8 Horror Movies About Deadly Games 

Parties, especially drunken parties, provide the perfect excuse to play some spooky games, and it comes as no surprise to the viewers when things get greatly spooky. 

In Talk to Me, a group of teenagers uses an embalmed hand to summon spirits, until, of course, it gets too far. 

Directed by Danny and Michael Philippou, Talk to Me draws upon classic horror movies and manages to tell an emotionally satisfying story, even as we witness horrible things happening to the poor characters. 

A cult horror classic that spawned several sequels, Saw unfolds in a non-linear format, features several intricate puzzles, and plenty of grisly gore to keep you on edge throughout. 

Slowly and deliciously, it unravels the mystery of the Jigsaw Killer, whose victims have to solve puzzles and inflict pain on each other in order to survive. 

Overall, Saw truly takes the theme of “survival of the fittest” to another level.

You can’t go wrong when you’re adapting a Stephen King novel for the screen, and The Long Walk is an extremely interesting and engrossing example of the “death tournament” subgenre of horror films. 

The movie is set in a dystopian world where participants are engaged in a “walking” marathon—essentially, keep walking until or unless you die. 

The film makes some changes to the book and is directed by Francis Lawrence, who, unsurprisingly, also directed The Hunger Games series.

If you like horror movies with an earnest mystery at their heart, you’ll certainly be compelled by The Last of Sheila. 

The film follows a wealthy widower who invites his friends to play in a scavenger hunt mystery game aboard his yacht, just a year after his wife’s untimely death. 

Of course, the game is far from innocent, and devolves into something deviously sinister…

As the title suggests, this Japanese film features a fight-to-the-death tournament hosted by a totalitarian government, with high school students as unwitting players. 

Chaotic, gritty, and filled with melodrama, Battle Royale is an utterly gripping watch that helped to popularize the battle royale genre and is perfect for fans of The Hunger Games and Squid Game. 

Escape rooms are a lot of fun, especially if you’re the sort who loves following clues and solving puzzles. But of course, even as you’re locked in a room with friends, you know you’re not in any real danger. 

The movie Escape Room takes that premise and turns it on its head, as six strangers find themselves locked in a series of mystery rooms—and the game soon gets pretty deadly. 

Full of suspense and creative ingenuity, Escape Room makes for a rather thrilling watch.

Many movies on this list (and in this genre) involve innocent people who sign up for a game unaware of the deadly consequences, or that the “game” soon stops being a game and becomes painfully real. 

Would You Rather takes its inspiration from the party game and raises the stakes—the desperate protagonist, Iris, is forced to play at a dinner party in the hope of securing a donor to sponsor her young brother’s cancer treatment. 

Soaked in blood and gore, this movie isn’t for the faint of heart. Be warned.

Finally, if you’re keen on a psychological arthouse horror flick, you might be rather enthralled by We're All Going to the World's Fair. 

This coming-of-age film follows Casey, a lonely teenager who participates in an online challenge and begins documenting the changes she experiences. 

Directed by Jane Schoenbrun, a nonbinary filmmaker, there’s definitely a queer subtext to this movie, accompanied by a lot of ambiguity, which makes it all the more unsettling and memorable. 

Still from Toei Company