Hellevator
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| Hellevator | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Horror Game show |
| Presented by | Jen and Sylvia Soska |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Jason Blum |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production companies | Blumhouse Television Matador Content Electus Lionsgate Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | Game Show Network |
| Release | October 21, 2015 – October 28, 2016 |
Hellevator is an American horror game show[1] produced by Jason Blum for his Blumhouse Productions banner and Todd Lubin in which a team of three contestants rides a haunted elevator through an abandoned slaughterhouse.[2][3][4][5] The show is hosted by Jen and Sylvia Soska[6] and premiered on October 21, 2015, on Game Show Network.[7] The debut episode was watched by 503,000 viewers.[8]
The four episode second season began airing October 7, 2016, at 9:00 p.m. A team of four players begins the game, one is taken from them at the beginning of the show and placed in a cell designated as the Inferno.[5]
Gameplay
[edit]Each episode centers around a legend whose central figure committed horrific deeds, generally torture and/or murder of multiple victims. The challenges in each episode are based on that legend.[9][10][11]
Individual challenges
[edit]In Season 1, a team of 3 contestants participate in the game. In Season 2, a team of 4 contestants participate in the game although one of them is locked up in the Inferno at the start. The contestants usually have a common bond (nurses, college students, models, chefs, etc,). The Soska sisters tell the contestants in the Hellevator part of the legend. The subsequent challenge relates to that part of the legend. In Season 2, the overall legend relates to three of the Seven Deadly Sins, with each of the challenges relating to one of those three sins. The team members decide among themselves who will face that challenge, with each contestant having to take one of the three challenges. The contestant chosen exits the elevator and makes their way to the challenge area (they are usually told to follow the light that guides them). On the way there, they are usually either startled by sounds or actors intimidating them; or kidnapped by robed figures and taken to the challenge area.
Once the contestant arrives, the Soska sisters tell them the rules of the challenge as well as how much time they have to complete it. While the contestant is performing the challenge, he or she may be distracted by such things as the challenge environment (for example, the room may get hotter as the challenge progresses, or certain actions may result in the contestant being covered in blood or other substances) and actors either screaming or actively antagonizing the contestant. In some challenges, the Soska sisters will provide clues either at the start or during the challenge to the contestants inside the Hellevator to help their teammate. The contestants are equipped with walkie-talkies so that the contestants still in the elevator can offer advice during the challenge. There is also a video screen inside the Hellevator to provide visuals as well as for necessity at times for the team to help the contestant doing the challenge. In order to win the money assigned to the challenge and remain in the game, the contestant must complete the challenge successfully and return to the Hellevator within the time limit of three or four minutes (five or seven minutes in Season 1) (not completing the challenge or doing it incorrectly will deny the contestant a return to the Hellevator). The first challenge is relatively easy and is worth $5,000, the second challenge is more difficult and is worth $10,000, the third challenge is the hardest and is worth $15,000. For Season 2, the values of the individual challenges were reduced to $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000 respectively.
If the contestant fails to complete the challenge and return, he or she is eliminated from the game. In Season 1, eliminated contestants were out of the game completely and suggested to have met a horrific death related to the challenge (in reality, they exited the slaughterhouse, and do not participate in the interview at the end of the show). In Season 2, the contestants who failed to complete the challenge were sent to the cell called The Inferno where they had to remain until they could be rescued by their teammate(s) in the final challenge.
Once the three challenges have been played, the remaining contestants face the Labyrinth (Season 1) or the Inferno Run (Season 2).[9][10][11]
Season 1
[edit]The Labyrinth
[edit]Prior to the Labyrinth, the remaining members of the team surrender their walkie-talkie before exiting the Hellevator and are given a bag in which they place any money found. The Labyrinth consists of three areas designed to relate to the legend and/or the challenges featured in the show, each with a certain amount of cash hidden within. Also hidden somewhere in the Labyrinth is a special item, generally said to be the key to defeating the central villain of the legend, if found, this item is worth an additional bonus to the team. The amount of cash and the bonus total $20,000. In order to keep the money earned in the Labyrinth, the team must complete the entire run in the Labyrinth and return to the Hellevator within the time allocated of five minutes. If the team fails to do so, they forfeit the money.
