Thanks to Final Destination 2 there is an entire generation of movie fans who get nervous whenever their car ends up behind a log truck. For those people, this situation is the stuff of nightmares, but films have found plenty of much worse situations to become stuck in.
A recent expansion to the horror and thriller sub-genres is that of the single location survival ordeal. These films place ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and chronicle their attempts at survival, with mixed results. Over the years filmmakers have found a multitude of ingenious scenarios to get people stuck, with the wildest perhaps being a portaloo as seen in German film, Holy Sh*t. From the big blue sea and outer space, to the humble ski lift, writers and directors have conjured a rich tapestry of fresh new nightmare fuel.
But what are some of the absolute worst places and situations to become trapped in? I’ve scoured the vast array of films within the sub-genre and have compiled the ten worst scenarios that you should hope you never find yourself in.
The Infinity of Space – Gravity
Space, the final frontier, is an environment that would not be fun to get stuck in. Over the years, multiple films have followed crews of space travellers as their ship becomes stuck or stranded in the great beyond, but few are more stressful than in Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity.
After an accident whilst spacewalking, fledgling astronaut, Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and her more experienced colleague, Matt Kowalski (George Clooney), find themselves hurtling through space. With their sanctuary shattered, and the pair separated by the vastness of space, Gravity is a white-knuckle survival story that had people rethinking their dreams of walking amongst the stars.
Much of the power of Gravity comes from its technical elements. Cuarón expertly crafted nightmarish visions of the initial accident, but the worst sequence is that of Ryan becoming trapped in a seemingly never ending tailspin. Her constant rotation disorientated the audience at the same time as pushing her further from any semblance of safety. Although the scenario presented within Gravity is not one that the general public can relate too, the performances of Bullock and Clooney, combined with the director of Cuarón, still manage to induce chills of unease.
On a Rock – The Shallows
Whilst many shark attack and shark survival stories unfold out in deep water, in The Shallows, director Jaume Collet-Serra changed tact. Instead of stranding his lead character Nancy (Blake Lively) at sea, he placed her tantalisingly close to shore. Located around 200 metres from the shore line, Nancy is attacked by a shark drawn into the shallows by a whale carcass. Unable to make the short distance without her surfboard, Nancy seeks refuge on a nearby rock. The rock is fine at first, but as the water level begins to rise, she finds herself perilously close to becoming shark bait.
In placing Nancy so close to dry land, The Shallows almost becomes a worse situation than those that happen in the middle of the ocean. One might expect Nancy to be rescued swiftly, but thanks to the movie God’s interference, the beach is a secluded area that few know about. One of the worst moments in The Shallows comes when Nancy spies a man on the beach. She signals to him and he appears to see her. However, rather than help her, he helps himself to her belongings. That someone could be that callous to witnessing another person’s distress is almost worse than the behaviour of the shark itself.
At the Bottom of a Pool – The Pool
A pool is often a fun place to relax, but as Ping Lumpraploeng’s The Pool proved, they can also be Hell on Earth. The Thai survival horror placed young couple Day (Theeradej Wongpuapan) and Koy (Ratnamon Ratchiratham) at the bottom of a rather deep, but drained, swimming pool.
Those trapped in terrible situations often have a variety of problems thrust at them, and poor Day gets more than his fair share of obstacles to overcome. Initially on his own until his girlfriend Koy accidentally falls in with him, Day has to survive the loss of his insulin pen, tend to Koy’s wounds, and do battle with an alligator. That’s right, because being stuck with no way up isn’t traumatic enough, an alligator slithers into the pool, shifting the film from survival thriller to creature feature.
What makes The Pool an enjoyable watch is that it never takes itself too seriously. The chain of catastrophe is so absurd that the viewer can’t help but laugh. If ever you think you’re having a bad week, stick on The Pool and you’ll quickly realise you could have it far, far worse. It isn’t all fun and games though, and one sequence involving Day’s dog, Lucky, is particularly upsetting for animal lovers.
