Escape Room (2017) Movie Review

Escape Room (2017) IMDB PRIME

Escape Room 2017 movie poster

First we need to do some housekeeping. This movie is Escape Room from 2017 directed by Will Wernick. At the time of me writing this it has about 14K votes on IMDB and had a box office of $1.9M worldwide. It is not the much more popular Escape Room from 2019 directed by Adam Robitel with 123K votes and a $158M worldwide box office that led to the sequel Escape Room Tournament of Champions. That is probably the one you know. But it is also not the movie Escape Room from 2017 directed by Peter Dukes with 4K votes and a box office of $2.6M. I see how you could be confused, There is also The Escape Room, a short from 2020 and No Escape Room, a TV Movie from 2018. If you think that is the end of the housekeeping, I am assuming none of you will confuse the Catalan language movie from Spain, Escape Room: La pel-licula with the movie I will speak about today.

This movie caught my eye initially as I was browsing a movie site and I noticed the poster that included a maze. At first I thought it was the box office success above from 2019 which I had already seen, but some quick IMDB detective work said this was something new. The plot is what you would think. A group of friends goes to an Escape Room, in this case for a person’s birthday. It’s all fun and games until things get a bit too real. The puzzles are ok but the motivations behind the narrative seemed a bit weak to me. I never felt very tense watching the movie, which is a problem with this kind of movie.

I mentioned the movie poster for this above. And I want to show you 3 more versions of it alongside the original, all featuring mazes. If you are interested in posters, check out my blog The 10 Best Maze Themed Movie Posters.

I really like the full maze on the door !

Escape Room 2017 set of 4 movie posters

Back to the movie. It is not very good.

I give it a 4.3/10.

Werewolf by Night (2022) TV Special Review

Werewolf by Night (2022) IMDB

Werewolf by Night Movie poster

Werewolf by Night is a Disney+ exclusive TV special that seems like a movie to me. If it is streaming can’t it kind of be both ? Anyway, however you classify this it stars the wonderful Gael García Bernal. Our story takes place after the death of the head of a group of monster hunters as they look for a replacement. To do this they will chase a monster on the grounds of the manor with the winner being the hunter that can kill the monster first. The grounds are setup as a large maze consisting of a mix of buildings and hedge.

I’m not going to spoil the story, but it is a good one. The movie/special is filmed in black and white and really helps set the right tone and mood. Overall, there is not a weak part of the movie. I could see this as a Halloween watch each year. And of course the best parts I can’t discuss, because SPOILERS.

This is a well made movie/special. I suggest you give it a watch !

I give it a 7.2/10.

Haze (2005) Movie Review

Haze (2005) IMDB

Haze movie poster

When I looked at the Wikipedia page for this movie, it is described as a “mystery horror film”. I really think that describes this movie well. A man wakes up in a concrete passageway and does not know how he got there, or of course where he is. With a little bit of work he finds he is in a concrete maze. From a movie perspective this is a very dark looking movie and the way it is shot makes you feel the claustrophobia of the character. Unfortunately, it also includes what I can only assume is some purposeful shaky camerawork. I did have to look away from the screen a few times during some extra shaky scenes.

The plot of the movie moves as you think it would. What is happening, and why…with some slow movement crawling throughout the maze. Eventually he meets a woman in the maze and they try to figure out what is happening together. The long version of this movie, which I watched clocks in at 49 minutes, with a short version only 25 minutes long.

I thought the concept was good, but the movie was just ok.

I give it a 5.8/10.

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017) Movie Review

Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017) IMDB Prime

Smurfs The Lost Village movie poster

Here I was minding my business, watching a Smurfs movie because….I’m not sure why I was watching this movie to be honest. Anyway it is an adventure movie that is led by Smurfette and her quest through the Forbidden Forest with a few pals. And as is the case with any quest a maze or puzzle is part of it, becasue all good quests need obstacles/things to be overcome to move the story forward. In this movie we have the group caught underground, and lost in what they call mazelike pathways. We never see the maze, only the white of their eyes against a black background, but they say it’s a maze, so since I was not there (I would make a so-so animated character at best), it was a maze. How do they escape ? If you said by riding what looked to be radioactive bunny rabbits out you are the winner winner of a chicken dinner.

So how is this movie ? Well, exactly how you think it would be.

I give it a 5.4/10.