If all three contestants had successfully completed their challenges, an alternate version of the Labyrinth was used instead of the traditional three-area format. In this alternate version (which was only used once), the team had to complete one final group challenge and return to the Hellevator within five minutes. There was no bonus item in this version, but during the final challenge, the team could find money bags worth $1,000 each, however, the team could only keep the additional money if they completed the task and returned to the Hellevator in time. In this version of the Labyrinth, there was a total of $25,000 available.[12]
A team that plays a perfect game by completing all three challenges and finding all of the money and the bonus item in the Labyrinth will win a total of $50,000 to $55,000.[9][10][11][12]
Episodes
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Undertaker" | October 21, 2015 | |
|
Team YOLO enter the funeral home of the Undertaker, who isn't content to let his clients rest in peace. Challenges to earn prize money are "Dead Ringers", "Show Your Guts", a visit to the crematorium, and "The Labyrinth". | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Asylum" | October 28, 2015 | |
|
Three junkies named Christian, Yoni and Jessica go through crazy challenges in Nurse Brixton's hospital. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "House of Trapped Souls" | November 4, 2015 | |
|
3 nursing students face off against a haunted house built atop a graveyard for prisoners. The challenges faced are "Bodies in the Basement", "Pearls of Wisdom", "The Writing's on the Wall", and the Labyrinth. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Murder Castle" | November 11, 2015 | |
|
Three friends of Andrea, Andre & Michael face off against the deadly hotel created specially to murder victims of the real life serial killer H. H. Holmes. Challenges include "Peek-a-Boo", "Strip Show", "Vaulted", and the Labyrinth where they searching for cash and the murder castle's blueprint. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Triplets" | November 18, 2015 | |
|
Three friends of Brian, Kati & Irene from Massachusetts brave the evil triplet Jamie, Edgar & Addicus themed Hellevator. They must find a mask in a classroom, escape from chains and a straight-jacket while one of the triplets looms, and braves tar and ash in a dark tunnel before attempting to assemble a block puzzle to seal the grave of one of the triplets. The lucky ones brave the labyrinth searching body bags for cash and a body of Edgar. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "The Bunker" | December 2, 2015 | |
| 7 | 7 | "Carnival Carnage" | December 9, 2015 | |
| 8 | 8 | "Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker" | December 16, 2015 | |
|
Two friends got dragged by another friend into Hellevator as they discover the secret recipes of the three brothers Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker | ||||
Season 2
[edit]The Inferno Run
[edit]The Inferno Run replaced the Labyrinth in Season 2, and like with the Labyrinth, any contestant that accomplishes their individual challenge will get to participate in the Inferno Run. In the Inferno Run, there are seven doors with each door corresponding to one of the Seven Deadly Sins. One of those doors is removed for each of the individual challenges completed (always the sins relating to the challenge(s) completed by each successful contestant). The contestant(s) have a total of seven minutes to complete the remaining challenges (the time runs continuously once the round starts). Accomplishing each challenge will either reward them with money or with the key to free their teammate(s).
If two or more contestant(s) make it to the Inferno Run, they will attempt the challenges individually. Once they enter the door, the Soska Sisters will explain the rules of the challenge. The contestant(s) must continue completing challenges, alternating turns, until they find the key. If they do find the key they may choose to either attempt additional challenges (if any remain) for extra money, or free their teammates and head back to the Hellevator. If the contestant(s) choose to play another challenge, they must complete it before they again have the option to end the game, if they choose to free their teammates, they cannot attempt any more challenges and must then return to the Hellevator. The entire team must return to the Hellevator before time runs out in order to keep their winnings from the Inferno Run, if they fail to do so, they forfeit the money from the Inferno Run, although they will retain any winnings from the individual challenges. Any episode ending in an Inferno Run failure ends with all of the contestants trapped in separate rooms in the Slaughterhouse, presumably "tortured" to death.
There is a total of $40,000 in cash available, so that a team that plays a perfect game will again win a total of $50,000.[13]
The Seven Deadly Sins
[edit]- Envy - The contestant must make both sides of the childhood bedroom (which the Soska Sisters claim to be theirs) match by taking a number of duplicate items from Sylvia's purple side and move them to Jen's grey side.
- Gluttony - The contestant must search the birthday cakes using only their mouth to find the cash inside.
- Greed - The contestant must search the safety deposit boxes for the combination to open the bank safe.
- Lust - The contestant must retrieve a wedding ring from one of the holes in the wall and place it on the finger of the lusty corpse bride.
- Pride - The contestant must siphon 15 pounds of fat or more from the patient in the operating room.
- Sloth - The contestant must fix the gaps in the two leaking pipes by attaching the connectors that fit.
- Wrath - The contestant must find the colored needles and jab them into the matching colored X's on the life-size voodoo doll.
