1.Exam
In this British thriller, eight candidates take part ina job interview of sorts in order to secure a position within a prestigious (and mysterious) company. They enter a room and sit down at individual desks, each containing a question paper with the word “candidate.” After entering, the “Invigilator” tells them three rules they must obey: (1) don’t talk to him or the armed guard by the door, (2) don’t spoil their papers, and (3) don’tleave the room. Perhaps they should have interviewed somewhere else?
2.Phone booth
A man (Stuart Shepard) walking down the street hears a random pay-phone in a booth ringing, and is filled with an irresistible urge to answer the call, not knowing who is calling or why he felt like answering. Stuart Shepard, answering the phone call, finds himself trappedin a nightmare. A phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle, forced to either loosehis life, or play the game.
3.Devil
M. Night takes the producer chair in this horror flick about a literal elevator ride from hell, where a group of strangers realize they are trapped in an elevator with the devil! After the abysmal ratings following the bloated Last Airbender, it was sure good to see M. Night back in the creative environment he's best suited- involved in a little indie with a big concept.
4.127 hours
Danny Boyle’s zero cool telling of the real-life survival tale of Aaron Ralston (James Franco), an experienced mountaineer who, while exploring a far-flung canyon in Utah, becomes immobilized by a boulder that has crushed and pinned his arm.Stylish and visually stunning, despite it’s fixed locale, 127 Hours is a rush of adrenaline, and a euphoric blast of beauty that’s sure to leave audiences open-mouthed and astonished.27. Pontypool (2008)
5.Cube
A motley crew of learned professionals wake up in a room with bare clothes and nothing else. Although the movie doesn’t technically happen in one single room, the rooms they navigate through are all the same. The movie refreshed the concept of basing the entire story in a room.
6.Panic room
Unsurprisingly set in a hi-tech panic room (if there wasn't a room and at least a little panic, we'd be on the phone to Trading Standards), this isDavid Fincherflexing his muscles: he didn't need to make this movie, but wanted to show he could anyway.Jodie Fosterand a young Kristen Stewart are the mother and daughter holed up in an expensive, oversized coffin, while Forest Whitaker and his cronies attempt to infiltrate the impenetrable. Fincher, meanwhile, swings his camera up and down stairs, in and out of air vents, and at one point, through the handle of a coffee pot for absolutely no reason. Pfft. Show off.
7.1408
In1408, one of the better Stephen King adaptations, John Cusack plays Mike Enslin, a successful author who enjoys worldwide acclaimdebunking supernatural phenomena. Then he checks into the Dolphin Hotel. And he ignores thewarnings of the hotel manager, played by SamuelL. Jackson, because that’s what people in horror films do. Lets just say that he comes to learn the true meaning of terror during his one night stay in room 1408.
8.The Mist
2007’s sci-fi horror is both criminally under-looked and yet one of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made, following the claustrophobic nightmare of a monster-filled mist that envelops a smallUS town, and the escape tactics of those survivors who have found refuge in a supermarket.
9.Unknown
In this mostly... wait for it... unknown thriller, five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive. A little like The Killing Room,Unknownsort of fell through the cracks and most people caught it on cable. It has an amazing cast in James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Bridget Moynahan, Joe Pantoliano, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Sisto and totally stands up. Peppered with flashback, some may argue this isn't strictly a one-room thriller, but it's close enough in my books.
10.Buried
Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.
