It’s no secret that Jason Blum has taken the mantle of the modern day Roger Corman; make a profit on the cheapest shit you can, all while shining the light on newcomers. While his company, Blumhouse, has been excelling at delivering award worthy content, from Whiplash to Get Out, as well as success this year with Upgrade and BlacKkKlansman, we still haven’t forgotten where the roots still lie: low-budget horror movies.
So of their treasure trove of scares, we were given another Purge, Unfriended, and Insidious (with another Happy Death Day coming Valentine’s Day), and then it brings us Truth or Dare...they made a movie about a game of Truth or Dare...THEY SPENT. THREE AND A HALF MILLION DOLLARS. ON A MOVIE ABOUT-okay, you get the point.
Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare is a horror film about a group of teens who get cursed by a demon after playing Truth or Dare in an abandoned Mexican church. Now they have to either play the game, or the demon will make Final Destination casualties out of them. Why does it make them play it? To expose their secrets or kill them. Why? No one knows, nor do I bother to care at this point.
The cast in the film does try to make it work, but the material makes them look awful; even from experienced actors like Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, and Hayden Szeto, all of whom are young actors that I know are better than this. In fact, the only actor that felt like emoting at all ends up dead, nearly in the first half hour. Although, considering this film casted Aurora Perrineau from Jem & the Holograms, I probably should have noted to lower my expectations.
This film was directed by Jeff Wadlow, the director of Cry Wolf and Kick Ass 2; once again, he proves himself to be a less competent filmmaker. Even though this film tries so desperately hard to be the next Final Destination of sorts, it just comes off as nerve biting as watching a guy go on TV, say he’s going to do this one thing and prepare for the inevitable, only to then brush it aside for no other reason than attention (just like our idiot president).
But you want to know what the most baffling thing about this is? The script and concept were co-written by Michael Raisz, the guy who did the English dub of Matt from Digimon: Adventure; and this was the film to put him on the map as a screenwriter? Well, considering how poorly Shadowhunters turned out, you really messed up, bud. I don’t know if it was the other three writers, especially since Wadlow was one when he signed on to direct, but one thing’s for sure is that this was not the best draft to go with.
*SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ENDING*
At the end of this movie, the main girl figures out a way to get them out of the game, but it ultimately doesn’t work. They rope the demon into the game for a turn, but are unable to do anything else about it. So do they just accept whatever fate comes to them? NOPE! They simply upload a video onto YouTube, to now rope whoever watched the video to be roped into the game as well...yeah...we literally got a “fuck the world, everyone suffer with me” kind of ending...that will ultimately lead to a sequel, that I hope never happens (I’ve already got to deal with Happy Death Day 2U next February).
*SPOILER ALERT ENDS*
Overall, if you’re looking for a new kind of horror film to check out, this is NOT the one you’re looking for. The only way I would recommend you watch this is to get some friends, grab a few beers or joints (depending on where you live), and have fun riffing this shit a new one. Out of all the films to come from Blumhouse, or at least in terms of their horror films, this one definitely makes the the bottom ten.
Rating: F
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