Episodes
[edit]| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Gluttons for Punishment" | October 7, 2016 |
| 10 | 2 | "Rest in Pieces" | October 14, 2016 |
| 11 | 3 | "Drop Dead Gorgeous" | October 21, 2016 |
| 12 | 4 | "Blood, Sweat & Cheer" | October 28, 2016 |
References
[edit]- ^ Weinstein, Shelli (November 18, 2014). "Game Show Network Adds Jason Blum Horror Game Show". Variety. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ Highfill, Samantha (June 18, 2015). "Hellevator, a real game show, is coming to GSN". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ Schneider, Michael (November 18, 2014). "GSN's New Development Includes Horror Game Show; Two App-Themed Series". TVGuide.com. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ Petski, Denise (June 18, 2015). "Horror-Themed Game Show Hellevator Greenlit By GSN - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ a b "GSN's Horror-Themed Game Hellevator Returns for Its Second Season with a Special Four-Week Network Event Beginning Friday, October 7 at 9 PM" (Press release). GSN Corporate. August 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
- ^ Moore, Debi (September 1, 2015). "GSN Sets an October Premiere Date for Hellevator". Dread Central. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ Bierly, Mandi (October 7, 2015). "'Hellevator': Watch the First 10 Minutes of the Game Show From 'Paranormal Activity' Producer Jason Blum". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved October 20, 2015.
- ^ Metcalf, Mitch (October 22, 2015). "SHOWBUZZDAILY's Top 100 Wednesday Cable Originals & Network Update: 10.21.2015". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on October 22, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
- ^ a b c Hellevator. Season 1. Episode 1. October 21, 2015. 60 minutes in. Game Show Network.
- ^ a b c Hellevator. Season 1. Episode 2. October 28, 2015. 60 minutes in. Game Show Network.
- ^ a b c Hellevator. Season 1. Episode 3. November 4, 2015. 60 minutes in. Game Show Network.
- ^ a b Hellevator. Season 1. Episode 5. November 18, 2015. 60 minutes in. Game Show Network.
- ^ Hellevator. Season 2. Episode 2. October 14, 2016. 60 minutes in. Game Show Network.
External links
[edit]
Hellevator
View on GrokipediaOverview
Premise
Hellevator is an American horror-themed game show that premiered on Game Show Network in 2015, produced by Blumhouse Productions, where teams of three friends compete in terrifying challenges aboard a haunted elevator descending through an abandoned slaughterhouse.[10] The core setup involves the contestants entering the elevator, which serves as the central mechanism for transporting them to successive floors, each representing a layer of escalating horror inspired by real-life legends of torture, murder, and supernatural occurrences.[11][12] As the elevator lowers into the depths of the derelict facility—a former Los Angeles slaughterhouse—the team faces individual tasks designed to test their bravery and problem-solving under duress, with the potential to accumulate cash prizes while navigating an environment rigged with practical effects and sudden scares.[13] The high-stakes atmosphere is amplified by the risk of elimination for failing challenges, where unsuccessful contestants may face confinement in horrific scenarios or forfeit their share of earnings, heightening the tension as the group descends further into the unknown.[2] This format blends competitive gameplay with immersive horror elements, requiring participants not only to solve puzzles tied to thematic narratives but also to endure psychological and physical frights that evoke classic Blumhouse-style terror.[10][14] What distinguishes Hellevator is its hybrid structure, merging the adrenaline of a game show with the visceral intensity of a haunted attraction, complete with jump scares, atmospheric sound design, and detailed set pieces that transform the slaughterhouse into a labyrinth of dread.[15] The hosts, the Soska sisters, oversee the proceedings from a control room, narrating the descent and injecting narrative flair to guide contestants through the premise.[16] This innovative approach creates a unique viewer experience that prioritizes suspense and survival over traditional quiz elements.[1]Hosts and crew
The horror-themed game show Hellevator is hosted by twin sisters Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska, collectively known as the Twisted Twins or Elevator Ladies, who portray malevolent figures controlling the contestants' descent through a haunted building.[10][2] In their roles, the Soska sisters taunt the teams with ominous warnings, reveal the rules and objectives of each floor's challenge, and infuse the proceedings with a signature horror flair drawn from their background as filmmakers and actors in the genre.[12][17] Behind the scenes, the production is led by executive producer Jason Blum through his Blumhouse Productions banner, marking the company's first foray into game shows and leveraging his expertise from horror franchises like Paranormal Activity and The Purge.[3][18] Co-executive producer Todd Lubin collaborates closely with Blum, overseeing the integration of terrifying elements into the format.[10] Additional executive producers include Jay Peterson, Daniel Soiseth, and Jessica Rhoades, who contribute to the creative and logistical execution.[10][19] The show is produced by a consortium of companies, including Blumhouse Productions, Matador Content, and Lionsgate Television, which handle aspects such as set design emphasizing eerie, immersive horror environments and the coordination of on-screen performers in challenge scenarios.[3][18] While specific directors vary by episode, the crew's focus on atmospheric production underscores the Soska sisters' antagonistic presence as recurring on-screen elements.[19]Production
