Few movie genres deliver the same intensity and high stakes as death games. These games can involve characters facing off to kill each other or simply playing against some mastermind in order to survive. While a simple premise, death games in action can look drastically different between horror movies, with some being more psychological and others being an outright gore-fest.
The genre has grown in popularity over the years, delivering scarier, more sinister movies that are hard to forget. From aliens conducting research to humans trying to impart (twisted) lessons, death game movies are seriously messed up — and that’s what makes them so enjoyable.
10 The Belko Experiment (2016)
The Belko Experiment
James Gunn’s The Belko Experiment focuses on Mike Milch, an employee of Belko Industries who is played by John Gallagher Jr. One day at work, he is instructed to kill two coworkers, or else his own life will be in jeopardy. After Mike and his coworkers refuse to kill anyone, four employees at random die via exploding trackers. Unfortunately, things only get worse from here, with Mike learning that the employees must kill one another until a sole victor remains.
The Destructive Nature of Work
The Belko Experiment takes the humdrum environment of an average workplace and turns the dial up to eleven. It’s obvious that no one wants to kill anyone (minus one or two of the more bloodthirsty employees), but in order to save their own lives, they’re left without a choice. Another reason this game is messed up is because no one signed up to play. Plus, the ending implies that the winner won’t get to leave, but instead, will need to make it through another game.
9 Would You Rather (2012)
Would You Rather (2012)
- Release Date
- February 8, 2013
- Director
- David Guy Levy
- Runtime
- 93 Minutes
After her younger brother’s leukemia diagnosis, Iris will do anything to raise money to save him. When she learns about a dangerous game where the winner will receive a large payout, she signs up with little hesitation. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that she and the other players are all competing against each other in “Would You Rather,” where the questions are not hypothetical, but instead, the difference between life and death.
We’d Rather Not Play
When the game involves choosing who to stab and who to electrocute, the money isn’t worth it. Of course, Iris didn’t know the full extent of the game’s mechanics before signing up. However, her decision at the end shows that the specifics didn’t really matter; she was willing to do whatever it took to win.
8 Circle (2015)
Circle
The sci-fi horror filmCircle focuses on 50 strangers who wake up together in an unknown location. Each of them stands on a platform, and if they step off that platform, they’re blasted by a deadly beam. As the clock ticks down, more players are blasted, and they realize they must vote on who gets hit by the next beam. While trying to understand what is going on and why they’re there, the characters must also lie and manipulate one another in order to survive.
Caught in a Loop of Lies
In comparison to many of the other games on this list, Circle is a game of deceit and cunning as opposed to daring or physical strength. In some ways, this makes it among the most dangerous, as it adds an extra obstacle in terms of trust. Plus, children and pregnant women are among those who can be killed. As pointed out in the movie itself, that’s seriously messed up.
7 Gantz (2010)
After saving a man from a speeding train, teenagers Kei Kurono and Masaru Kato tragically lose their lives. Soon after, they awaken in a strange room and learn that they’ll be playing games in which they must hunt and kill aliens. The good news is, if they gain enough points, they can have their memories wiped and be revived. Bad news is, if the aliens kill them, these copied versions of themselves will die for real.
A Unique Twist
Gantz isn’t your typical death game, in part because the characters are already dead. However, the stakes are still life and death since the characters are competing to be revived. Additionally, the idea that the characters are copies of themselves, that revival means losing their memories, and that the aliens they’re fighting are potentially innocent all add to the movie’s disturbing themes. The first in a series of live action movies, an anime series also explores this universe in all its unsettling, gory details.
6 The Running Man (1987)
- Release Date
- November 13, 1987
- Director
- Paul Michael Glaser
- Runtime
- 101
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Running Man is not only the name of this movie, but also the game show within the movie in which criminals play the role of “runners” who are given a chance at freedom. Captain Ben Richards is forced to enter the game after being falsely accused of a crime. As he faces off against armed mercenaries trying to kill him, it becomes undeniable that the show’s host, Damon Killian, will do all that he can to prevent Richards from winning.
Can’t Outrun Corruption
The dystopian world in which The Running Man takes place is profoundly corrupt. Innocent people are forced to play the game and they’re not really even given a chance to win. Additionally, many of the themes are applicable today, and this realism makes the movie profoundly more disturbing. Excitingly, for those who enjoyed the original Stephen King adaptation, a remake is currently in the works.
