feeling both realistic and convincing overall. The films most impressive and noteworthy performance goes to Taylor Russell as young physics student Zoey Davis. Russell brings alot of empathy and emotion to her performance, which makes her character both likable and sympathetic to the audience. The latter finds themselves caring a great deal about her characters well-being given that she's the youngest of the group, but also possesses the brains in regards to helping solve the deadly puzzles. The second strongest performance in the film goes to Logan Miller as a young stock boy named Ben. Like Russell, Miller brings a sizable dose of strength and humility to his character as he plays someone with a troubled past, whose often misunderstood but becomes one of the stronger individuals trapped in the deadly game. Deborah Ann Will impresses in her role as Amanda, a tough Iraq War veteran who through the course of the game experiences PTSD. Woll delivers a solid performance with her making the most of her part with the audience wanting to see her character survive or die heroically saving the others. Another actor that shines in his role is Jay Ellis as Jason walker. Ellis does an impressive job playing a snobbish and self-centered wealthy day trader, whose only concern is saving himself rather than caring about the people around him. Although Ellis character fits the generic type of blatantly rude and selfish individual that can be found in movies carrying this particular formula, he does a good job of making his character one whom the audience understands his motives but overall disapproves of. Other strong performances in the film are Tyler Labine as truck driver Mike Nolan, Nik Dodani as escape room enthusiast Danny Khan with Dodani's character being shown to have misguided enthusiasm for the game, and Yorick van Wageningen in a sinister yet creepy role as the Gamemaster. As a whole, the cast for Escape Room deliver noteworthy performances with the group demonstrating both strong and natural chemistry working together as a group playing a deadly game of survival. Every performance proves effective in maintaining the audiences interest in the story, along with adding mystery to the films story. Escape Room needed a cast that's reliable in order to make it work as being the fun and tense thrill ride it ultimately turns out to be. Thankfully, the cast and crew found the right balance of talented actors to bring the story to life with their skills being put on full display here.

      The films directing by Adam Robitel proves to be surprisingly effective in setting up an atmosphere that feels both tense and thrilling. Despite being grounded within the confinements of making a PG-13 style horror flick, Robitel pushes everything to the max in regards to what he can show with the films rating restriction. One can tell while watching the film that Robitel and the crew carried a great deal of excitement for making the film and it shows. The films set design is striking with the overall look being impressive, as well as creative given its minor budget. The cinematography blends well with the design of the puzzles to make for an experience that feels inventive in a visual sense. The film has visual moments which makes each set-piece feel separately distinct while allowing them to take a form of their own. One example includes a room being designed to represent a pool hall, that also includes a fully stocked bar and mid-month billiards table. However, the audience soon discovers the surprise twist of such sequence with it being revealed that the entire set is upside down. The camera does an effective upward rotation that not only confuses the audience, but throws them off balance in regards to where the scene is heading with the main characters. This sequence is an example of the clever form of trickery that the filmmakers play on the characters, as well as the audience with Robitel using all of the films visual elements at his disposal. He also manages to give the film a brisk pace that doesn't allow neither the characters nor the audience to get too comfortable before the next puzzle set-piece emerges. The films soundtrack is noteworthy in adding to the suspense of the film with it enhancing the overall experiencing much like the films visuals. On a technical note, Escape Room looks appealing and instantly draws the audience into this bizarre yet deadly world of maybe. As far as directing goes, Adam Robitel succeeds in giving the film the appropriate look and atmosphere that its story required, with the films key set-pieces being well-staged and thrilling to watch. With the films death traps, Robitel makes each puzzle detailed and functioning in their own way so they never come across as feeling repetitive, but maintain both the mystery and excitement of the story. In terms of being imaginative while creating suspense that keeps the audience at the edge of their seat from start to finish, Adam Robitel does a fairly decent job of making the story work on the big screen despite some of the scripts questionable decisions.

      The films screenplay by Bragi F. Schut and Maria Melnik proves to be a solid effort in regards to introducing the concept of the deadly puzzle game with the story being at its strongest when it maintains the mystery behind the whole scenario. The character development presented is about medium with the audience being given just enough information regarding the main characters to become connected with them, but not excessive to the point where the story feels bogged down with endless exposition. The first half hour of the film is properly utilized with introducing all the key players with the audience getting a feel for each persons personality, while showing them all receiving the mysterious invitation that brings them together with little to no knowledge of what they're about to experience. Each of the films key set-pieces are properly spaced out throughout the film, giving both the audience and characters minimal time to recover and question what just happened as well as what's coming next. In terms of story structure, the film plays out in a similar fashion to Cube with the main difference being that the audience see's the main characters outside of the trap before being placed in it whereas Cube showed all of the main characters waking up in the room with no recollection of what happened prior. One of the reasons why Cube works as being the stronger film of the two is the mystery the film maintains in regards to never showing the audience what's outside of the Cube or how the main characters ended up there. Escape Room works to its fullest potential when it hangs onto the mystery surrounding the deadly puzzles in a direct inspiration from Cube before it attempts to throw in a Jigsaw/Saw style angle to it in the films third act by giving audiences the truth behind the game. The revelation itself isn't devastating enough to ruin the momentum the film builds up prior in regards to it's strong yet steady suspense, but it brings it somewhat to a halt as the mystery behind the whole scenario is evaporated. The script feels as if it wants to be both films and designs its script in a way which it borrows elements from both movies, though the end result slightly suffers from the desire to have both worlds rather than choosing to leave everything ambiguous for the audience to ponder on long after the credits roll. The scriptwriting for Escape Room isn't a bad nor terrible effort by any means, it's just not as strong nor groundbreaking as it could've been with the film often feeling as if it leans too much on past movies with similar plots for comfort rather than taking the similar kind of risks the films visual atmosphere dares to go.

      In the end, Escape Room thrives as being a genuinely fun and exciting thriller but it's not the great horror movie classic that it could've been had the film not tried so desperately to give the origins behind the deadly puzzles, and just aimed for being completely ambiguous. What made films such as Cube and Saw work so well was how much they kept from the audience regarding their respective scenarios with the audience being uncertain of the main characters intentions, along with having fear of the unknown. What Escape Room has going for it is the sheer thrill of seeing it's deadly traps at work with the main characters being forced to work together in order to survive with the audience not knowing much about them making the situation even more compelling. The films production designs are breathtaking and intricate with the detailed designs going into making each distinct puzzle being commendable. For the most part, the film remains deeply intense, exciting, and unpredictable with it's action sequences being both disturbing and frightening to watch. The performances are solid work that help to elevate the films into being an experience, that feels believable for the audience with the production design giving the film a 1950's B- movie feel in a vein similar to Cube. One just wishes that the films third act remained just as vague and ambiguous as the it's first two with the reveal of the shadowy organization responsible for the creation and functioning of the escape room, feeling unnecessary and ultimately undoes the steady yet skillful suspense the film was building up prior. The film also goes out of its way to lay out the groundwork for a sequel due in theaters in 2021. Even though the film isn't without its share of flaws, Escape Room thrives for the most part as being captivating entertainment with there being enough good stuff here to make up for it's shortcomings. There's a saying that things can be much scarier when you don't know the reasonings behind them. One wishes that the filmmakers behind Escape Room took that knowledge to heart and chose to redo the films third act as it's ultimately what keeps it from being the exceptional survivor horror film that it could've possibly became.

Final Verdict: For fans of survival style horror films such as Cube or Saw, Escape Room is worth watching with it being a flawed yet highly entertaining piece of escapist entertainment.