A Shark Cage Underwater – 47 Metres Down
For some reason, one popular tourist activity involves being submerged underwater in a cage. This cage allows patrons to get up close and personal with a variety of aquatic life, including sharks, from relatively safe confines. Those that have sat through Johannes Roberts’ 47 Metres Down however, will no doubt think twice about visiting any such attraction.
47 Metres Down sees two sisters become stranded 47 metres beneath the surface of the ocean. After an accident with their cage equipment, the two become stuck in a hopeless situation. The pair have to contend with a limited air supply as sharks driven by the chum provided by the attraction organisers, frantically try and turn them into a delicious morsel. With their options getting ever worse, watching 47 Metres Down is almost as stressful for the viewer as it is the characters.
Working on a variety of fear levels – deep water, sharks, the dark, suffocation, and enclosed spaces – Roberts’ film continuously attacks the viewer. If one fear factor doesn’t leave you wary, another will. 47 Metres Down proved to be a sleeper hit and a sequel starring Sylvester Stallone’s daughter was rushed into production. Sadly, despite Roberts at the helm once more, lightning didn’t strike twice.
A Ski-Lift After Closing – Frozen
From digging into the sub-genre, it appears that the year 2010 is when survival horror films first began to take off. Amongst the early adopters was director Adam Green with his film, Frozen. Not to be confused with the animation of the same name, Green’s Frozen presented a very chilling scenario.
Three friends, Parker (Emma Bell), Joe (Shawn Ashmore) and Dan (Kevin Zegers), get trapped on a ski-lift after hours. With the temperature dropping, and no help due back for days, the trio are placed into an impossible position. Trapped high in the sky, with treacherous mountain paths beneath them, the threesome have to decide whether to succumb to an icy death or make a drastic bid for freedom.
After his blood-soaked and slightly silly slasher, Hatchet, with Frozen, Green impressed viewers with his more serious side. Every moment of Frozen is filled with overwhelming dread and the sound design is particularly horrific during a sequence that sees one of the group leap from the ski-lift only to break their legs on the ground below. This is not the worst part of that character’s fate though, as hungry wolves, drawn by the scent of blood, begin to circle them. Other grotesque moments include shredded hands and proof that getting frozen to metal is not as fun as Dumb and Dumber portrays.
Up a Disused TV Tower – Fall
Fall finds two estranged best friends, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Shiloh (Virginia Gardner), stuck atop a disused TV tower 2,000 feet up in the air, in the middle of the desert. Becky is an extreme sports influencer and sees the climb as the best way to win over sponsors. The climb to the summit is uneventful, but then a crucial piece of ladder crumbles and plummets to the ground, stranding the pair high above the earth below.
Of all the scenarios to fall victim to, being stuck at a tremendous height is one of the most nerve fraying. In addition to the constant threat of falling off of their tiny platform, the girls also have to deal with the extreme temperatures of the desert, circling vultures, and the bigger issue of the circumstances that lead to their friendship fracturing.
Directed by Scott Mann, Fall is not a film for those with an aversion to heights. The camera angles are vertigo-inducing and may even be responsible for unlocking a latent fear in some who thought they were fine with heights. To maximise the audience’s sweaty palms, Mann constructed the tower set so that it hung over a cliff with a drop below of around 2,000 feet. Early viewings at festivals had some rooted to their seats, staring at the floor so as to not see how high the women were stuck.
An Elevator – Devil
The enclosed nature of elevators makes them a daunting prospect for a lot of people, and films such as Devil have done little to diminish those fears. Produced by M. Night Shyamalan and directed by John Erick Dowdle, Devil traps a group of strangers inside the elevator of a high rise building. As tensions mount, those trapped find themselves facing an even greater threat, the Devil itself.
Whereas the film might be more bothered with the identity of the Devil, the scenario itself, of being stuck in a lift, is a very real fear. The camera is kept tight to the group to maximise the claustrophobic atmosphere. Add to that the distrust amongst the captives, and Devil provides a potent powder keg of terror and unease.
