ALICE IN BORDERLAND (Japan)
You can check out Alice in Borderland on Netflix. The series is about a group of young people who are transported to a parallel dimension where they must play survival games to stay alive. And if that ain’t bad enough, they’re getting stalked and picked off one by one by masked killers.
Alice in Borderland is based on a hugely popular manga. I have not read the Manga but have heard from trusted sources that although the story is quite different, Netflix has done a fine job at introducing us to this gritty survival world
13 – Tzameti (France)
I have been saying this for years and it still pretty much stands: 13 is the tensest film I have ever witnessed. Talk about flawless filmmaking. 13 proves that you need no budget at all to deliver the goods.
Shot in black and white (it costs cheaper), 13 tells the story of a man struggling for cash. His job (window washer) is not bringing in the money he needs for himself and his family. He witnesses the sudden death of a rich customer through a window, he gets inside the house and steals an unknown envelope. When he opens it, there is a letter with instructions to follow. When he arrives at the secret location, it is too late, there is no turning back, he has to participate.
The game is Russian roulette. He must stand in a circle with other contestants, spin the barrel on the gun which has only one bullet. He then must point the gun at the back of the head of the player next to him and wait for a lightbulb to flash, then he must fire and hope for the best.
13 also got the Hollywood makeover & it was from the same director (Gela Babluani). I mean, I can totally get why he agreed to do this; From a micro-budget feature to directing an all-star cast including Ray Winstone, Sam Riley & Mickey Rourke. It added in way too much bullshit and pointless characters. Sometimes less is more. So, yeah, avoid the remake and check out the masterpiece original. It is a proper lesson in intensity!.
FERMAT’S ROOM (Spain)
4 mathematicians must quickly solve problems all within a minute’s timeframe to escape being crushed by a shrinking room. They must also come together to find out why they were kidnapped and who put them there in the first place.
Fermat’s room has been compared to Saw and Cude only with a way more intelligent approach. An awesome minimalistic film that really gets you thinking.
13 BELOVED (13: GAME OF DEATH) (Thailand)
After a guy loses his job and just about everything he owns, he receives a phone call from an anonymous stranger. All he has to do to win a substantial amount of cash is complete 13 tasks. Money is deposited into his account on completion of every task. . The first task is easy: “kill that fly on the wall”, obviously this is simple and he then accepts to do the rest to win 100.000.000 baht. But with every task comes the unthinkable and undoable and he soon finds himself down a dark path that there’s no coming back from.
13 was a lovely surprise, shit gets pretty hectic, really fast. Definitely not for the faint-hearted so do approach with caution haha there’s quite a bit of ickiness in 13 Beloved. Same BS with the American remake. If you’re gonna check it out, then make sure to check out the original first.
EXAM (U.K)
Personally, I really enjoyed Exam. This will not be for everyone but if you can handle a film with just a handful of characters all in one setting then I am sure you will like Exam too.
The film focuses on 8 potential employees, all battling it out for that one position at this huge corporate company. They are all sat in one room and handed a piece of paper. They are asked to answer one question…the problem is, there is no question. After a while, tensions start to build between them, they become paranoid and madness breaks out.
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That’s it for Part 1, folks. We hope you found a new Game of Death movie or series to fill that Squid Game void. Check back soon for part 2, we have loads more to come. As always, thanks for reading.
Article by GG
Founder/Owner/BigCheese @ Moviehooker
