News

A Game Worth Playing: Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare

Published

6 years ago

April 13, 2018

The best horror films aren’t really about monsters, ghouls, or goblins. They’re about us. On its surface, Truth or Dare is a simple, by-the-books horror film. A small group of lovably rebellious twenty-somethings travels to Mexico for their last spring break (ever!!!) before life “rips them apart”.

The ensemble cast of this film works, for the most part. A handful of the characters they’re portraying tend to be vapid and kind of terrible, but what do you expect from young people in a horror film?

Lucy Hale and Violett Beane take the lead roles as Olivia and Markie, two ‘BFFs’ who will spend the first quarter of this film making your eyes roll as they spout typical best friend cliches.

On the last day of their spring break Mexico vacation, Olivia is propositioned by a random, roguishly handsome guy to join him on a trip to a mysterious location. Olivia’s friends don’t want to do this (of course), but she manages to persuade them.

After a long, creepy trek through the desert, the friends and their guide end up at an old, abandoned church. Once there, Carter (their mysterious tour guide) persuades the group to join him in a rousing game of Truth or Dare.

Naturally, chaos ensues.

Our intrepid protagonists discover, one-by-one, that this game of Truth or Dare is actually being controlled by a powerful demon, who forces them to answer intensely personal questions or, if they so choose, participate in life-threatening dares.

Lie? You die. Refuse to play? You die. Them’s the rules.

Olivia receives her first dare.

It’s a fiendishly simple premise, and the movie would have done better to let its true origins remain shadowed and unknown. Instead, the movie frequently interrupts its narrative to pack in exposition about what the game actually is, who’s controlling it, and how to stop it.

It’s a shame, because the film’s narrative is actually its biggest strength.

As I said in the opening, the best horror films aren’t about monsters, they’re about us. They hold a mirror to us, and force us to see ourselves in a different light. They make us question our morality.

Truth or Dare is essentially about the dangers of keeping secrets. As the game progresses, it forces the friends (those left alive, at least), to tell each other their deepest, darkest secrets. Things they have been hiding from each other for years.

“Truth or Dare?”

Everyone knows what it’s like to have an unspoken secret. Everyone has watched a group of seemingly tight-knit individuals begin to unravel under the weight of lies and rumors. It’s a real world fear that has pervaded our society since the proverbial dawn of time: the fear of being revealed.

Even though our protagonists know the game is evil, and they know that the person who’s ‘it’ has no choice but to comply, it does not soften the blow one iota. Friendships are destroyed. Trust is obliterated.

Our characters slowly find themselves, each in their turn, ostracized and alone.

I firmly believe that if Truth or Dare had focused more on the effects of the terrible game, and less on the game itself, it would have been a far more successful film. The lore, as we uncover it, is nothing earth shattering. The ‘mythos’, if you will, is nothing we haven’t seen in a hundred other horror films before. So why make that the focus?

The Game takes on a ghoulish face.

Jaws and Alien taught us that the best monster is the one you barely see. Perhaps that works for metaphors too. The less we know about the game, the more we can focus on the characters.

For this reason, the film sort of falls apart in its third act. As the already a little too long movie switches gears into a ‘race against time’ to kill the game before it kills them, we lose the charm the movie may not even have known it had.

What started as a surprisingly effective and even, at times, emotionally involving morality story devolves into a typical beat-the-clock thriller.

Now, that being said, Truth or Dare does live up to its most basic expectation: it is a bloody good time.

One way, or another, it’s gonna find you.

The performances are all good enough to keep us more than involved, I cared about the characters, the effects were good enough to be scary, and plot moved along at a quick-enough pace.

Truth or Dare really wants to be more than an average, jump-scare laden horror flick, and in some ways it succeeds. It features solid acting, writing, and effects. But it just doesn’t quite live up to its own potential. Which is a shame, because I truly believe it easily could have.

Despite its shortcomings, I feel like Truth or Dare may very well be a game worth paying for.

See it for yourselves, share this review, and comment your thoughts!

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

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Movies

Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed

Published

7 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.

Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.

The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.

Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”

Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

News

Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween

Published

9 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.

The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.

“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.

Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.

The prize also includes:

An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings

A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear

A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room

A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course

The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II

Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two

“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”

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Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.

'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Movies

’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power

Published

11 hours ago

April 25, 2024

Timothy Rawles

Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.

**Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Ralph Fiennes**

Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.

Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.

There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.