Crazy Mazes in Movies

The teenagers in 'The Maze Runner' have to wend their way through a treacherous labyrinth filled with monstrous creatures. They're not the only ones. Explore these other movie mazes – some with monsters, some without.

The Shining (1980)

If the Overlook Hotel's hedge maze is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think about big-screen labyrinths, you're not alone. Though you'd rather be alone in this maze than find Jack Nicholson three steps behind you.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

The Triwizard Tournament's hedge maze is even more dangerous than the Overlook's, for at its heart is the Triwizard Cup – and a most unwelcome surprise for Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) and Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson).

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Perhaps the creepiest movie maze of them all is the one located within this film's fantasy kingdom. But the oddities found in this labyrinth pale in comparison to the real world horrors outside, in a land torn apart by the Spanish Civil War.

Labyrinth (1986)

This family film gives us mazes that are more benign but certainly no less weird. What else would you expect from a collaboration between director Jim Henson, writer Terry Jones (of Monty Python) and bewigged star David Bowie?

Cube (1997)

A endless maze of identical cube-shaped rooms, each one loaded with booby traps, must be traversed by a group of strangers in this low-budget cult film from Canada. Warning: the opening scene is not for the squeamish.

Inception (2010)

In Christopher Nolan's sci-fi hit, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) hires architecture student Ariadne (Ellen Page) to map out a maze-like dreamscape. Ariadne was also the name of a Greek mythological figure who oversaw the Minotaur's labyrinth.

Wrath of the Titans (2012)

While we're on the subject of the Minotaur's labyrinth, this sword-and-sandal epic re-creates it as a place of mind-boggling complexity. The Minotaur is nothing to sneeze at, either.

Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)

This is one of the few non-gross images taken from this sequence, in which a character is introduced to Hell, a sadistic – and, of course, labyrinthine – realm ruled over by an entity called Leviathan. And no, we don't quite get it either.

Sleuth (1972)

A more genteel maze is part of the scenery in this two-man drama packed with twists. Laurence Olivier plays a mystery writer whose vast estate includes a maze and other elaborate games. Michael Caine plays his crafty rival.

The Lady from Shanghai (1947)

We're reaching way back into the vaults for Orson Welles' classic film noir, which climaxes in a shootout inside a mirrored funhouse maze. The movie is worth seeking out for this famous sequence alone.