By: Elena Donatone
When we think of games like “Hide-and-seek” and “Truth or Dare”, we are usually reminded of happy moments from our childhood and teenage years. They represent freedom and simpler times. But what if those games were turned into something dark and twisted? Here are four thriller/horror movies that have done exactly that!
1. Truth or Dare
“The game is real. Wherever you go, whatever you do, it will find you.”
“Truth or Dare” is usually known to be a not so dangerous game played by teenagers at sleepovers, but not in this movie!
Truth or Dare (2018) is an American horror movie and it follows the life of college student Olivia (Lucy Hale) and her group of friends. While spending their spring break in Mexico, the friends get involved in a game of “Truth or Dare” with a mysterious stranger. What they will soon find out is that the game will follow them back home and is far from the "Truth or Dare" we all know… Olivia and her friends are not safe, as they all have to pick truth or dare each time, with dangerous consequences if they refuse to. This horror movie will leave you on the edge of your seat and you will find yourself scared of this famous game for a while!
2. Ready Or Not
“When you marry into this family you have to play a game.”
“Hide-and-seek” was one of my favourite games when I was a kid and it always brings back such happy memories. But Ready Or Not (2019) takes the concept of a kid's game and turns it into a dark and twisted run for your life!
Grace (Samara Weaving) just married the love of her life Alex (Mark O’Brien), who comes from a very wealthy and mysterious family, Le Domas. The family made a fortune from the invention and productions of many board games.
When they ask Grace to play a game with them the night of the wedding, the woman is more than excited to join. And when they ask her to pick a card from a box to decide which game they will play, “Hide-and-seek” is drawn. But what she doesn’t know is that the family plays a twisted version of it in which the bride or groom that just joined them is hunted and killed…
As soon as she finds out, Grace will face a race against time to stay hidden and to save herself.
Ready Or Not will leave you breathless and with the conviction that nobody in the Le Domas family can really be trusted… And of course, it will give you nightmares every time you think about playing “Hide-and-seek”!
3. Would You Rather?
“This game isn’t about helping each other. It’s about eliminating the rest of you.”
“Would you rather?” is a funny game that usually sparks weird and hilarious conversations among friends, but not in this movie…
Would You Rather? (2012) is a psychological horror-thriller that follows the struggles of Iris (Brittany Snow), a young woman who has to take care of her younger brother and his battle with leukemia. As Iris cannot afford to pay all the hospitals bills and the transplant her brother requires, she desperately needs an extra hand.
When she gets introduced to philanthropist Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs), who is willing to help, she accepts it. But as we find out, the help Shepard offers comes with a dark prize, as Iris is invited to a formal dinner with seven other guests in need of money. And Shepard will only help whoever wins a game that evening. The game is, of course, “Would you rather?”.
But it is not funny or enjoyable at all… the decisions they need to make and act on in the game will put all of them in great danger… and there is not much hope for whoever decides to stop playing…
Would You Rather? is personally my favourite from this list. I assure you it won’t let you down, with all its shocking twists and moral dilemmas!
4. Escape Room
“It’s not a game. We have to get out of here.”
If you have ever been to an escape room like I have, you will know that it is a great way to spend one hour with your friends while solving clues, in order to literally escape the room you are “stuck in”.
And that is what Tyler (Evan Williams) and his very rich and entitled friends in Escape Room (2017) expect when they start this adventure for his birthday. But what they don’t know is that the game is not what they imagined and no matter how many clues they solve and how close to the hour they get, they will not get out alive…
Escape Room is a good watch that will leave you anxious and intrigued by what will happen next. Just an advice: avoid watching it if you are planning to go to an escape room anytime soon!
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