Development
Hellevator was conceived as Blumhouse Productions' inaugural venture into unscripted television, marking producer Jason Blum's effort to extend the company's horror expertise into game show formats. Blum, known for low-budget horror successes like Paranormal Activity and The Purge, drew inspiration from his childhood affinity for classic game shows while integrating terrifying elements to create a novel hybrid appealing to Game Show Network (GSN) viewers seeking thrilling competition.[6][20] The project originated in late 2014 when GSN announced Hellevator among six shows in development, produced by Blumhouse in partnership with Matador Content and Lionsgate Television. Executive producers Jason Blum, Jay Peterson, and Todd Lubin oversaw the collaboration, focusing on a premise where contestants face horror-infused challenges in a haunted elevator setting to blend suspense with gameplay.[20][18][3] Pre-production advanced rapidly following the initial announcement, with GSN greenlighting eight episodes in June 2015 to capitalize on the horror genre's popularity during the Halloween season. This timeline allowed for set design in an abandoned slaughterhouse location and the crafting of fear-based challenges, culminating in the series premiere on October 21, 2015. Blum highlighted the allocation of a substantial budget—uncharacteristic for Blumhouse's typical micro-budget films—to ensure high production values for this unscripted debut.[21][14][6]Filming and locations
Hellevator was primarily filmed at Willow Studios in Downtown Los Angeles, a site that was originally an abandoned slaughterhouse and was converted into a multi-floor haunted set to evoke a descending journey through hellish levels.[22] The production utilized the building's industrial architecture to create an immersive environment, with sets spanning several floors designed to represent escalating layers of terror as contestants rode the central elevator prop downward. This location choice aligned with the show's horror-themed premise, drawing on the slaughterhouse's eerie history to enhance atmospheric dread without relying on extensive CGI.[22] The set design centered around a custom-built elevator prop that served as the narrative core, equipped with practical effects to simulate malfunctions and horror scenarios, such as sudden drops and enclosed scares.[15] Surrounding floors featured bespoke horror installations, including rooms filled with animatronic figures, blood-splattered props, and live elements like scorpions, snakes, rats, maggots, cockroaches, and leeches to heighten contestant fear during challenges.[22] Additional effects incorporated cow eyes, confetti drops for disorientation, and themed obstacles like creepy clowns and strange toys, all crafted to integrate seamlessly with the Blumhouse Productions style of low-budget, high-impact practical horror.[22][23] Filming took place entirely in the Los Angeles area, with production for the first season commencing in February 2015 and the pilot episode shot in March of that year, allowing for an October premiere of the eight-episode run.[22] The second season followed a similar timeline in 2016, reusing the core Willow Studios setup while adapting floor themes per episode, ensuring efficient multi-day shoots per installment to manage contestant throughput and set resets.[24]Format
Team composition and challenges
In Hellevator, contestant teams were typically composed of friends who applied through the Game Show Network (GSN) website, with a casting director handling selections to ensure participants were horror enthusiasts capable of enduring intense scares.[25][23] Season 1 featured teams of three, while Season 2 expanded to teams of four, with one player selected at the outset to be locked in the Inferno cell, heightening the social dynamics and potential for eliminations; the remaining three then face the challenges.[24][26][11] Each episode structured three individual challenges, with team members deciding who would attempt each one, often based on personal strengths or fears. These solo tasks occurred on successive floors of a haunted set, such as an abandoned slaughterhouse, and drew from horror tropes including endurance tests (e.g., navigating grids filled with rats or handling swarms of creepy crawlies) and puzzle-solving under pursuit by actors portraying killers or monsters.[27][15] In Season 1, the challenges were valued at $5,000 for the first, $10,000 for the second, and $15,000 for the third, allowing successful teams to accumulate up to $30,000 before the final round.