$27.1 million worldwide. Critical reception Stay Alive received negative critical reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 24 out of 100 based on 17 reviews. Rotten Tomatoes holds this film with a 10% rating based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 3.20/10. The site's critics consensus states: "A by-the-numbers teen horror flick, Stay Alive fails to exploit its premise for any real scares." Writing for Newsday, John Anderson commented that "'Stay Alive' spends a lot of time inside the video game system, and what will terrify the audience very early on is the realization that there's better acting in the video game than on the big screen." Meanwhile, writing for Variety, Anderson concluded: "Seldom is there anything close to real passion or panic on display here from cast members." Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a D− and commented, "this dopey movie keeps flouting its own rules, so that one character who dies in the game gets to live, while poor suckers get offed for real even though we never saw their Game Overs." Entertainment Weekly gave the "Unrated Director's Cut" version a C+. Retrospective reception Despite its initial negative reception, Stay Alive has been regarded by some in the years since as a cult classic horror movie. Home video release The DVD was released in the United States on September 19, 2006. It was made available in an unrated edition (100 minutes) and a "PG-13" edition (85 minutes). The 15 minutes of new unrated footage include a new character and subplot. The unrated edition features more adult material. As of December 2011, the total amount of DVD units sold is 874,827, bringing in $13,636,869 in revenue. Potential sequel In August 2022, Bell revealed that developments for a potential sequel film are ongoing. The filmmaker stated that creatives "are trying very hard to make another one". See also List of ghost films Countess Dracula (1971), film about Elizabeth Bathory Eternal (2005), another film inspired by Bathory Survival horror Techno-horror References External links 2006 films American supernatural horror films 2000s English-language films American films with live action and animation American ghost films American teen horror films Films about video games Hollywood Pictures films Spyglass Entertainment films Universal Pictures films 2006 horror films Wonderland Sound and Vision films Films directed by William Brent Bell Films scored by John Frizzell (composer) Cultural depictions of Elizabeth Báthory