5 The Hunt (2020)
- Release Date
- March 11, 2020
- Runtime
- 115
Similar in some ways to The Running Man, The Hunt focuses on a group of “deplorables” who are kidnapped and hunted by “elites.” The hunted must escape their pursuers or try their hardest to fight back. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the hunted aren’t meant to win, but rather, to be killed as punishment for their political views. In the end, one of the hunted emerges victorious, but not before multiple other “deplorables” and “elites” are gruesomely killed off.
Controversial and Compelling
Steeped in controversy, The Hunt is symbolically reflective of mounting tensions in US politics. This already makes for a seriously messed up watch. Additionally, the apparent main characters constantly die, highlighting the real nature of death games — you never know who’s going to make it out alive.
4 Jinro Game (2013)
Jinro Game, aka Werewolf Game, refers to a series of movies from Japan. In each movie, a group of high school students is abducted and forced to play a game of Werewolf. Essentially, the players are divided into Werewolves and Villagers, with the latter needing to find and execute the Werewolves while the Werewolves need to kill enough Villagers so that the Werewolves are a majority. Normally, this game is played with cards, but in the movie, it’s played with poison, knives, and exploding collars.
Beasts on All Sides
Watching the Werewolf students devolve into beasts is bad enough. Seeing the Villagers forced to kill students who are voted as Werewolves might be even worse. As the movie progresses, special roles are added, and several characters return to play again. This shows that the game is only getting bloodier and more complex, with many of the students unsure of what they’re even doing there to begin with.
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3 As the Gods Will (2014)
As the Gods Will tells the story of Shun Takahata, a high-schooler caught up in a vicious cycle of children’s games. From a giant, man-eating cat to an untrustworthy polar bear, threats abound. To make matters worse, fellow student Takeru Amaya seems to love the games, going so far as to up the body count by killing numerous players on his own.
The Death of Innocence
The movie’s sinister portrayal of children’s games is similar to Squid Game, showcasing the potential darkness lurking within innocence. Additionally, and perhaps more disturbingly, it’s revealed early on that the game isn’t contained to Shun’s high school, but instead, that students worldwide are being tested.
2 Saw (2004)
- Release Date
- October 1, 2004
- Runtime
- 100
Oncologist Lawrence Gordon and photographer Adam Stanheight wake up in a disgusting bathroom chained to pipes. They soon discover that they’ve been captured by the serial killer Jigsaw, and they must play his game if they want to make it out alive. Unfortunately, this game will pit the men against each other with Lawrence’s family on the line. The first in a series of twisted movies, Saw laid the foundation for more horror to come.
Not a Game We’d Like to Play
Jigsaw’s games led to some of the most gruesome deaths on screen. His system of justice is also questionable, and later on in the series, the death games seem to be less about testing participants and more about punishing them. Highly influential and seriously messed up, Saw is one of those movies that anyone interested in the death game genre needs to see.
1 Battle Royale (2000)
- Release Date
- December 16, 2000
- Cast
- Tatsuya Fujiwara , Aki Maeda , Tarô Yamamoto , Takeshi Kitano , Chiaki Kuriyama , Sosuke Takaoka
- Runtime
- 114 Minutes
Junior high school student Shuya Nanahara awakens on an island only to learn that, rather than go on a field trip, he and his class have been selected to participate in Battle Royale. The sick death game pits the students against each other, encouraging them to kill their friends until only one student remains. Along with love interest Noriko Nakagawa and mysterious transfer student Shogo Kawada, Shuya seeks not only to survive the game but also end it once and for all.
Death Game Royalty
Japan has its fair share of horror movies, but few match the carnage and intensity of Battle Royale. Often considered a founding player in the death game genre and a precursor to such Hollywood hits as Hunger Games, Battle Royale is upsetting, unsettling, and just plain messed up — in a good way. As a fun fact, Shuya’s actor, Tatsuya Fujiwara, has starred in multiple other death game movies, including Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler, The Incite Mill, and of course, Battle Royale II: Requiem. After completing the films on this list, these are a good choice for what to watch next.