Here's every "party game" in 2012 chiller Would You Rather explained, and who "wins." Around the mid-2000s, the horror genre moved towards movies focusing on torture and gore. While Saw is often credited with starting this trend the original film has little in the way of onscreen bloodshed and is more of a psychological thriller. The sequels, on the other hand, put an increasing emphasis on the traps and their gruesome outcomes, while Eli Roth's Hostel proved this subgenre some legs at box-office.
Movies like Would You Rather attempted to move away from the gratuitous splatter of some other entries in the subgenre - though it still has plenty of wince-inducing sequences. Would You Rather cast Brittany Murphy as Iris, a young woman looking after her sick brother Raleigh. She gets invited by mysterious philanthropist Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) to take part in a game that, if she wins, means a bone marrow donor will be found for her brother. Once she arrives at the mansion it soon becomes clear Lambrick's game of "would you rather" is one of survival, resulting in players making choices between being maimed or killed.
Each "party game" increases the stakes and only one player can win the night. Would You Rather received mostly mixed reviews upon release, with some critics finding it a little too nihilistic, and those looking for a similar concept with a more entertaining tone should check out 2019's Ready Or Not. Would You Rather's horror games kick off with Lambrick offering players money in exchange for breaking principles; he offers the vegetarian Iris ten grand to eat a steak and recovering alcoholic Conway (John Heard) fifty thousand to drink a decanter of scotch. It's not clear to players just how dark the night is going to get until an electric shock machine is rolled out and Conway is executed when he tries to leave.
The first Would You Rather party game sees the contestants given the choice between electrocuting themselves or another player. Cal (Eddie Steeples) chooses to shock himself over Amy (Sasha Grey), who in turn has no hesitation shocking the elderly, paralyzed Linda (June Squibb); it ends with Iris shocking herself over Cal. No one is eliminated, but party game number two dials up the cruelty.
This Would You Rather game gives the party guests the choice between stabbing another player in the thigh with an ice pick or whipping ex-marine Travis (Charlie Hofheimer, Mad Men) three times with a sjambok. Travis volunteers each time to spare other players, but when it becomes clear he can take no more, Peter (Robb Wells) chooses to stab Linda. This proves to be a mistake, and she quickly bleeds to death. Cal ends the game by whipping the unconscious Travis, which puts him out of the game.
Between games players try to make a run for it, resulting in Cal being shot dead by Lambrick. Would You Rather's third party game sees contestants choosing between having their heads held underwater for two minutes, or selecting a card with an unknown penalty. Peter chooses the card and is forced to hold a firecracker in his closed fist. The explosion destroys his hand, and he dies of a heart attack. Lucas (Enver Gjokaj, Agents Of SHIELD) chooses the card and is given 30 seconds to slit open his eye with a razor blade or be shot. He slices the eye VERY reluctantly, while Iris chooses the barrel; she survives the two minutes.
Would You Rather's third game ends with Amy picking her card, learning she must be held underwater for four minutes instead of two; she ends up drowning. The final game comes down to the two remaining players Iris and Lucas, and Iris is given a choice; end the game and they can both leave empty-handed, or shoot Lucas. She chooses the latter, killing Lucas in exchange for money and a bone marrow donor for her brother - though the final scene ends on a darkly ironic note for Iris.