[27] Season 2 reduced these stakes to $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000 respectively, emphasizing psychological terror over higher rewards.[28][24] Failure in a challenge resulted in the forfeiture of its prize money and the elimination of that team member from further competition, leaving the remaining contestants to proceed with reduced numbers and heightened pressure.[15] In Season 1, eliminated players were simply out of the game. In Season 2, eliminated players from challenges were confined to the Inferno cell—a dark, themed enclosure designed to amplify fear with sounds, lights, or simulated tortures—along with the initially locked player, while the team continued without them.[16] These mechanics escalated tension, as surviving challenges built toward a collective final round where the intact team could risk their earnings for greater prizes.Final rounds and prizes
In the final rounds of Hellevator, the surviving contestants from a team's individual challenges unite for a timed team-based gauntlet to earn bonus cash, building on their cumulative earnings from earlier tasks. These concluding phases emphasize speed, coordination, and risk assessment under horror-themed pressure, with failure resulting in the loss of the bonus prize but retention of prior winnings. Season 1's final round, known as the Labyrinth, requires the team to navigate a multi-area maze within a 5-minute limit to collect up to $20,000 in cash bags scattered throughout.[14] Successful completion allows the team to add this amount to their earnings from the three individual challenges—valued at $5,000, $10,000, and $15,000—potentially reaching a maximum of $50,000 if all members advance without elimination.[16] The prizes are split equally among the surviving team members, who must return to the Hellevator with all collected items to claim their share.[11] In Season 2, the Inferno Run replaces the Labyrinth, challenging a team of four (with one member initially locked in an Inferno Cell) to race through seven obstacle rooms themed on the seven deadly sins, aiming to collect up to $40,000 in cash while searching for a hidden key to rescue the locked player.[29] The run operates under a strict 7-minute timer that does not pause between rooms, forcing teams to prioritize between pursuing money or teammate rescue; failure to return to the Hellevator in time forfeits the Inferno earnings.[29] Combined with winnings from the prior challenges ($2,000, $3,000, and $5,000), this yields a maximum total of $50,000, divided among the survivors.[24] Elimination occurs progressively through failed challenges, with ousted contestants dramatically eliminated and sent to the Inferno in Season 2, removing them from further play and preventing prize sharing. The last remaining team members—those who complete the final round—emerge as the episode's winners, securing the full cumulative pot for division.[29]Season 1 (2015)
Theme and structure
Season 1 of Hellevator consisted of eight episodes that aired weekly on Wednesdays from October 21 to December 16, 2015, on Game Show Network. Each episode was themed around a specific horror legend or scenario inspired by notorious figures or events involving torture, murder, or supernatural elements, such as a greedy undertaker or a sadistic nurse in an asylum. The hosts, Jen and Sylvia Soska, introduced the episode's backstory before the challenges began, setting the narrative for the horrors contestants would face.[30][11] The core format involved teams of three friends riding the haunted elevator into an abandoned slaughterhouse. As the elevator descended, one contestant exited on each of three floors to complete an individual, timed challenge tied to the theme, earning escalating cash prizes for success: $2,000 on the first floor, $3,000 on the second, and $5,000 on the third. Failure led to elimination, with scares and psychological tension amplifying the difficulty. Surviving players then reunited for the Labyrinth, a five-minute team challenge through three themed rooms where they collected as much bonus cash as possible (up to $20,000) while evading actors portraying horrors, aiming for a potential total prize of up to $50,000.[31][16] This structure emphasized isolation during individual tasks, building to a cooperative finale, with the slaughterhouse setting enhancing the eerie atmosphere throughout the season.[2]Episodes
Season 1 of Hellevator featured eight episodes, each with a self-contained team of three contestants facing theme-specific challenges in the elevator descent and Labyrinth. The episodes drew from horror tropes and true crime inspirations, with winners collecting varying prize amounts based on performance. Some episodes have limited availability due to the show's partial lost media status.[31][30]| Episode | Title | Air Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Undertaker | October 21, 2015 | Three friends from USC face challenges from a greedy undertaker in a funeral home-themed episode, including tasks like "Dead Ringers" and a crematorium visit, before the Labyrinth. The team won $28,000.[32][30] |
