This Disney movie doesn’t have signing dwarfs or heroic princesses. Instead, Stay Alive features a deadly video game and a bloodthirsty serial killer.

Even with a library that contains some of the highest-grossing movies for families and children, there was a time when Disney wanted more. In 1984, Walt Disney Studios established Touchstone Films (now Touchstone Pictures) to capture some adult audiences with movies and productions that featured more of a mature theme. This label proved massively successful, with titles like 1998’s Armageddon, 2001’s Pearl Harbor, and 2002’s Signs bringing in at least triple its budget at the box office.

While the studio did achieve what it set out to do in terms of broadening Disney’s selections, Touchstone did end up going defunct 30 years later, right after its last feature with DreamWorks Pictures. Do not worry; the House of Mouse had a trick up its sleeve that tried to stretch this idea even further – another offshoot production label called Hollywood Pictures. Established just five years after the birth of Touchstone, this moniker’s biggest success was The Sixth Sense in 1999. But as you probably know, the Bruce Willis psychological thriller is by no means a slasher flick.

Being one of Hollywood Pictures’ last movies (the third, actually), 2006’s Stay Alive is perhaps a slogan the weaker Disney branch should have abided by. We’re not so sure if they could have stood up against the digital ghost of a female Hungarian serial killer that needs the blood of its victims to survive, but that’s beside the point. In the film, actor Jon Foster’s Hutch comes into contact with a mysterious video game after attending the funeral of his friend Loomis Crowley, Crowley’s roommate, and the roommate’s girlfriend, who all died mysteriously at their home. Bloody kills and an even bloodier crime scene. What a way to start a Disney movie, huh?

Stay Alive and the Video Game With a Mysterious Past

Along with our main character and several of his acquaintances (such as his friends, his own girlfriend, Crowley’s roommate’s girlfriend’s friend, and his own boss) who all start to play this game at the same time, they begin to horrifyingly realize that when you die in the game, you suffer the same kind of fate in real life. This cursed situation is all due to the film’s rendition of Elizabeth Bathory, a real noblewoman from the 1500s who was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls. While the slasher doesn’t nearly come close to that number (the kill count is only nine), there are some valid reasons why Stay Alive is still regarded as a cult classic.

Even though many of the visual references in the movie are dated (since it so heavily relies on the video game trends of the mid-2000s), Stay Alive is unique when mixing the horror genre with the gaming medium. Sure, you can achieve the same type of fright by playing any of the Resident Evil or Fatal Frame entries, but the game that is simulated here was solely made for the movie. There is no cutting back and forth from a clichéd horror movie to cutscenes of a video game everybody’s seen a thousand times before. Viewers will be intrigued not only when it comes to the rules and world of the movie, but also about what this “new” video game is all about – even though it comes with dire consequences for our characters.

Stay Alive Keeps Viewers on Their Toes

Speaking of the rules that Stay Alive brings forth, the slasher flick does break its biggest one. Early in the film, viewers are led to believe that a victim only dies in real life when they encounter a game-over screen with their respective character. Later, there are a few instances where people are killed regardless of how far they made it in the game. Some may complain that this is an irreversible flaw, but not only can this easily be explained by the movie’s antagonist becoming stronger with each kill, but it also subverts the audience’s expectations. Disney pretty much toppled their image with this film, so why can’t the movie bend its own rules as well? It keeps viewers curious to see what happens next and keeps the characters on their toes at all times.

While the video-game-infused story will definitely get some attention, there are some names in this cast that will get heads turning as well. Most surprisingly, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz steps into the role of Swink, one of Hutch’s friends (who does survive the demon’s rampage). Then there’s Westworld alum Jimmy Simpson, who is hysterical while bringing October’s (Hutch’s girlfriend’s) brother to life on the screen. He’s more worried about playing video games than a possible demon ghost on the loose (that is, until his own life is in danger). The Wire’s Wendell Pierce is a figure in law enforcement, and Adam Goldberg (most notable to Friends fans as Chandler’s insane roommate) is Hutch’s boss.

Is a Stay Alive Sequel in the Works?

While the main cast are fine in their roles, it’s the supporting cast in Stay Alive who (as you can see) make this film much more memorable. When Stay Alive was first released, critics panned it all over the board. The New York Times, L.A. Weekly, and Empire, for example, all scored below average. But since then, there have been quite a number of video essays springing up on YouTube and the like – such as Gubtodi Reviews and Bloodbath and Beyond – who all praise its ambition and video game themes. Even the more recent user reviews on Metacritic score Stay Alive high, pointing out the enthusiastic one-liners and the more modern take on the slasher genre.

If only all of those who gave Stay Alive a bad rap could take a look at the director’s cut, as individual scenes are given more time, character relationships are woven better, and a new subplot is introduced (with a new character). With talks of a potential sequel in the works by director and writer William Brent Bell in late 2022, dedicated fans of Stay Alive have high hopes of a second entry coming to the big screen. There was a huge tease at the end of the 2006 film – it seems as though the video game called Stay Alive that plagued our characters is getting a full-fledged public release. Soon enough, Elizabeth Bathory’s vengeful spirit will be hunting down gamers all over the country. Stay Alive is available to rent on Prime Video and iTunes.