Last Updated on July 23, 2021
Ryan Reynolds may or may not bring us a DEADPOOL movie, and definitely seems like a good fit for his stint as GREEN LANTERN, but in the meantime he’s logged some time underground in the tight and nasty looking thriller BURIED. Claustrophobics beware.
Since I’m always looking out for my fellow horror fans, I got to thinking what are the movies that are best avoided if you fear being trapped in small spaces. Might seem like not that big a deal, but if a phobia can rip the backbone out of Charles Bronson in THE GREAT ESCAPE then I give it due respect.
So take a journey with me to enclosed spaces and hard escapes. Maybe bring along a paper bag if this sort of thing freaks you out. And share some of your experiences in film that made you feel totally boxed in by spitting bullets below.
WARNING – MAJOR SPOILERS (AND UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS) BELOW!
10. CUBE
So for no apparent reason you find yourself trapped in a series of seemingly identical rooms, interlocked with no discernible pattern, and oh yeah, the only break in the scenery is the variety of traps each room possesses to kill you. I’d say this Rubik’s Cube from hell qualifies for the list. My only question really is if this phobia is made better or worse by the presence of other people. Because as much as lonely sucks, this flick does a good job of showing how more people around you can just make the fear and panic amplify.
9. FEAST
I’ll grant you that if you must be trapped by unknown beasties in a possibly apocalyptic scenario, then being trapped in a bar is probably the best of all worlds. At least for fans of this site. You’ve got food, you’ve got booze, you’ve got babes. Problem is you’re still trapped in a relatively small space with a lot of people freaking out and an aggressive opponent trying to get in. So before you claim this is the way you’d like to go out, think about what that would really entail.
8. EVENT HORIZON
Buy the EVENT HORIZON DVD here
Trapped in space f*cking sucks. Trapped in space with the only exit being a vortex to hell is, I would imagine, infinitely worse. There are two main issues that seem to come up in claustrophobic scenarios – 1) the physical reaction to the fear; 2) the mental breakdown and paranoia brought on by the stress of the situation. You’ve got both of those is spades here. And while on land there may be the illusion of possible escape or rescue, in space there is literally no where safe to go at all.
7. OPEN WATER
You may be thinking, “Hey, I thought this was about fear of confined spaces and they got stuck in the ocean.” Well, let’s drop you in the middle of the Pacific and see if that doesn’t feel like a confined space. You’re trapped exactly where you are, facing an unrelentingly static visual field, and just to make things worse you have an entire hungry half of the world that you can’t even see, but you are stuck with. If that doesn’t make your skin crawl at the sheer boxed in nature of it then you are one hard ass hombre(tte). The main thing I hate about this flick is how possible it seems.
6. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD
Buy the NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD DVD here
No matter how you try to reinvigorate the genre, zombies have never been particularly scary as individuals. It is the unrelenting might of their massive numbers that eventually take you down. As NOTLD established, you can run, hide, fight, but at some point you will get trapped in a house, or a mall, or a car. You will make a mistake and there will simply be nowhere to go because the zombies surround you and will not stop for any reason until they take you down. Have fun.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!
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