By Geno McGahee
On September 4th, TRUTH OR DARE will be released on DVD. We begin with a haunted game of Truth or Dare where the players have to do certain things or pay the consequences. The things that the players are forced into prove to be very deadly, including the very first one we see as a young female is told to pour acid on her face. She uses a combination of flour and water to plaster her face and to protect her from the acid, but her scream proves that her plan did not work. We now push to the present and those foolish kids are seeking out the legend and are going to play the same game.
Led by Carter (Luke Baines), a group of eight college kids head into the house for the game and we get the same banter that we usually get in films of this sort. Most of the kids don’t buy the legend but there is still that potential for it to be true and they are going to push it. Cards are filled out and the demon or paranormal force that runs the game manipulates them and starts exposing the dark secrets that they all hide.
Maddie (Brytni Sarpy) gets some terrible treatment after her bad deeds are exposed, including being forced to pull out her teeth. The dares outnumber the truths in this and the group is living the nightmare. If they resist the dare, they will be pulled into it and forced to do it. Remarkably, the game isn’t stuck at the house and the players are allowed to leave. Unfortunately, they cannot escape the game and they are all being knocked off, one by one. There is some definite FINAL DESTINATION influence here.
The short role by A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET STAR, Heather Langenkamp, leads to the group getting the information they need to save their lives. It was interesting to see Langenkamp as a burn victim, considering her ties to Freddy Krueger, but this role just didn’t seem to have her full efforts or she’s just rusty. I would have liked to see her in a more substantial role where she can show her talents, but this was just one scene and done situation.
To end the game, the remaining members of the group return to the home and they continue to hurt themselves per the game, but there is no benefit. They were told that they could outsmart the game, but we never see that. Maybe they weren’t smart enough to do so, but I was waiting for them to take down that evil demon that is making them do bad things. I guess I should count my blessings. They could have made a bad CGI demon holding a game board and smiling. On second thought, I would have loved to see that.
TRUTH OR DARE is mediocre, but watchable. The acting is pretty solid, but the writing and development could have been better. I wish we knew more about the monster running the show and why he was doing it. In the end, it is passable and is worth a watch on a late night, but it’s not going to stand out.
Rating: 5/10
DO THE DARE OR THE DARE DOES YOU…
FROM THE PRODUCERS OF I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE COMES
A THRILLER WITH DEADLY CONSEQUENCES
TRUTH OR DARE
Street Date: September 4, 2018
DVD SRP: $14.93
CAST
Cassie Scerbo (Sharknado 5: Global Swarming)
Brytni Sarpy (General Hospital)
Mason Dye (Left Behind)
Harvey Guillen (The Internship)
Luke Baines (Saving Mr. Banks)
Ricardo Hoyos (Degrassi)
Heather Langenkamp (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
TRUTH OR DARE
Format: DVD
Running Time: 90 mins.
Genre: Horror
Audio: Dolby 5.1
Aspect Ratio: 16×9 (1.78:1)
