Keegan Allen (King Cobra) plays Cole, a good-looking, arrogant, internet vlogger, who has built a 10-year international fan base watching his goofy antics traveling the globe, taking crazy risks, and always looking for the next thrill. The original title for this film was Follow Me, which makes sense, although the new title is certainly on point.
His friend Dash (George Janko) tells him he hooked up with a wealthy Russian fan of the vlog- Alexei (Ronen Rubinstein) who promises to fly Cole and his three friends first class to Moscow to participate in a personalized “Escape Room” game. The others included on this trip are Thomas (Denzel Whitaker), who has been Cole’s friend since boyhood; Maya (Tia Valentine); and Laura (Kimberly Quinn), Cole’s girlfriend.
When they arrive, they are put up in a fancy hotel and Alexei’s name seems to make nervous any authority figure they have trouble with. Only at a fancy nightclub when two gangsters hit on Laura and Maya, do things get slightly scary. Typical of Cole, even after their tense encounter he wonders if anyone got it on camera.
Eventually they are driven to a remote industrial warehouse. Let the games begin. Cole is separated from his friends and is immediately freaked out when he finds his first challenge is to find a key in the body of a corpse. Then he finds his friends in separate torture devices- an electric chair, a rack, an Iron Maiden, and a tank fast filling with water and suddenly it’s not just a game anymore. There’s definitely a Hostel meets Saw vibe from all of this which ratchets up the suspense.
To his credit, Keegan Allen is able to revise your feelings towards Cole, who at the beginning you wish nothing but ill will, but through the course of the movie his actions make you root for him. The director- Will Wernick was the producer of Escape Room (and if you haven’t seen it you should- it’s just sensational) but this is a much more down-and-dirty affair. You may be able to see things coming, but it doesn’t lessen the shivery fun.
(Available on Demand and Digital September 18.)