Prior to Devil, several other films such as Resident Evil and Speed tried to tap into this anxiety and horror, but they kept it to small set pieces rather than a full film. In capitalising on the scenario for its duration, Devil becomes a test for the mental strength of claustrophobes everywhere. However, Devil is not the only film that features the premise of people stuck in a lift. Elevator does a similar thing, but as it was released a year after Devil, it struggled to find an audience.
The Middle of the Ocean – Open Water
Thanks to Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, most people have an aversion to sharks and deep water. The 2003 film Open Water, from director Chris Kentis, combined the two together and thus created a waking nightmare. Even worse, the idea for the film was inspired by the real life story of a couple, Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind in the middle of the ocean after their scuba-diving experience. Although no one knows for certain what happened to the Lonergans, Kentis gives his best, and most cinematic, interpretation of events.
The film follows Susan (Blanchard Ryan) and Daniel (Daniel Travis) Watkins, a married couple who decide that a vacation is exactly what they need to get their relationship back on track again. However, after a miscount during a scuba expedition, the pair are left alone in open water. With jellyfish and sharks all around, the pair do their best, but are ultimately lost.
Much of Open Water adheres to the The Blair Witch Project formula of focusing on the dwindling relationship. The fleeting scenes with sharks are intense and almost always end in bloodshed. The shark attacks, coupled with the real world influence, will leave some skipping the chance to scuba dive in favour of chilling on the beach. Open Water spawned a couple of stand alone sequels – Adrift and Cage Dive – but neither managed to capture the same never-ending tension and anxiety that Open Water managed.
Being Buried Alive – Buried
Whereas his wife, Blake Lively, found herself trapped above ground, in Buried, Ryan Reynolds had to contend with laying in a coffin six feet under. Made before he began playing versions of himself on repeat, Buried saw Reynolds star as Pual Conroy, a US Truck driver working in Iraq who awakens inside a coffin and begins a desperate mission to escape.
For almost the entire 95 minute run time, Reynolds’ Paul is the only face that viewers can see. Somehow, Paul’s cell phone works perfectly despite being underground and the narrative is propelled forward via his conversations. Director Rodrigo Cortés manages to weave in a whole load of tension and watching within the confines of a darked cinema screen placed the viewer directly in the box beside Paul.
Alongside the expertly crafted claustrophobic tight camera angles, Reynolds is on top dramatic form. The cocksure and wise cracking persona that has become his calling card is completely stripped back, allowing the audience to fully connect to Paul’s plight.
Released in 2010, Buried was one of the films that helped to kick-start the trapped in one location sub-genre. It also managed to tap into one of the most universal fears on the planet – being buried alive. The bitter gut-punch ending to Buried serves to make this a more confronting watch than some others in the genre.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place – 127 Hours
Unlike most films in this list, 127 Hours is based on real events. In 2003, Aron Ralston became famous after his hike through Canyonlands National Park went horrifyingly wrong. Ralston found himself pinned by a boulder crushing his arm. After five days of being stranded with little in the way of food or water, Ralston made the drastic decision to cut off the trapped appendage. The story sounded like a movie, and then in 2010, Danny Boyle made it so.
The tale sounds grotesque enough to be a horror movie, and yet the resulting film adaptation is far more of a drama and was even nominated for several Academy Awards. Starring James Franco as Aron, 127 Hours recounted Aron’s horrifying ordeal. For maximum authenticity Franco was allowed to view private footage that Ralston filmed during his entrapment. Franco also wields the same camera that Ralston used.
The accidental scenario is a horrifying concept and one that had everybody talking after viewing it. Could they last as long as Aron did? Would they be able to hack their own arm off? The amputation sequence itself is viewed by many as marginally worse than the initial getting pinned. Boyle’s portrayal of this scene was so intense that a cluster of early audience viewers required medical assistance.
Film Disclosure 