Film can use various locations as a setting, but sometimes a minimalist setting in one location is the ideal way to explore certain subject matters. Whether it's a budgetary issue or an artistic decision, the single location aspect can help bring perspective to something that could otherwise be missed.

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The horror genre is capable of showcasing fear-inducing situations in everyday activities using a single location to discuss issues involving society and the human psyche, while still providing conventional horror elements. There is something enticing about watching a film that is limited to a single location, and there are great examples of films that do this while keeping within the horror genre.

10 ATM Uses An Unassuming Booth As The Setting

ATM film poster.

ATM follows a small group of three coworkers who stop at an atm in a seemingly desolate location after a Christmas party. They go in with the intention of completing the simplest task, but instead, they get targeted by an unknown hooded killer. The three soon realize this person is waiting for them to exit the ATM booth, as someone can only enter if they have a card.

ATM has a limited cast and a very minimalist setting that sets the mood for the entirety of the movie. Characters have nothing but the walls of an ATM booth for protection as the winter night grows colder, and a killer lurks, waiting for them to exit. As the film progresses, the characters start to lose their sense of safety even in a location that someone else cannot enter.

9 Old Sees Characters Age Exponentially On A Beach

The cast is seen through a set of ribs on a corpse in M. Night Shyamalan's Old.

The M. Night Shyamalan 2021 film, Old, focuses on a family going on vacation to a mysterious resort beach in an effort to create a bonding experience after the unfortunate diagnosis of a family member. As the family makes their way to the beach they begin to notice that it’s impossible to leave and time passes at an extremely accelerated rate.

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The family is forced to deal with marital and familial issues as their impending death looms. Struggling to find a way out, the characters deal with internal struggles related to their worsening health and desperately try to find a way to survive before they reach their demise.

8 REC Is A Zombie Flick Filmed In An Apartment Building

Zombies running up the steps of an apartment building in REC.

The 2007 Spanish film, REC, is about an infection that runs rampant in an eerie apartment building. Filmed in the found footage style and completely within the residence, it’s a terrifying narrative that feels incredibly real. The main character is a reporter who gets stuck in the apartment after an emergency call is made and is hunted by the infected folk who live in the building.

To make matters worse, the building is dark, and it becomes impossible to track movement and see enemies lurking. REC makes the single location appear as a maze, and the lack of lighting and found footage style gives a claustrophobic feel that succeeds in embodying horror.

7 The Invitation Has The Main Character Stuck In A House With A Cult

An image from The Invitation (2015).

The Invitation (2015) focuses on Will, who takes his girlfriend to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new husband in their home. At the dinner, the couple quickly realizes something is wrong with the guests. They talk about a cult-like community that helps deal with grief, something both Will and his ex-wife deal with after the death of their son.

As The Invitation goes on, the audience sees the effects of the cult on Will's friends through their strange behaviors and chaos ensues. The film explores the dangerous behaviors people exhibit in cults through themes of grief. Will revisits his old home and simultaneously revisits his grief while trapped.

6 Night of The Living Dead Zeros In On Survivors In A Farmhouse

Ben listening to the radio in the farmhouse in Night of the Living Dead.

George A. Romero's Night of The Living Dead revolutionized the zombie genre as it exists today. Romero used a secluded location, a farmhouse with no neighboring homes, to explore themes of racism and isolation. Characters are trapped in a house that is slowly being closed in by flesh-eating ghouls and the survivors look to escape the increasing number of zombies.

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Night of The Living Dead is filmed in and around the farmhouse that stands out in the setting, making it a perfect target for the undead horde. It also does a great job at creating a slow-paced horror film with increasing numbers of threats while making commentary on civil unrest during a difficult time in America.

5 Circle Displays Selfishness Through A Twisted Board Game

All Players stand in the circle platform in The Circle.

Circle is a film about an alien invasion that has all characters remain in a strange room within a spaceship where various people stand on a circular platform. In Circle, characters discover they must play an elimination game in which they must decide out of all of them who gets to live. With no knowledge of how they got there or how to escape, they are forced to play the game.

The single location is effective for films like these that have a Saw-like energy that examines how far someone will go to live. Though there is not much gore, the audience still sees and feels what the characters experience as they learn about the game — a game that tests human morality and selfishness.

4 The Descent Has Terrifying Creatures Lurking In A Cave

A cave dweller lurks in The Descent

The Descent takes a story of friends during a cave exploration that goes awry and turns it into a nightmarish scenario. The film takes place in an unexplored cave in North Carolina. The group of friends is trapped in a cave, unsure of how to get out, and worse they are trapped with vampiric creatures that inhabit the cave and kill them in the most gruesome ways.

The Descent evokes fear by using an unfamiliar underground location with terrifying monsters skulking in every crevice. The claustrophobic energy of the cave takes the fear of the unknown to a whole new level.

3 The Thing Depicts The "Whodunit" Trope In A Secluded Station

The Thing mutating and attacking the crew in The Thing (1982).

The 1982 sci-fi horror film The Thing takes place in Antarctica where a team of scientists conducts research on an alien life form that terrorizes them. The film takes place entirely in an American research center in Antarctica.

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What makes The Thing terrifying is the information that this alien creature has a parasitic nature and uses assimilation to imitate, trap, and kill any form of life. The film is great at presenting the dangers of isolation as characters have no way of getting outside help. It takes the "whodunit" trope and adds desolation to make it more petrifying.

2 Train To Busan Forces Characters To Resolve Issues In A Train

Panicked train riders gather in Train to Busan.

Train To Busan is a zombie horror film about a workaholic father trying to connect with his young daughter during a train ride to drop his daughter off at her mother’s home. It’s during the train ride that a dangerous infection gets out of hand. Soon, all hell breaks loose in the form of zombies in a confined space.

Train To Busan, as the title suggests, takes place on a train, using it to test the complicated relationships between families in extremely confined places, where relationships can either persevere or break. The film is remarkably done with incredible storytelling, action, and pacing. More than that, it’s endearingly devastating, as no punches are pulled.

1 Misery Explores The line Between Fandom & Obsession In A Room

James Caan and Kathy Bates in Misery.

Based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, Misery features a popular author, Paul, aided by a fan after a near-fatal car crash leaves him injured. Annie, who's obsessed with Paul, does whatever is necessary to keep him under her care.

In Misery, Paul is held captive and brutally and mentally tortured by the evil fan. It takes place within a room where Paul is bedridden, and every bit of tension and anxiety-inducing moment comes from Paul being unable to care for himself and being restrained to a room for long periods of time, where he has no choice but to abide by his captor's rules.

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