| 2 | The Asylum | October 28, 2015 | Three adrenaline junkies (Christian, Yoni, and Jessica) tackle horrors in Nurse Brixton's condemned hospital, with challenges involving medical terrors; they secured $30,080.[33][30] |
| 3 | House of Trapped Souls | November 4, 2015 | Three nursing students confront spirits in a haunted house, completing tasks like "Bodies in the Basement" and "The Writing's on the Wall," ending with $17,760 in prizes.[34][30] |
| 4 | Murder Castle | November 11, 2015 | Three friends explore a hotel based on serial killer H.H. Holmes' Murder Castle, facing "Peek-a-Boo" and vault challenges; the team earned $10,000.[34][30] |
| 5 | The Triplets | November 18, 2015 | Three friends from Massachusetts brave evil triplet-themed scares, including finding a mask in a classroom and escaping chains; they achieved a high of $51,000.[34][30] |
| 6 | The Bunker | December 2, 2015 | Three flight attendants enter a radioactive bunker challenged by mutant soldiers, navigating survival horrors for $24,500.[35][30] |
| 7 | Carnival of Carnage | December 9, 2015 | Three cheerleaders confront a cruel carnival barker in a midway of terrors, winning $25,000 after the Labyrinth.[33][30] |
| 8 | The Brothers | December 16, 2015 | Three high school friends match wits against three murderous brothers (themed as butcher, baker, candlestick maker), disposing victims in unusual ways; they took home $28,500.[36][30] |
Season 2 (2016)
Theme and structure
Season 2 of Hellevator centered on the theme of the Seven Deadly Sins—pride, envy, gluttony, lust, wrath, greed, and sloth—integrated with true crime stories that inspired each episode's narrative and challenges.[37][38] The season consisted of four episodes, each tying the contestants' obstacles to specific sins, such as gluttony involving consumption-based terrors or lust evoking seductive horrors, while the overarching "Inferno Run" served as the climactic physical gauntlet.[37][26] These episodes aired weekly from October 7 to October 28, 2016, as a special four-week event on Game Show Network.[37][39] The season adapted the core format by expanding teams to four contestants, up from three in Season 1, with one player immediately locked in the Inferno—a holding area at the start—motivating the others to succeed for their release and shared winnings.[16] The three active players tackled individual horror challenges on separate floors of an abandoned slaughterhouse, earning escalating cash prizes of $2,000, $3,000, and $5,000 while advancing, before uniting for the final round.[16] This shorter season reflected tweaks for intensified pacing, limiting production to four episodes to heighten the event-like atmosphere.[37] Key innovations included the Inferno Run as the new finale, replacing the prior season's Labyrinth with a seven-minute timed dash through obstacle-filled rooms representing the sins, where players collected keys to unlock their teammate and claim up to $50,000 total.[16] This run emphasized more intense physical exertion, with actors in makeup pursuing contestants amid traps and moral dilemmas tied to the sins, amplifying psychological horror through ethical temptations and guilt-themed scares.[16][38]Episodes
Season 2 of Hellevator featured four self-contained episodes, each centering on horror-themed challenges inspired by the seven deadly sins and true crime stories, with teams of four contestants competing for cash prizes totaling up to $50,000. The season's condensed structure resolved each team's journey within a single episode, emphasizing rapid eliminations through sin-based trials and culminating in the Inferno Run—a timed gauntlet where survivors navigated rooms to claim bonus money while evading supernatural threats. Limited documentation exists for these episodes, as only the premiere is confirmed to be publicly accessible, contributing to their status as partially lost media.)[40]| Episode | Title | Air Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gluttons for Punishment | October 7, 2016 | Four chefs faced challenges devised by a greedy pig butcher named Earl Pickett, incorporating gluttony and wrath through scenarios in slaughterhouses and pig-themed horrors; the team navigated eliminations before entering the Inferno Run to secure their winnings.[41][42] |
| 2 | Rest in Pieces | October 14, 2016 | Four slackers tackled trials at a retirement home operated by criminals disguised as clergy, drawing on sloth, greed, and envy with challenges involving burial and payment dilemmas; eliminations whittled the group down for the final Inferno Run.[43] |
| 3 | Drop Dead Gorgeous | October 21, 2016 | Four models confronted horrors stemming from an envious former model's true crime, themed around pride, envy, and wrath, including eye-for-an-eye and beauty-related terrors; the surviving contestants proceeded to the Inferno Run after key eliminations.[30] |
| 4 | Blood, Sweat & Cheer | October 28, 2016 | Four Anaheim Ducks cheerleaders endured challenges from a murderous ex-coach, encompassing wrath, lust, and other sins via sports and body-evidence motifs; the team completed a perfect Inferno Run for the full $40,000 bonus, winning a total of $48,000 in the season finale.[44][16] |