High concept horror is one of the easiest ways to print money in Hollywood, because audiences will never grow tired of being scared out of their seats, and that becomes especially true when a movie centers on a premise or concept they’ve never seen before.
Everyone knew what to expect from Escape Room going in based on nothing but the title alone, but it was disappointing to see how the film failed to make the most of its unique selling point. It’s not without merit, though, with director Adam Robitel creating an eerie sense of atmosphere, and the cast do a good job with the material, it’s just lacking the spark that could elevate it to the next level.
Not that Sony were complaining after Escape Room went on to earn $155 million at the box office on a $9 million budget, with a 51% Rotten Tomatoes score and user rating proving that everyone was in full agreement that they’d just witnessed the definition of an average exercise in terror.
A sequel was released earlier this summer to very little fanfare, but the opener has been rebounding on streaming in a major way. As per FlixPatrol, Escape Room has spent all week in the Netflix Top 20 most-watched list, with subscribers clearly still keen to indulge in horror, despite the onslaught of festive titles overloading the viewership charts.